Kerley stamps himself as World Champs favorite
Powerful sprinter dominates men's 100 meters in USA Track & Field Championships
Fred Kerley capped a brilliant trio of races in the men’s 100 meters in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field on Friday.
The Olympic silver medalist came from behind to win the final in 9.77 seconds after lowering his personal best to 9.76 in a semifinal earlier in the day.
Marvin Bracy-Williams finished second in the final in 9.85, followed by Trayvon Bromell in 9.88. Micah Williams of the University of Oregon bounced back from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the NCAA Championships on June 10 to finish fourth in 9.90, the same time as fifth-place Elijah Hall-Thompson.
The top three finishers qualified for the World Championships, which will be held in the U.S. for the first time when they are staged at Hayward Field from July 15-24.
Christian Coleman did not run in the final of the men’s 100 after clocking 9.87 in the semifinals. But he did not have to compete to earn a spot in the World Championships because he has an automatic berth in the meet as the defending World champion.
Bromell and Williams had the best starts in the final, but the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Kerley pulled even with first-place Bromell after 50 meters and powered away from the field after that.
“This is all about patience, and training, and stuff,” Kerley said when Lewis Johnson of NBC asked him about his consecutive sub-9.8 times. “And to me, you do what you gotta do.”
Kerley, one of only three sprinters in history to have run under 10 seconds in the 100, under 20 in the 200, and under 44 in the 400, ran 9.76 to win the first semifinal by more than two tenths of a second over Hall-Thompson’s 9.98.
Bromell, winner of last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, ran 9.81 to win the second semifinal, followed by Bracy-Williams in 9.86 and Coleman in 9.87.
Kerley’s time bested his previous personal best of 9.83 that he set in a first-round heat on Thursday and moved him into tie for sixth – along with Coleman and Bromell – on the all-time World performer list.
While Kerley entered the meet as the favorite in the men’s 100, Melissa Jefferson did not have that distinction in the women’s 100.
The Coastal Carolina sophomore had placed a disappointing eighth in the NCAA Championships on June 11, but she won the final on Friday with a wind-aided time of 10.69.
Aleia Hobbs finished second in 10.72, followed by Twanisha Terry (10.74), Tamari Davis (10.78), and Tamara Clark (10.82).
Hobbs and Jefferson had run personal bests of 10.81 and 10.82 in the first semifinal earlier in the day, with Terry winning the second semifinal in a personal best of 10.87.
Hobbs’ clocking made her the 12th fastest American in history, with Jefferson moving into a three-way tie for 13th with two-time Olympic champion Gail Devers and Gwen Torrence.
Devers’ best time came in the 1992 Olympic final in Barcelona and Torrence ran her career best two years later.
There were five other finals contested on Friday, with Ryan Crouser’s victory in the men’s shot put standing out most.
The two-time Olympic champion and world-record-holder won the event with a best of 23.12 meters (75 feet 10¼ inches), but he also had puts of 23.11 (75-10), 23.01 (75-6), and 22.98 (75-4¾).
Crouser’s winning put was tied for the fourth farthest in history, with his second-, third-, and fourth-best efforts ranking sixth, tied for 10th, and 12th.
Defending World champion Joe Kovacs finished second with a pair of 22.87 (75-0½) puts, followed by Josh Awotunde (21.51/70-7) and NCAA champion Tripp Piperi (21.43/70-3¾) of Texas.
Sandi Morris won the women’s pole vault by clearing 4.82 (15-9¾), the best outdoor performance in the world this year.
Alina McDonald cleared a personal best of 4.65 (15-3) to finish second, with Olympic champion Katie Nageotte clearing the same height in third. McDonald placed second because she cleared 4.65 on her first attempt, while it took Nageotte two attempts to clear that height.
Morris failed to advance to the final of the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer, but she is having a fine season during which the silver medalist in the 2016 Olympics and in the 2017 and 2019 World Championships has been the best vaulter in the world thus far.
Olympic champion Valarie Allman had the three best throws in the women’s discus, with her top effort of 66.92 (219-7) giving her an eight-foot margin of victory over runner-up Laulauga Tausaga-Collins (64.49/211-7). Rachel Dincoff finished third at 62.14 (203-10).
Rayvon Grey won the men’s long jump with personal best of 8.19 (26-10½), followed by Steffin McCarter (8.15/26-9) and Jeremiah Davis of Florida State (8.11/26-7¼).
JuVaugh Harrison finish a disappointing 11th – with a wind-aided jump of 7.86 (25-9½) – after winning the Olympic Trials last year and finishing fifth in the Olympic Games.
Vashti Cunningham won the women’s high jump by clearing 1.93 (6-4).
Rachel Glenn of the University of South Carolina and Rachel McCoy both cleared 1.90 (6-2¾) while finishing second and third. Glenn was awarded the higher placing because she cleared 1.90 on her second attempt and it took McCoy three tries.
Athing Mu, Michael Norman, and Sydney McLaughlin had other top performances on Friday.
Olympic 800 champion Mu, who turned 20 earlier this month, looked incredibly relaxed while winning her semifinal in 1:57.55 after coming through the first lap in 56.97 seconds.
Norman posted the fastest semifinal time in the men’s 400 with 44.28 clocking while North Carolina A&T junior Randolph Ross ran 44.36 in the same race as Norman.
McLaughin, who set a world record of 51.46 in winning the women’s 400 hurdles in the Olympics, posted the fastest time in the semifinals of that event with a time of 52.90.
Olympic silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad chose not to run the 400 hurdles in the meet as she is the defending World champion in the event and thus has an automatic berth in the World Championships.
NCAA champion Talitha Diggs of Florida had the fastest semifinal time in the women’s 400 at 50.88, and Olympic bronze medalist Allyson Felix finished fourth in her semifinal in 51.32 to grab the seventh of eight qualifying spots for the final.
Texas A&M sophomore Brandon Miller had the fastest semifinal time in the men’s 800 with 1:46.20 clocking.
Rai Benjamin and Alaysha Johnson had the best first-round performances in the men’s 400 intermediate hurdles and women’s 100 hurdles, respectively.
Olympic silver medalist Benjamin ran 48.41 in the intermediates. Johnson clocked 12.41 in the 100 hurdles.