USATF Championships
Des Moines, IA
June 26, 2010
On a hot and humid day where the temperature on the track topped 105 degrees, Team ASICS had a memorable day where we saw the hometown hero come away with a victory and the first time an ASICS athlete stand atop the podium in the 400m and Decathlon.
2008 Olympian and 2010 World Indoor Champion Lolo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA) did not disappoint the hometown crowd by winning her 2nd outdoor national title this afternoon in dominating fashion. Jones' winning time of 12.69sec was run into a negative 2.1 headwind and was .15sec ahead of the next finisher. Jones felt the pressure of being the hometown girl but was able to keep her focus and deliver a win in front of a very supportive crowd. After crossing the finish line and celebrating her victory, the crowd began to chant "Lolo, Lolo, Lolo" as Lolo made her way back up the track to thank her many fans. After the race, Lolo said of "there was so much pressure, I felt, for me to perform well here, especially since I didn't have such a strong outing at Drake Relays. I really just wanted to come back and come away with the victory. I just kept telling myself not to think about the crowd for that moment, just to think about what I had to accomplish in the race. I literally just started focusing on one thing: have a good start. That's all I kept telling myself because that kept distracting me from the fact that my Dad was sitting two feet away with my sister and brothers. I was just so glad that I could come back and make them proud that I was an Iowan born and raised on Des Moines tracks, so it was a great moment, really. I know they watch me on TV overseas, but this time it was in my backyard. It was a great moment." Jones will now head to Europe to race in the European Summer Circuit.
2010 World Indoor Relay Gold Medalist Greg Nixon (Los Angeles, CA) shocked the crowd as he powered down the homestretch to win the 400m crossing the finish line in 44.61sec, the fastest time in the world this year and a new personal best by almost .5sec. The most amazing part of his victory is that Nixon ran the race from lane 8 where he was not able to see any of his competitors until after 300m into the race. At that point of the race, Nixon saw that he was in a good position to win and sprinted away from the other sprinters to win his first outdoor title. Nixon's feat makes him the first ASICS athlete to win a US 400m Outdoor title. Nixon will head to Oregon to compete in next week's Diamond League Meeting in Eugene.
3-time US Indoor Champion Jake Arnold (Tucson, AZ) started the day 178 points behind the day 1 leader but slowly erased the deficit by winning 4 out of the 5 events contested in day 2 in the Decathlon. PB's in the 110m Hurdles (14.06sec) and Discus Throw (161' 2") got Arnold rolling as he continued a stellar 2nd day with wins in the Pole Vault, Javelin Throw, before finishing 3rd in the 1500m, the last event of the grueling 10 event competition. His point total of 8215 points was 114 points better than the second place finisher and day 1 leader, a 292 point swing. After winning his 1st US outdoor title, Arnold said "I came out today personal bests in the hurdles and discus, right off the bat. That really helped out. Pole vault, had a very good pole vault, just no mistakes really until I got to higher heights. Javelin, I had higher heights than I had recently. It really all just added up to me being within striking distance of the leader. I live in Tucson so I'm used to heat, but the humidity was a different story. Even when you're sitting in the shade, you're just feeling hot. The humidity definitely took a toll on me." Arnold is the first ASICS athlete to win an outdoor Decathlon title at the US Championships.
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Lolo Jones |
Greg Nixon |
Jake Arnold |
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From the prelims |