Finals
BOYS
It took 21.63 in the qualifying to make the fastest of the 3 final sections. In the final, almost no one failed to break 22.00.
The first heat went to Jared Williams of Georgia, who came up in Lane 4 to grab it in 21.91, with Josh Donald of Florida 21.94 and Stephen McLean of Transit Tech (Brooklyn) 21.98. In II, Ryan Bailey, the newcomer from Salem, Ore., had the coveted Lane 5. With Marcus Boyd, already the 400 winner, coming up on the outside as they came down the final straight, Bailey suddenly sprawled to the track, as Boyd sped by. Boyd was the winner in 21.61. Bailey, his leg wrapped, avoided flying off the track and had the presence of mind to get back on his feet, into the right lane and cross the finish. He still clocked 23.76.
Heat III had the 1-2 finishers from the 60 lined up head-to-head, with Trenton Guy in Lane 5 and Justin Christian, who beat Guy in the 60, in 6. Bryshon Nellum, the quartermiler from California, was also a threat in 4, along with Terrell Wilks of New Haven in 3. Christian had the advantage much of the way, but Guy, a relatively short, barrel-chested youngster, powered by him the final 40 meters to win in 21.09. Only 3 preps have run faster indoors. Christian ran 21.15, 7th all-time. All 7 of those were run on this track. Nellum and Wilks ran mere 21.63s.
GIRLS
Gabby Mayo (Raleigh, NC) came up limping after the hurdle final, and she scratched from the 200, where she had Lane 3 in the seeded section. As a result, Jeneba Tarmoh was moved into that heat, and others moved up accordingly. That put Dominique Lauderdale of Bakersfield, Calif., into the final, in Heat I, and she took advantage of that by winning it, in 24.54.
Erica Alexander, of Friendswood, Texas, won Heat II out of Lane 5 in 23.93.
That left Tarmoh, Ashton Purvis, Shayla Mahan and Tiffany Townsend in the seeded section. Townsend, in Lane 5, again appeared to be slow out of the blocks, just as she had been in the 60 final, but down the final straight she was too much for this field as she won in 23.34, 3rd all-time (but short of Sanya Richards’s track record). Behind her, Purvis ran 23.55, lowering the national freshman record again.
Qualifying Rounds
There were fireworks in the 200 qualifying. Twelve qualified to 3-section finals for each sex. Those will be held on Sunday.
BOYS
Bryson Nellum, the Long Beach Poly phenom, set the tone right away, running 21.50 out of Lane 5 in Heat I. That didn’t hold up long, because Justin Christian (Morrow Ga) was lined up next to the U.S. leader in the event, newcomer Ryan Bailey (McKay, Salem, Ore), in the next heat.
Bailey, in Lane 5, was no match for Christian, who was on the outside, as Justin ran away from him, 21.34-21.71, to claim the national lead.
And in the next heat, Christian lost his own stake to national leader. Trenton Guy Jr. (West Charlotte NC), who has looked good in the 60 qualifying, ran 21.30.
Eventually, five others ran under 22.00. Twelfth was 22.14. The seeded heat in the finals will be Nellum, Christian, Guy and Terrell Wilks (Hillhouse, New Haven), who ran 21.63.
GIRLS
Who would think that Shayla Mahan (Detroit) and Gabby Mayo (Southeast, Raleigh), two of the best sprinters in the country, could lose … in the qualifying? Yet that’s exactly what happened.
Mahan was lined up in Lane 5 inside Tiffany Townsend (Killeen, Texas), but Townsend powered past her down the last straightaway, running 23.44 to Mahan’s 23.90. That’s =4th all-time, matching Shalonda Solomon.
Ten minutes later, Mayo, who merely ran 22.88 outdoors last year, was in Lane 6 outside Ashton Purvis, a 14-year-old from Oakland, Calif. Purvis blasted it. Mayo, stunned, struggled home in 24.05, well back of Purvis, who ran a shocking 23.63, taking the national freshman record down by .63.
Those four will comprise the seeded section in the final. It took 24.83 to make the top 12.
