Muni wins women's 100; Gay sets American record

Jun 29, 2008 - 2:49 AM By Simon Lewis PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EUGENE, Oregon (Ticker) - Muna Lee surged to the Olympic Track & Field Trials women's 100-meter title at Hayward Field on Saturday, beating her more celebrated rivals to a ticket for Beijing.

On a dramatic day in Eugene in which Tyson Gay set an American men's 100-meter record of 9.77 seconds, Lee, 26, took the trials final in a personal-best 10.85 from Torri Edwards (10.894) and world silver medalist Lauryn Williams (10.897), with those three forming the United States team at the Olympics in August.

Marshavet Hooker, who had run a wind-assisted 10.76 in Friday night's quarterfinal and won the first women's semifinal in 10.89, could not sustain her great form and was fourth in 10.93.

World 200-meter champion Allyson Felix, meanwhile, will have to concentrate on her specialty after finishing fifth in 10.96.

Lee, however, quietly progressed to the final and she believed her low-key approach paid dividends when it really counted.

"That came with experience," Lee said. "Running all the different rounds. I felt really good so I knew I could blast it at the beginning and really relax at the end. For anybody who didn't know how to plan out their race it would be really hard for them but I've learned how to do that really well this year.

"I just worked on my start and push-off. Everything else comes natural. Just to finish hard and go home."

Now Lee can look forward to a return to the Olympic stage, having finished seventh in the 100 in 2004 at Athens, the last time she made an American team as an individual. She will, however, wait until after the 200 meters next week before she starts celebrating her achievement.

"I'm really excited," Lee said. "I'm not really an emotional person but I don't want to get all excited and get to the 200 and be all out of energy.

"I'm just thankful and looking forward to the 200."

World 100-meter champion Gay threw down the gauntlet to his American rivals in his quarterfinal heat, beating Maurice Greene's nine-year-old mark of 9.79 after having survived a major scare in the opening round.

After barely finishing fourth in his first heat, Gay was all business when he returned to the track for the quarterfinals 2 1/2 hours, breaking into the lead at 30 meters and powering through the line, also breaking Greene's four-year-old Olympic trials record of 9.91 in the process.

"I eased up a little bit, but I'm not worried about the record," Gay said. "I thank God that I was able to run a PR, but that's what I want to do in the finals."

There was another significant milestone in the same heat. Runner-up Jeffery Demps, from Florida, equalled the world junior record set by Trinidad's Darrel Brown in 2003 with his run of 10.01. Demps also broke Walter Dix's American junior record of 10.06 from 2005 and J-Mee Samuels' three-year-old national high school record of 10.08.

Among those joining them in the semifinals will be Clemson's Travis Padgett, who won the second quarterfinal in a personal-best 9.89 and shaved 0.01 seconds off Ato Boldon's collegiate record set in 1996, and Darvis "Doc" Patton, who likewise set a personal best in 9.89 in winning heat three. Seven men clocked 9.99 or faster just to make Sunday's semis.

Gay almost made a major blunder in his opening heat. With temperatures reaching 92 degrees at Hayward Field, the IAAF world 100-, 200- and 4x100-meter gold medalist was a clear leader as he coasted at 60 meters, but he eased up a little too much and found himself caught in a blanket finish five meters out.

Realizing his predicament, Gay was forced to speed up again and needed to dip at the finish line.

That proved crucial as, after an anxious wait to see the results flashed up on the scoreboard, Gay was relieved to have been placed fourth, the final automatic qualifying spot for a quarterfinal place later in the afternoon.

"After the first round, I was scared," Gay admitted. "I almost started crying as soon as I crossed the line because I thought I didn't make it.

"I was pretty nervous, but this round I ran through the line. I eased up a little bit. I had my arms in here so I wasn't trying to exert too much energy."

As Gay raced down the home straight during his record run, the world's top three shot putters, Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell and Adam Nelson, were duking it out for top spot in the trials final.

All three made the team, with world champion Hoffa taking the lead in the penultimate fifth round with a throw of 71 feet, 11 3/4 inches. Going last in the sixth round, he underscored his victory by registering a 72-6 1/4 toss. World indoor champion Cantwell finished second (71-2 3/4) and two-time Olympic silver medalist Nelson was third (68-6 1/2) despite four fouls - beating fourth-place finisher Dan Taylor by just 3 1/2 inches.

Hyleas Fountain sealed her place on the Olympic team by closing out victory in the women's heptathlon, setting five lifetime bests on the way to a world-leading 6,667 points.

Jacquelyn Johnson (6,347) was second while Diane Pickler edged onto the team in the final event, the 800 meters, securing her place by just 10 points ahead of Virginia Johnson with a total of 6,257.

There was controversy in the women's 800-meter semifinals when the first heat was disrupted by a four-women pile-up on the first lap. Kameisha Bennett appeared to trip, bringing down Nicole Teter, Becky Horn and Latavia Thomas in the process.

An official protest followed, and first Teter and later the other three women who fell allowed to advance into what will now be a 12-women final on Monday.

In the second semifinal, three-time U.S. Outdoor women's 800 champion Hazel Clark continued her attempt to make a third Olympic team, finishing second behind Morgan Uceny to advance into Monday's final.