Dana Pounds Wins Olympic Trials Qualifier
6/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 28, 2008
EUGENE, Ore. - Defending U.S. national champion Dana Pounds advanced to the finals of the javelin throw at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials after winning the qualifying round of competition on Saturday, June 28, at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Pounds recorded a qualifying distance of 187'10" to top the field of 24 by 10 feet.
She will return to competition at the javelin finals on Monday, June 30, at 8:20 p.m. (PST).
Pounds threw the advancing throw on her first attempt. The rulebook for the Trials states that once an athlete has met the automatic qualifying mark (185'0"), they are done. Pounds will have six more chances on Monday to meet the Olympic "A" standard of 198'6", which is needed to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games.
"It is the first time I have ever walked out there and automatically qualified," Pounds said following the meet. "Honestly, I am a little disgruntled because I was feeling good today and I only got one shot at the "A" standard. It was almost like taking a meet away from me. Every attempt counts when you don't have the "A" standard."
"I wanted to (take more throws)," she continued. "I had my coach look it up in the rule book and, sure enough, when you hit the standard on a qualifying round, you have to call it. I was really disappointed. But that's alright. There are big things in store."
Volunteer cross country coach Lopez Lomong placed seventh in the semifinal round of competition for the 800-meter run. He qualified into the event's finals with a time of 1:46.02.
In addition to Pounds and Lomong, the Academy was represented by Army World Class Athlete Program member Nate Garcia, who has been training with the Falcons' volunteer coach Bob Graf. Garcia placed 13th in the semifinal round of the 400-meter hurdles. With a time of 49.52, Garcia just missed a spot in the event finals.
