Merritt blazes past Wariner in 400 final

EUGENE, Ore. – Jeremy Wariner isn’t invincible anymore – a point LaShawn Merritt proved once again Thursday night.

Merritt pulled his second upset of the year over the world’s supposed fastest 400-meter runner, dashing away from Wariner in the homestretch to win the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Wariner still did enough to earn his spot on the Olympic team in his best event, and not everybody at the track was calling this an upset.

“Coming into this, I wasn’t really worried about everyone saying I wasn’t the favorite,” Merritt said. “In my mind, I was the favorite.”

Merritt finished in 44 seconds flat, defeating the defending Olympic and two-time world champion by 0.20. Earning the third spot was national indoor champion David Neville.

Moments before, the women’s 400 went much more to form, with Sanya Richards winning and Mary Wineberg and Dee Dee Trotter capturing the other two spots.

Richards is seeking an individual gold medal to go with the 1,600 relay gold she won in Athens.

In the 1,500 quarterfinals, former Washington State University runner Bernard Lagat, Lopez Lomong, Alan Webb and Leo Manzano advanced to today’s semis.

Lagat, already qualified for the Olympics in the 5,000, finished fourth in his heat, clearly saving energy for two more races to come. Lagat, who entered ranked No. 2, ran 3:42.11.

In the women’s 3,000 steeplechase, Anna Willard set an American record in 9:27.59.

The race of the night, however, was the men’s 400.

Merritt took to the track with a red-white-and-blue necklace his massage therapist made for him before the race. Wariner was in his trademark sunglasses, even though it was twilight.

He said he wasn’t disappointed in finishing second, “I just came here to make the team,” he said.

But his body language at the finish line told a different story. He shuffled his feet in apparent frustration, then looked at the clock, which showed 44.20 – well off his personal best (43.45) and nowhere near Michael Johnson’s world record (43.18) that Wariner has said is within reach for him this year.

“The record is one thing I want to do, but I have to focus on winning the gold medal first,” Wariner said in a quick televised interview after the race.

He is, indeed, not used to losing, though he has lost two of his last three races with Merritt in the field. Merritt snapped Wariner’s nine-race winning streak earlier this year in Berlin, a result that turned heads simply because nobody has really challenged Wariner since he won the Olympic gold four years ago. Merritt is 3-12 in races against Wariner.

But he was hardly in the mood to rub it in. Few will remember who won the Olympic trials. Many will remember who win the Olympics next month.

“Once I got off the backstretch, around the curve and down the homestretch, I could smell Beijing,” Merritt said.

Starting in lane 6, one lane outside of Wariner, Merritt jumped to a slim lead about halfway through, though that’s nothing surprising; Wariner does his best work in the final 150.

But Merritt did not let up and as they started down the backstretch, it became clear that Wariner would not make a move to catch Merritt, who finished second to Wariner at world championships last year.

“My whole motto is, ‘If I didn’t think I could win, I shouldn’t train as hard as I do,’ ” Merritt said. “Point blank, nobody trains hard to be No. 2 in the world. If you’re racing and get second place, you go back and train harder to be No. 1.”

When it was over, Merritt raised both hands in the air. Victories like this don’t come often.

But they aren’t unheard-of anymore, either.

“LaShawn was just the better man today,” Wariner said.

Among other athletes with local ties, WSU’s Matt Lamb had the top effort in his men’s discus heat (204 feet, 7 inches) and the second-best mark of the day in advancing to Sunday’s finals. Top-ranked Ian Waltz, formerly of Washington State University and Post Falls High, finished just behind Lamb in the heat (204-3) and easily advanced.

Idaho’s Russ Winger threw 184-4 in the same event and didn’t advance.

Idaho’s Melinda Owen advanced to Sunday’s final in the women’s pole vault. Owen qualified with a mark of 13-91/4.

Britney Henry, formerly of Lewis and Clark High, and WSU’s McKenzie Garberg did not advance to the women’s hammer final. Henry threw 207-0 and Garberg 200-7.

WSU’s Trent Arrivey cleared 7-1/2 in the men’s high jump preliminaries and didn’t advance.