EUGENE, Ore. — Former Lady Tiger star Lolo Jones stepped onto the Hayward Field track for the first time at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday afternoon and showed exactly why she is considered a favorite to run away with the title in the 100-meter hurdles.
After training at the University of Oregon since her arrival in Eugene on June 24, Jones took her mark and raced to the fastest times in both the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds on Saturday.
Jones opened the competition with a wind-legal time of 12.68 seconds in her preliminary heat to finish well ahead of the 12.92 by Candice Davis in the opening round of qualifying. She followed a two-hour break with a blistering time of 12.59 in the quarterfinal to finish ahead of the 12.65 by Joanna Hayes and enter Sunday’s action as the top seed in the semifinal round.
Jones will compete with 15 other semifinalists on the final day of this year’s U.S. Olympic Trials as the gun is set to fire for the start of the semifinal round at 5:35 p.m. CDT.
Like each event at this year’s trials, the top three finishers in the 100-meter hurdles that have met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard will represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, from Aug. 8-24. Jones has already met the standard as her seed time of 12.57 is well below the time of 12.96 required by the International Olympic Committee.
“I’ve just got to make the (Olympic) team,” Jones said. “That’s all I’ve been thinking about in my preparation for this meet. I’m happy with the way I ran today. I think I was just a little bit anxious because I’ve been here for almost two weeks now and today was my first opportunity to compete. Now, I get to rest up and relax a little bit and do it all over again tomorrow.”
Jones has quickly become one of the world’s premier hurdlers with her performance in 2008 after already being crowned the U.S. Indoor champion and World Indoor champion in the 60 hurdles.
She is looking to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time in her career after representing the United States at the IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Japan, a year ago where she earned a sixth-place finish in the final of the 100-meter hurdles.
“Lolo has one goal in mind, and that is to make this Olympic team,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “I’ve never seen her more focused at any point in her career than I have this season. She’s prepared herself very well in the weeks and months leading up to this meet, and she showed that a little bit with her performance in two rounds of qualifying today.
“The experience she gained at the World Championships last year has only helped her this year because she knows what it takes to make the U.S. team. She just needs to stay focused on running her rounds again tomorrow to put herself in a position to make the Olympic team.”
Two other former LSU standouts will also compete on the meet’s final day as both Xavier Carter and Muna Lee advanced through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the 200 meters on Saturday and earned a spot in the finals to be held Sunday afternoon. The men’s final is set to run at 6:25 p.m. followed by the women’s final at 6:40 p.m.
Carter opened with the eighth-fastest time of the quarterfinal round at 20.61 before qualifying for the final with the fourth-fastest semifinal time at 20.55. Lee was just as impressive as she kicked off the afternoon with the ninth-fastest time of the quarterfinals at 22.84 before clocking the third-fastest time of the semifinal round at 22.33.
Lee has already secured her spot on the U.S. Olympic Team after being crowned champion of the women’s 100-meter dash on June 28 when she recorded a personal best time of 10.85 in the final.
Former Lady Tiger standout Stephanie Durst saw her Olympic dream come to an end on Saturday as she finished in 10th place in the semifinal round of the 200-meter dash. Durst finished with a time of 22.99 in the semifinals after qualifying with a time of 23.27 in the quarterfinal round.
Carter, Jones and Lee are not the only LSU athletes scheduled to compete during Sunday’s action as Walter Davis is also slated to step onto the runway for the finals of the men’s triple jump beginning at 6 p.m. The final day of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials will be broadcast to a national television audience as NBC will air two hours of live coverage on Sunday from 6-8 p.m.