Alaska News

Alaskan leaps into Olympics

EUGENE, Ore. -- Eielson graduate Janay DeLoach, who still holds the Alaska high school long jump record, booked her reservation on the flight to London with the U.S. Olympic Team on Sunday by finishing third in the long jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Brittney Reese won her fifth straight U.S. title in the event with a leap of 23 feet, 5 1/2 inches. The two-time world champion will be joined in London by runner-up Chelsea Hayes and DeLoach.

With a Monday runoff in the women's 100 meters still looming over the U.S. track trials, Wallace Spearmon kept the men's 200 controversy-free with an easy victory.

Spearmon got off to a slow start, but recovered in time to win in 19.82 seconds Sunday at Hayward Field.

His victory -- and his chance for redemption at the London Games after losing the bronze medal to disqualification in Beijing -- was an expected finish to what should have been the conclusion to the trials.

Instead, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh will run Monday afternoon to settle a third-place tie in the 100 for the final spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Felix and Tarmoh finished in a dead heat for third in the 100 more than a week ago behind winner Carmelita Jeter and Tianna Madison, putting the team for the event in limbo. Track officials had no policy in place to resolve it but the next day devised a tiebreaker that included the options of a runoff or a coin flip.

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The decision was put off eight days to allow Felix and Tarmoh to focus on the 200, which Felix handily won Saturday night. Tarmoh finished fifth.

On Sunday morning the athletes got together with track officials and decided on the Monday runoff.

USA Track and Field was criticized because there was no tiebreaking policy in the first place and because the matter lingered for so long. It certainly got most of the attention on Sunday as the trials wound to a close.

Wearing his sunglasses, Spearmon overcame his shaky start and finished the 200 well in front of runner-up Maurice Mitchell and Isiah Young.

Spearmon is anxious to erase the bad memories from Beijing, when he was disqualified for a lane violation.

"That's definitely something that's been on my mind since 2008. It's hard to make one Olympic team, go and make the final, step on the line when you thought you had a medal, do about 300 meters of the victory lap and have to live with that," he said. "If I didn't make the team this year, that would've been on my mind the rest of my life -- the chance I could've had. Being able to go back and make my second Olympic team and have a chance at redemption, I don't take my second chances lightly. I'm going to go out there and leave it all on the track.'"

Spearmon was the obvious favorite in the field, which was somewhat diluted when sprinters Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay decided to pass after securing spots on the Olympic team in the 100. And reigning Olympic 200 bronze medalist Walter Dix didn't run because of a lingering hamstring injury that was apparent in the 100.

Dix's only option for making it to London will be as a member of the 400 relay team.

Shortly after Spearmon claimed his third U.S. title in the event, his good friend Usain Bolt ran the 200 at the Jamaican Trials, finishing second to Yohan Blake. The trio of Blake, Bolt and Spearmon instantly became the favorites going into London.

In other events on Sunday, defending outdoor champion Lashinda Demus won the women's 400 hurdles in 53.98, joining runner-up Georganne Moline and third-place finisher T'Erea Brown on the Olympic team.

On the men's side, Michael Tinsley won the 400 hurdles in 48.33, besting reigning Olympic champion Angelo Taylor and defending Olympic silver medalist Kerron Clement.

Bershawn Jackson, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, fell into the finish but finished fourth.

London will be Taylor's fourth Olympics.

"Not many people make it to their fourth Olympic team, so this is something that I really wanted to do," Taylor said. " I knew the competition I was facing. My main goal was just to stay healthy, and goal No. 2 was just to make the team."

Leo Manzano won the men's 1,500 in 3:35.75, followed by former Oregon Ducks teammates Matthew Centrowitz and Andrew Wheating.

"I knew I needed to stay calm, stay smooth," Manzano said after becoming a two-time Olympian. "There were some times I kind of got caught up, but I just needed to stay calm, bring it back around and just shoot for home."

Morgan Uceny won the women's 1,500 in 4:04.59, earning a place on the team with runner-up Shannon Rowbury and third-place finisher Jenny Simpson.

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Simpson has the American record in the 3,000 steeplechase, but switched to the 1,500 and is the reigning world champion in the event.

"The hardest thing about the trials that separates it from any other race you run in your life is that your emotions can slip away from you," Simpson said. "On final stretch, I just felt this overwhelming relief. I didn't even care my time or my place. I was just so happy the three of us were going to make it."

Daily News staff and wire reports

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