EUGENE, Ore. — With a record 20,964 fans crammed into Hayward Field to witness the first day of competition at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, four LSU athletes continued their pursuit of the Olympic dream by advancing to either a semifinal or final on the first day of qualifying.
Sophomore middle distance runner LaTavia Thomas led the way by qualifying fifth in the prelims of the women’s 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 3.90 seconds on Friday evening.
Thomas, the reigning NCAA indoor champion in the event, ran with the pack for the first lap and was actually running in eight place after 500 meters while finding herself boxed in against the rail coming down the straightaway and around the turn.
But the Philadelphia native would not be denied a spot in the semifinal as she found an opening down the backstretch and kicked it into another gear in the last 200 meters of the race. She slowly moved to the front on the final straightaway and crossed the finish line in second place in her heat to earn one of four automatic qualifying spots into Saturday’s semifinal.
Thomas was nipping at the heels of American great Hazel Clark, who finished first with a time of 2:03.65. The semifinals of the women’s 800 meters are set to run at 6:25 p.m. CDT on Saturday.
“I was a little nervous because I got boxed in a lot on that first lap,” Thomas said. “I didn’t panic and saw a gap when the race started to slow down a little bit on the backstretch. That gave me the opening I needed to get to the outside and make a move. I’m fortunate that I was able to kick over the last 200 meters or so and finish second because I didn’t run as well as I should have.
“Hopefully, I can run a smarter race tomorrow. I’m going to have to get out better and make sure I’m out in front early. That’s what it’s going to take if I hope to get to the final. One thing that is certain about tomorrow is that I’m going to have to run faster to advance.”
Thomas was not the only LSU athlete to advance past the first day of qualifying at the U.S. trials as former Lady Tiger standout Muna Lee was also the fifth-fastest qualifier in her event with a wind-aided time of 10.89 seconds in the quarterfinal round of the 100-meter dash. Lee opened the competition by clocking the second-fastest preliminary time at 11.00.
Lee will have the opportunity to become the first current or former LSU athlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team as Saturday’s semifinal is set for 3:25 p.m. followed by the final at 5:48 p.m.
Former NCAA champion Russ Buller led the way in the field events by qualifying for Sunday’s final in the pole vault with a clearance of 18 feet, ? inch. Buller finished the preliminary round in a tie for second as a total of 13 pole vaulters survived the first day of qualifying.
The top three finishers in each event who have met the “A” qualifying standard will represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, in August.
Three LSU athletes fell short of their goal of qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team on Friday as former Lady Tiger Stephanie Durst advanced to the quarterfinal of the 100-meter dash before finishing in 21st place, while Lady Tiger senior Juanita Broaddus pulled up with an apparent injury in the preliminary round of the event to finish in 33rd place. LSU great Walter Davis fouled out in the qualifying round of the men’s long jump.
Davis, the 2005 World Champion in the triple jump, looks to redeem himself next weekend as he steps onto the runway for the qualifying round of the triple jump on July 4. Davis has represented the United States in the triple jump in each of the last two Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004.
Also scheduled to line up for the first time on Saturday are junior All-American Trindon Holliday and former Tiger standout Xavier Carter as the duo will run in the preliminary round of the men’s 100-meter dash at 4:30 p.m. The top four finishers in each qualifying heat and the athletes with the next four fastest times will advance to the quarterfinals at 7:01 p.m.