Crawford's Olympic aspirations fall short in Eugene...
That was the difference between a trip to London to compete in the Olympics and watching the meet on television for Rainier Beach High School graduate Ginnie Crawford (left/photo by Mike Scott) on day two of the US Olympic Team Trials-Track & Field at Historic Hayward Field.
After a weather delay pushed the time schedule for the running events, Crawford, who has been a member of nearly every possible USA international team but one during her career, advanced to the finals with a strong second place finish in heat 1 in 12.78, which was the sixth fastest time.
Crawford, who was lined up on the outside in lane 7, got out to a strong start, as defending Olympic champion Dawn Harper (12.73) and defending world champ Kellie Wells (12.77) went 1-2.
However, Crawford could not counter the late charge of 2008 Olympian Lolo Jones, as she overtook the Rainier Beach alum over the final barriers to garner the final Olympic team berth in a time of 12.86 to Crawford's 12.90.
Seattle Pacific alum Chris Randolph finished ninth in the decathlon with a final two-day total of 7468 points, running 15.28 in the 110 hurdles, throwing the discus 148-8 (45.33m), pole vaulting 15-1 (4.60m), tossing the javelin 199-6 (60.81m), and running 4:48.09 in the 1500.
The decathlon competition saw Eugene's own Ashton Eaton break the world record in the event, with a score of 9039 points, breaking Roman Sebrle's previous standard of 9026 points by 13.
In semifinal action, Gig Harbor's Mark Wieczorek squeezed through to Monday's finals in the 800 running 1:46.48, finishing fifth in the faster of two heats to get the last time qualifier.
One minor surprise on the track was the failure of former Husky Jordan Boase from Bothell to start the semis of the men's 400 due to a foot issue.
On the field, University Place resident Andrea Geubelle had the fourth best mark in qualifying in the women's triple jump, with a bound of 44-4 1/4 (13.52m).
Washington State alum Blessing Ufodiama also advanced with a best of 42-8 3/4 (13.02m), the 11th best mark on the afternoon.
Both Geubelle and Ufodiama advance to Monday's finals, where both will need to hit the Olympic A standard of 46-11 (14.30m) and place in the top 3 to go to London.
Courtesy of kuathletics.com, here is an interview with Geubelle after the competition:
Former Seattle resident Tiombe Hurd missed qualifying by one place, jumping 42-1 1/2 (12.84m).
The Huskies' Shaniae Lakes, who was the last qualifier entered in the meet, gained some valuable big-meet experience, finishing 19th at 40-1 1/4 (12.22m).
Vancouver high schooler Sean Keller, who won the USA junior title last week in Bloomington, had the fifth best throw of the day, as he threw 253-0 (77.12m), a new lifetime best, and a spot in Monday's finals.
"I wanted to PR, but I didn't expect it to go that far," Keller said, smiling, still in disbelief roughly 15 minutes after his third throw.
The meet resumes on Sunday, as former Huskies Aretha Thurmond (discus) and Norris Frederick (long jump) go chase their Olympic dreams. Frederick will have the added burden of attaining the Olympic A standard of 26-11 (8.20m) in addition to placing third or better.
Current Husky Logan Miller also looks to gain big meet experience in the women's pole vault, which was delayed by weather on Friday.
Complete day 2 results from the US Olympic Track & Field trials are available here.
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I've added it, and made mention of his accomplishment in a separate post on the best reality show on the planet.