July 12, 2004
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Aztec Hall of Fame member Marla Runyan earned her second consecutive trip to the Summer Olympic Games after placing second in the 5,000 meters in 15:07.48 Monday evening at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
Runyan, who ran the top preliminary time last Friday of 15:36.75, was barely edged out at the finish by 0.07 seconds by Shayne Culpepper, who won the event in 15:07.41. Culpepper was sixth in the prelims, knocking more than 47 seconds off her previous effort to earn a trip to Athens.
Runyan is entered in two more events later this week - the 1,500 and 10,000 meters, which are both scheduled for Friday. She was eighth in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and is seeded fourth in the field at this year's U.S. Olympic Trials.
Four-time SDSU All-American Tonette Dyer made her debut Monday, running 52.14 in the quarterfinals of the 400 meters. Dyer took second in her heat behind Demetria Washington (52.13) and is seeded eighth for the semifinals, despite coming in tied for the 10th-best time of the day. Former University of Texas standout Sanya Richards posted the fastest quarterfinal time with an American junior record of 50.22.
With her top-16 finish, Dyer advances to Thursday's semifinals, beginning at 7:35 p.m. She will have to place in the top eight to make the finals, which are slated for Saturday afternoon.
The 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials take a two-day hiatus, before restarting Thursday evening with Dyer being the only former Aztec in action.
2004 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials
Sacramento, Calif. - Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex
Mon., July 12, 2004
Women's 400 Meters - Quarterfinals (Top 16 advance to semis) 1 Sanya Richards Nike 50.22Q 2 2 Monique Hennagan Unattached 50.31Q 4 3 DeeDee Trotter Tennessee 50.52Q 1 4 Demetria Washington Nike 52.13Q 3 5 Suziann Reid Nike 51.03Q 2 6 Monique Henderson U C L A 51.06Q 4 7 Crystal Cox Nike 51.44Q 1 8 Tonette DyerNike 52.14Q 3 9 Debbie Dunn Nike 51.67Q 1 10 Mary Danner Unattached 51.88Q 2 11 Angel Perkins Arizona 52.46Q 4 12 Charlette Greggs Miami 53.71Q 3 13 Moushaumi Robinson Nike 52.14q 1 14 Jerrika Chapple Unattached 52.16q 2 15 MeLisa Barber Nike 52.30q 2 16 Kia Davis New Balance 52.51q 4
Women's 5,000 Meters - Finals 1 Shayne Culpepper adidas 15:07.41 2 Marla Runyan Nike 15:07.48 3 Shalane Flanagan Nike 15:10.52 4 Amy Rudolph adidas 15:13.74 5 Jennifer Rhines adidas 15:19.15 6 Carrie Tollefson adidas 15:25.55 7 Molly Huddle Notre Dame 15:37.92 8 Melissa Buttry Unattached 15:46.21 9 Amy Begley Asics 15:52.12 10 Melissa Gulli Texas A&M 15:52.30 11 Sara Bei Stanford 15:52.43 12 Kristen Nicolini Team Usa Min 15:53.47 13 Katherine Newberry Unattached 16:14.89 14 Sarah Hann New Balance 16:27.73
Remaining Aztec meet schedule Thursday, July 15 7:35 p.m. - 400-meter semifinal (Tonette Dyer) Friday, July 16 6:40 p.m. - 200-meter quarterfinal (Tonette Dyer) 8:00 p.m. - 1,500-meter semifinal (Marla Runyan) 9:20 p.m. - 10,000-meter final (Marla Runyan) Saturday, July 17 1:10 p.m. - 100-meter hurdles quarterfinal (Miesha McKelvy-Jones) 2:02 p.m. - 200-meter semifinal (*Tonette Dyer) 2:52 p.m. - 400-meter final (*Tonette Dyer) Sunday, July 18 3:15 p.m. - 100-meter hurdles semifinal (*Miesha McKelvy-Jones) 5:00 p.m. - 1,500-meter final (*Marla Runyan) 5:25 p.m. - 100-meter hurdles final (*Miesha McKelvy-Jones) 5:50 p.m. - 200-meter final (*Tonette Dyer)
*If athlete qualifies from the heat before