Michelle Carter improves to 19.86m in Eugene (© Kirby Lee)
Eugene, USAMichelle Carter and Jillian Camarena-Williams waged an historic battle in the women’s Shot Put on the opening day of the USA Championships at Eugene’s Hayward Field on Thursday (23).
Carter won by one centimetre with a toss of 19.86m to move into second on the all-time U.S. performer list with the third-best throw ever, behind only Ramona Pagel’s marks of 20.18m and 20.12m in 1988. Camarena finished second at 19.85m and recorded the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 performances on the U.S. list.
Camarena-Williams unleashed her 19.85m throw in the second round to temporarily become the No. 2 performer in U.S. history. Carter responded with her winning throw later in the second round to bump Camarena-Williams down to third on that list.
“I really didn’t feel it. It just happened,” Carter said.
Family ties for Carter
Carter is coached by her father Michael Carter, the 1984 Olympics silver medalist and the U.S. national high school record holder. The two have learned to balance their relationship as father and daughter and coach and athlete.
“As I got older, I kind of let him how serious I was about the shot put and we were able to define the two lines. At home, you’re my dad. And outside, you’re my coach. So hey, here I can be mad at you but at home you have to drop it. It does work. This year, it worked.”
In addition to her 19.85m effort, Camarena-Williams series included throws of 19.61m in the fourth, 19.84m in the fifth and 19.79m in the sixth. She had a foul in the third round that appeared to be over 20.00m.
“You know I felt it and really felt like that’s what I’ve been looking for and I got a little excited and came around and nicked the top of that toe board,” Camarena-Williams said. “It was unfortunate so I knew that I could do it again.”
Camerena-Williams, though, is optimistic about a strong showing in the IAAF World Championships in Daegu after continuing the momentum from the indoor season where she set a national record in February.
“It shows that consistently I am throwing well and if I do get that big one. Who knows what’s going to happen and how far it is going to go?”
Johnson improves to 80.31m in the Hammer Throw
In the men’s Hammer Throw, Kibwe Johnson won the competition in the final round with a throw of 80.31m, his second career best this season and the best mark by an American in 11 years. In the women’s Discus Throw, reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton edged Aretha Thurmond, 63.35m to 62.87m.
Jarred Rome was the men’s Discus winner at 63.99m.
Flanagan and Rupp take 10,000m titles
Shalane Flanagan and Galen Rupp used opposing strategies to win the women’s and men’s 10,000m. Flanagan led from the start to win in 30:59.97 with Kara Goucher making a strong move over the final mile to finish second in 31:16.85.
Rupp, wearing a mask to alleviate an allergy for the first half of the race, won a tactical race in 28:38.17 covering the final lap in 54 seconds and the final 800m in 1:52 to take his third straight national title over the distance.
In the men’s Triple Jump, University of Florida teammates Christian Taylor and Will Claye repeated their 1-2 finish from the NCAA championships with wind-aided marks of 17.49m and 17.09m with 2005 World Championships silver medalist Walter Davis in third at 17.02m.
Williams and Rodgers top 100m qualifiers
In the men’s 100m heats, Michael Rodgers and Ivory Williams both timed 9.95 with Williams mark aided by a 2.3 mps breeze. Tyson Gay advanced from heat two in 10.01 (2.3 mps).
Marshevet Myers and Carmelita Jeter were the top qualifiers in the women’s 100m at 10.87 and 10.88, respectively.
Both finals will be contested tonight.
Francena McCorory was the top qualifier in the women’s 400m at 51.41 with Debbie Dunn (51.56), Allyson Felix (51.79) and Sanya Richards-Ross (52.02) posting heat wins.
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
