Dana Pounds Finishes Second at Olympic Trials
7/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
June 30, 2008
EUGENE, Ore. - Academy record-holder Dana Pounds, a current member of the Air Force World Class Athlete Program, placed second in the javelin throw in the finals of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Monday, June 30. Posting a distance of 189'9", Pounds finished just two feet behind the meet's winner.
Despite the second-place finish, Pounds missed a spot on the Olympic team, as a throw of 198'6" was needed during the qualifying period (Pounds had secured a personal-best throw of 195'6").
Pounds opened the finals with a throw of 171'2", before posting the 189'9" throw that secured her the silver medal. Although she fouled off three of her final attempts, Pounds added a toss of 188'4" to her evening.
"I truly believe the throw is there," Pounds said after the meet. "I'm not sure why it didn't come out tonight. I've believed for the last six meets that I've thrown in this year, that I've had an "A" standard throw. I've had more than an "A" standard throw in me. I think I tried too hard. I don't think I relaxed enough."
Purdue's Kara Patterson won the meet with a throw of 191'9". Patterson, one of just two throwers who had met the Olympic "A" standard prior to the Trials, will be one of two javelin representatives for Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. Oregon's Rachel Yurkovich placed third with a throw of 185'1", while American record holder Kim Kreiner finished fourth with a toss of 183'5". Kreiner will be the other representative on the roster, having met the Olympic "A" standard earlier in the qualifying period.
Volunteer cross country coach Lopez Lomong clocked a personal-best time of 1:45.58 to finish fifth in the finals of the 800-meter run. His time was just 11-hundredths of a second shy of the third-place spot. Lomong's Nike teammate Nick Symmonds won the meet with a time of 1:44.10. He will join Oregon's Andrew Wheating (second, 1:45.03) and Nike's Christian Smith (third, 1:45.53) as the Team USA representatives in that event at the upcoming Olympic Games.
Lomong is not done at the Olympic Trials though. He will compete in his signature event, the 1500-meter run, beginning on Thursday, July 3, at 8:25 p.m. (PST).
