Monique Henderson, 51.17 in heats of USA nationals (© Getty Images)
Strong wind, rain and lightning storms disrupted the Thursday programme (22) at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (21 – 25 June) and caused a major rescheduling for Friday's events (23).
Day One of the Championships had been made up of junior events – click here for report
The most important postponements were the first round of the men's and women's 100 metres, and the men's and women's finals of the 10,000 metres.
The 100 metres races have been announced to start at 11:30 Friday morning, and both 10,000m will be run after 9 p.m. in the evening, making it a long day for officials.
However, first round competition was completed in the men's and women's 400 metres, the men's 400 metres Hurdles, and 800 metres, and the women's 3000 metres Steeplechase.
The men's 400 heats were as competitive as expected, with eleven runners coming in under 45.50. The heats were won by Darrold Williamson, in 45.05, LaShawn Merritt (45.26), Matt Scherer (45.43) and Andrew Rock (45.11).
The women's 400m heats were won by Monique Henderson, in 51.17, Sanya Richards in a very-eased-up 51.02, and Dee-Dee Trotter, 51.44. Both the men and women will run semi-finals on Friday (23) and finals on Saturday (24) in the 400m.
The men's 400 Hurdles ran to form, with heats being won by Bershawn Jackson (49.60), defending champion Kerron Clement (49.32), Kenneth Ferguson (49.66) and James Carter (50.32).
The men's 800 heats provided some lively racing (with 10 in each of four heats). The two fastest were won by Khadevis Robinson and Jon Rankin, both in 1:47.47. Notable non-qualifiers were 2004 Olympian Jonathan Johnson (pb of 1:44.77, but 4 seconds slower here) and 1:44.93 man Kevin Hicks. Barely qualifying was three-time U.S. champion David Krummenacker, who grabbed the last qualifying spot with a listless 1:48.42.
James Dunaway for the IAAF
