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Bowie and Gay take home titles, teenager Bromell makes history

6/26/2015

EUGENE, Oregon -- The temperature wasn’t the only hot thing about Friday at Historic Hayward Field, as Tori Bowie and Tyson Gay torched the track to win the 100 meter titles at the USATF Outdoor Championships.

Bowie (Clermont, Florida) turned in top times in both the semifinals and the final, storming to a windy victory in the second semifinal in 10.72, good for the top spot overall. English Gardner (Los Angeles) won the first semifinal with a wind legal 10.79, a new personal best. In the final, Bowie overcame a slower start to edge out Gardner (10.86) and Oregon redshirt sophomore Jasmine Todd (Chandler, Arizona), who stunned the field with her third-place finish of 10.92. In total, six women ran under 11 seconds, making it the deepest women’s 100-meter final in history. The previous best was five women in 2013.

In the men’s 100 meters, it was teenage phenom Trayvon Bromell (St. Petersburg, Florida) who wowed the crowd in the semifinals, registering the fastest semifinal time with a windy 9.79 in the first semifinal. It was Gay’s (Los Angeles) experience that paid off in the finals, as the American record holder crossed the line in 9.87. Bromell was second in 9.96, making him the first teenager in U.S. history to make the men’s 100 meters for a World Championship and the first U.S. teenager to make the men’s 100 meters for a World Championship or Olympic Games since 1980 (Stanley Floyd, Auburn). Michael Rodgers (Round Rock, Texas) earned yet another spot on a World Championship roster, crossing in 9.97.

The men’s high jump was nearly one for the record books, as Erik Kynard (Toledo, Ohio) just clipped his heels on a bar set for the American record. Kynard endured a grueling back-and-forth between fellow Olympian Jesse Williams (Eugene, Oregon) and collegian JaCorian Duffield (Schertz, Texas) of Texas Tech. Kynard was victorious with a clearance of 2.37m/7-9.25, while Duffield and Williams recorded marks of 2.34m/7-8 and 2.31m/7-7, respectively.

Reigning decathlon champion Trey Hardee (Austin, Texas) turned in a fantastic day two to defend his title, maneuvering his way up to first in the opening event, the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Hardee was the only man to go below 14 seconds in the event, scoring 1,012 points with his time of 13.71. Hardee continued to impress, out-throwing the competition by nearly 30 feet in the discus (52.05m/170-9), taking the win in the discus (61.92m/203-2) and running a personal best 4:45.77 in the 1,500 meters to score 8,725 points over the course of the two-day competition. Reigning USATF Indoor champion in the men’s heptathlon, Jeremy Taiwo (Seattle, Washington) wasn’t able to capitalize on a day one PR score of 4,447. Taiwo earned the runner-up spot with 8,264 points, while Wisconsin’s Zach Ziemek (Itasca, Illinois) took the third Beijing qualifying position with his PR of 8,107 points.

Kara Winger (Colorado Springs, Colorado) won her sixth USATF javelin title, utilizing her first throw of the evening to win the competition. Winger unleashed on her opening throw for a mark of 64.94m/213-1. Fellow Olympian Brittany Borman (De Soto, Missouri) also punched her ticket to Beijing with her runner-up mark of 61.80m/202-9.

The prelims of the women’s 100-meter hurdles were impressive, as newcomer Sharika Nelvis ran a personal best 12.34 for a new world-leading time and solidifying her spot as the third-fastest American in history. Also winning their heats were Jasmin Stowers (Pendleton, S.C.) and Keni Harrison (Clayton, North Carolina) from the University of Kentucky, running a windy 12.46 and 12.47, respectively.

The semifinals of the 400 meters saw a world lead from top women’s finisher Francena McCorory (Hampton, Virginia) in 49.85, the second-fastest time of her career, and a new personal best of 44.41 from top seed David Verburg (Lynchburg, Virginia) on the men’s side. The finals for the women’s and men’s 400m are slated for 2:32 and 2:42 p.m. PT.

In one of the deepest events for the U.S., the women’s 800 meters did not disappoint. The top four times came from the second semifinal, as World Relays team members Chanelle Price (Easton, Pennsylvania), Maggie Vessey (Seacliff, California), Alysia Montano (Canyon Country, California) and Ajee’ Wilson (Neptune, New Jersey) were photo finishes. In total, 10 women ran sub-2:01 on Friday.

Coverage of the USATF Outdoor Championships continues Saturday with the junior women’s race walk kicking off the action at 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 a.m. PT on USATF.TV. Live broadcast coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on NBC, with field event coverage during the TV window on USATF.TV.

Fans can join the conversation by following USATF on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, using the hashtag #USATFoutdoors.

USATF Outdoor Champions

Thursday

Women’s 10,000 Meters - Molly Huddle (Saucony) - 31:39.20

Men’s 10,000 Meters - Galen Rupp (Nike Oregon Project) - 28:11.61

Men’s Long Jump - Marquis Dendy (Florida) - 8.68m/28-5.75

Women’s Shot Put - Michelle Carter (Nike/NYAC) - 20.02m/65-8.25

Men’s Discus - Jared Schuurmans (NAI) - 64.64m/212-1

Men’s Hammer Throw - Kibwe Johnson (Nike/NYAC) - 76.95m/252-5

Men’s Javelin - Sean Furey (Unattached) - 83.08m/272-7

Friday

Women’s 100 Meters - Tori Bowie (adidas) - 10.82