EUGENE, Ore. – Lady Tiger sophomore and NCAA 200-meter champion Kimberlyn Duncan wrapped up a brilliant 2011 campaign Sunday afternoon at historic Hayward Field by earning a fifth-place finish in the her first career appearance in the 200-meter final at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
After winning the first of three semifinal heats in 22.80 seconds earlier in the day, Duncan drew Lane 3 in the final as a nationwide audience tuned in to NBC’s broadcast of the championship finale.
Also on the line for Duncan was a spot on Team USA as the top three finishers in the women’s 200-meter dash would earn the right to represent the United States at the 2011 IAAF World Championships later this summer as the meet will run from Aug. 27-Sept. 4 in Daegu, South Korea.
Duncan came up just .07 seconds short of qualifying for the World Championship team as she crossed the finish line with a wind-legal time of 22.35 (+1.0) for a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s final.
Shalonda Solomon of Reebok took home the U.S. Outdoor title with a 2011 world-leading effort of 22.15, while Carmelita Jeter of Nike finished runner-up in 22.23 and Jeneba Tarmoh of Texas A&M placed third in 22.28 as each earned the right to compete at the World Championships for Team USA.
“This was a great experience for me being introduced to the level of competition that I saw this week here at the USA Championships,” Duncan said. “This was a lot different from what I saw all year running in college, so it was big for me to be able to do something like this that I’ve never done before. This was big for me since I know I’ll be coming back here next year for the Olympic Trials.
“That’s the main thing competing this weekend has done for me. I’ll know how to prepare and know what to expect for this level of competition when I come back for the Olympic Trials next summer.”
Sunday’s performance marks the end of one of the most prolific seasons in the storied history of the Lady Tiger program as Duncan has emerged as one of the world’s leading talents in the 200-meter dash.
The 19-year-old sophomore from Katy, Texas, entered the USA Championships as the world leader in the 200-meter dash with her personal best of 22.24 set in winning the 2011 NCAA Outdoor championship for the Lady Tigers. She actually completed the season sweep of NCAA titles in the 200-meter dash after she was also crowned the NCAA Indoor champion during the 2011 indoor finale in March.
Duncan is the sixth sprinter in collegiate history to sweep NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor gold medals in the event and the first Lady Tiger since Dawn Sowell during the 1989 season.
She is the No. 3-ranked 200-meter sprinter in the history of collegiate track and field as her season best of 22.24 trails only Sowell’s collegiate record of 22.04 and the 22.23 by Carol Rodriguez of USC in 2006.
That performance earned Duncan a selection as one of 10 semifinalists for The Bowerman this season that is collegiate track and field’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy and will be presented to the premier male and female athletes in the sport. The three finalists for the award will be selected on Thursday, July 14.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot from where I was a year ago in my freshman year,” Duncan said. “I know that I’ve been mentally and physically prepared to do some great things. Coach (Dennis) Shaver is really good with helping each of us get ready to compete. That’s the big thing for me. My confidence level is so much higher this year, so I just knew I was better prepared this year.”
Lady Tiger great Lolo Jones came up short in her U.S. Outdoor title defense in the 100-meter hurdles with a ninth-place finish in the semifinal round as she took third place in her heat with a time of 12.81.
After the first two semifinal heats went off without a hitch, it would take four attempts for Jones to race in the third and final heat after Southern California senior Nia Ali was twice warned for not properly coming set in the blocks and former Virginia Tech star Kristi Castlin committed a false start.
When crossing the finish line, Jones missed advancing to Sunday’s championship final on time and was a ninth-place finisher overall with her 12.81 clocking. LSU freshman Jasmin Stowers took sixth place in the second semifinal heat and 15th place overall with her wind-aided time of 13.04.
“I’ve been struggling with my start all year. The problem is if I don’t nail it, it throws my whole race off. That’s exactly what happened,” Jones said. “Because I had to play it cautious, with every one (start), I got a little more uneasy. It did throw it off, but I thought I would be able to rebound. I started to hit arms with the girl next to me and that was it. I tried to turn it over, but I just couldn’t recover.
“I’ve had a lot of downs, but I’ve also had a lot of ups. The whole message I want to send is I love medals and all of that, but if I can inspire someone to keep on going when things look bad, I’ll take that any day.”
Former Tiger national champion Xavier Carter also just missed qualifying for Sunday’s final in the men’s 200-meter dash as he finished in fourth place in his heat with a time of 20.53. Despite clocking the eighth-fastest time of the semifinal round, Carter was left out of the final as only the top two in each heat and the next two fastest times not among the top two in the three heats advanced to the final.
Joining Duncan in the women’s 200-meter dash final was Lady Tiger alum Stephanie Durst, who finished in second place in the third semifinal heat and in sixth place overall in the semifinal round with the time at 22.82. Durst was then disqualified in the final after running on the line on the turn.