The sprinters took center stage Friday at Hayward Field, and the spotlight shone brightest on Sha’Carri Richardson.
Compact and explosive, Richardson blazed to victory in the women’s 100-meter final of the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships before an appreciative crowd of 5,782.
She didn’t just win. She eclipsed the field, crossing the finish line in 10.82 seconds. She didn’t get a great start. It didn’t matter.
Brittany Brown was second in 10.90. Third-place finisher Tamari Davis bettered 11 seconds too with a time of 10.99.
The men’s 100 final was good too. Unheralded Cravont Charleston edged Christian Coleman at the tape.
It was close. Charleston finished in 9.95, Coleman in 9.96. Noah Lyles was third in 10.00.
The women’s race, though, owned the drama, from the moment Richardson showed she was game ready by losing her orange wig just before the start.
Other than a brief trackside interview with a TV reporter, Richardson elected not to talk to the media. After the final she didn’t come through the mixed zone, where most post-competition interviews are conducted.
Mia Brahe-Pedersen, the 17-year-old Lake Oswego High School student, squeezed into the final too as a time qualifier in the semifinals earlier Friday.
She was well back in the final, placing seventh in 11.08. But she served notice, despite competing with a sore left shoulder.
She said it bothered her, but it couldn’t stop her. She never considered not competing.
“I was going to run regardless,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “I feel if I don’t go out and give my all, I’m going to regret it.”
Who could regret making a USATF final with a year of high school eligibility remaining?
“This whole thing has been a learning moment,” Brahe-Pedersen said. “Obviously, I didn’t come in here with high expectations. But I came here ready to learn.”
Next year is an Olympic year. That would be a good time for those lessons to pay off. Oh, and she is entered in the 200 on Saturday. Yeah, she plans to run it.
Charleston hadn’t ever won a major title before Friday’s victory in the 100. The former North Carolina State sprinter didn’t make a final at the last Olympic Trials or at last year’s USATF Championships.
He took down the field here.
“You have to make it through the rounds,” he said. “That’s hard. After that, just run to win.”
Raevyn Rogers, the Olympic bronze medalist who competed collegiately for Oregon, breezed into the women’s 800 final.
Nia Akins won the first semifinal heat in 2:00.02, the day’s fastest time. Rogers came in second in 2:00.44. The top three finishers in each heat qualified automatically for Sunday’s final.
The mission was to survive and advance. Rogers did both.
“Today was a good day,” Rogers said. “I got to the next round.”
Oregon sprinter Micah Williams, coming back from a torn left hamstring during the indoor season, was philosophical after not getting out of Friday’s semifinals of the men’s 100.
Ex-UO sprinter Kyree King and Williams finished seventh and eighth in the heat. Williams said he was pleased that he was able to drive himself through his recovery to compete on this stage. This year, that was enough.
“I have no excuses,” he said.
To Williams, who was part of the 4×100 relay pool at the Tokyo Olympics and has a gold medal to show for it, this was a very different experience.
“It’s hard to take the loss,” he said. “This is the first year I haven’t been in the finals. It’s an experience to grow on.”
Former Oregon hurdler Alaysha Johnson got a strong start, ran a clean race and finished first in her preliminary heat of the women’s 100 hurdles. Johnson’s time was 12.60. World record-holder Keni Harrison posted the day’s best first-round time of 12.50.
In U20 competition, Aaliyah McCormick, who just wrapped up a stellar freshman year at Oregon, swept to victory in the U20 women’s 100 hurdles.
McCormick, already third on the UO career list in the event, delighted the fans by pulling away to finish in 13.02. She was exuberant while receiving her medal on the award stand.
“I felt like I had arms wrapped around me the entire race,” McCormick said. “It was really nice to be in the Duck cave.”
After clocking a time of 13.23 in the semifinals earlier Friday, McCormick straightened out some minor technical things for the final. She said she is fully healthy after missing last month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships because of injury.
“Getting in the right mindset again felt amazing,” she said.
Ethan Coleman of Notre Dame ran away with the U20 men’s 10,000, breaking the competition over the last half of the race to win in 31:37.75. UO runner Aiden Smith finished third.
Oregon’s Rheinhardt Harrison won his heat of the men’s 1,500, making a strong move over the last 250 to finish in 3:51.90. The final will be on Sunday.
Harrison competed in Thursday’s preliminaries of the senior 1,500, finishing fifth in his heat.
Here are the results from the USATF Outdoor Championships: https://results.usatf.org/2023Outdoors/
Here are the results from the USATF U20 Championships: https://results.usatf.org/2023U20Outdoors/
— Ken Goe reported from Eugene for The Oregonian/OregonLive.
KenGoe1020@gmail.com | Twitter: @KenGoe
