When Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt were placed in the same 400m semifinal heat, track fans everywhere expected fireworks.
Merritt has two World Championships medals (one silver, one gold) and two U.S. Outdoor Championships runner-up finishes in the 400m. Wariner has two World Championships gold medals, two U.S. Outdoor Championships gold medals, and two Olympic gold medals.
Fireworks, however, superseded tension.
“We weren’t trying to kill each other,” Wariner said in a post-race press conference. “We were just trying to make the final.”
And both runners did with ease. Wariner won the second heat of the night in 44.66 and Merritt took second in 44.76, the two fastest times of the night.
“I felt a lot better today than I did yesterday,” Wariner said. “Now I’ve got two days off, and I’m just going to stay off my feet as much as possible and rest up.”
Reggie Witherspoon, the 20th-seeded 400m runner in the field, won the first heat in a convincing 44.99 – the only runner outside of Wariner and Merritt to crack 45 seconds. Darold Williamson, the USA Outdoor 400m runner-up in 2005, finished second in 45.16.
“That was actually my PR, and I knew it was going to take that to make it to the final,” Witherspoon said. “Coach (Michael Ford) told me to run as fast as I could and that’s what I did.
“It went great and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Witherspoon, a 2007 graduate of Baylor, is a former teammate of Wariner and Williamson, who are also under Ford’s direction. Ford, himself a Baylor graduate, serves as an assistant track coach in charge of sprinters.
“Training with Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson helped me out a lot,” Witherspoon said. “That made me faster, a lot faster.”
In the men’s hammer throw, top seed and Athens Olympian A.G. Kruger easily advanced to the finals after throwing 240 feet, 6 inches on his first attempt and passing on successive attempts. Beneath his mark, however, some upstart challengers emerged as possible threats.
Cory Martin, an Auburn University senior, hit 240-3 on his second attempt before passing on his third, the second-best mark of the day. Martin won the 2008 NCAA Championship in the hammer throw in his last attempt, hitting 243-2.
Travis Nutter, who finished third in the 2004 Olympic Trials but did not achieve either qualifying standard, threw 239-01 and achieved a decisive separation between the top three and the rest of the pack – sixth-seeded thrower Thomas Freeman achieved a mark of 236-6 on this second throw, passing on another to secure fourth place.
Favorites in the competition, however, slid in the standings. Two-time Olympian and third seed Kevin McMahon fouled once before throwing 224-7 in his final attempt – the ninth-best mark of the day. Second seed and 2007 USA Outdoor runner-up Kibwe Johnson fared little better, fouling on his first and third attempts but securing a mark of 224-4 for 10th place.
“Friday is going to be a dogfight and it’s going to be tough,” said Michael Mai, who possesses the second-best mark in the nation for 2008 but sits in eighth place after fouling twice. “Hopefully, I can make this team, but that’s anyone’s goal to make this team.”
“It went good and I did what I wanted to do,” Kruger said. “On Friday, my goal is to get a legal throw to get five more and then hit the ‘A’ standard within the first three throws. Hopefully, after that I can just relax and hopefully hit the fence.”
The finals for the men’s hammer throw take place Friday, July 4, at 7 p.m.
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