Kerley Catches Norman In The Final 50 Meters And Wins 200 In 19.80

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

In their first meeting of 2022, Fred Kerley was able to power past Michael Norman to win a highly anticipated 200-meter showdown on Saturday at the USATF Golden Games at the Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. 

Kerley ran 19.80 seconds and beat Norman (19.83) on a track, and in a meet, that has been a venue for many of Norman's highlights since his high school days. 

Norman ran an excellent curve and had an advantage on the straightaway, but he couldn't hold off Kerley's late push. 

In the men's 100-meter dash, Oregon sophomore Micah Williams ran an eye-popping wind-aided time of 9.83 to beat a strong field with the seventh-fastest all-conditions time in NCAA history. The wind reading was +2.5, so it wasn't eligible for a record, but it demonstrated progress for Williams, who was an Olympic relay pool member last summer.

Brandon Carnes was second in 9.93. 

Williams returned to the track less than an hour later to run the second leg on his Ducks' 4x100 relay. 

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Tonea Marshall ran a world-leading time of 12.46 in the women's 100-meter hurdles, beating world record holder Keni Harrison (12.56) in the process. That race did have a legal wind reading.  

Devon Allen, who last week signed a NFL contract with the Philadelphia Eagles,showed that he hasn't quit training for his track and field goals. Allen won the men's 110-meter hurdles in 13.35 seconds.

Five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah participated in the first round of the women's 100 meters and ran a world-leading 10.89 (wind legal), but she did not come back for the final. 

Twanisha Terry, a former USC star, ran a wind-aided (+3.3) 10.77 seconds to win the women's final. Even without Thompson-Herah, the top six finishers ran under 11 seconds. 

Gabrielle Thomas doubled back from the 100 (third in 10.86) and made a quick turnaround to win the 200 meters in 22.02, the second-fastest time in the world.

Michael Cherry ran a fantastic April time of 44.28 to win the men's 400 meters. It was a world-leading time. Brazil's Alison dos Santos, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, ran a personal best 44.54.

Raevyn Rogers won the women's 800 meters with a dominant performance and time of 1:58.77. That's the No. 2 time in the world so far this year.

Bryce Hoppel passed Ryan Sanchez in the final lap of the men's 800 meters on the way to victory in 1:47.27. 

Jaide Stepter Baynes won the women's 400 meters in 51.43 seconds. Olympic 400-meter hurdles silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad finished fifth in 52.60. 

World leader and Olympic champion Valarie Allman threw her discus past 218 feet five times in six tries and won the competition by 20 feet with 227-11 (69.46m). Arizona State star Jorinde Van Klinken of The Netherlands threw a season-best mark of 207-11 (63.38m) for second place.

Olympic champion Daniel Stahl of Sweden won the men's discus with 67.65m (221-11), but Cal freshman Mykolas Alekna made it close. The Lithuanian threw 218-6 (66.61m) for second. 

Brooke Andersen saved her best throw for last and overtook Cal's Camryn Rogers to win the women's hammer competition with 251-10 (76.76m) in the sixth and final round. Rogers matched the Canadian national record with her fifth-round throw of 248-5 (75.73m), which also improved on her own collegiate all-time mark. 

American record holder Rudy Winkler won the men's hammer by nearly 10 feet with 259-6 (79.11m). Winkler took the lead on the opening salvo and held it throughout the competition, hitting his best distance in the sixth round. 

Vashti Cunningham matched the world lead in the women's high jump when she made a third attempt at 6-5 (1.96m) for her seventh career victory at the Mt. SAC Relays, competing at Hilmer Lodge Stadium for the first time since she set the national high school record in 2015. 

Cunningham raised the bar to 6-6 (1.98m) and missed all three tries. 

Pan American Games bronze medalist Clayton Fritsch took a step forward in the pole vault, producing a personal best jump of 19-0.25 (5.80m) to get the victory and an early season world lead. Jacob Wooten cleared the same height but finished second based on earlier misses. 

Darrell Hill led a 1-2-3-4 sweep for American throwers in the men's shot put. Hill threw 71-1.50 (21.68m) in the fifth round to move up from sixth to first. Josh Awotunde was less than two inches back in second place.

Keturah Orji won the women's triple jump with a wind-aided best of 47-8 (14.53m). She had the three farthest jumps of the competition and won by more than two feet. 

Jamaica's Danniel Thomas-Dodd won the women's shot put with 62-1 (18.92m).

Laquan Nairn of The Bahamas won the men's long jump with a personal best mark of 26-11.75 (8.22m) in the sixth round. He needed that big jump to hold onto the lead after Will Williams of the U.S. jumped a wind-aided 26-10 (8.18m) to momentarily move into first place in the sixth round. 

Americans Olivia Gruver and Rachel Baxter (Virginia Tech) tied in the women's pole vault as both of them cleared 14-9 (4.50m).