SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- David Krummenacker entered the U.S. track and field trials as the favorite in the 800 meters. He left the track Monday without a trip to Athens.
Krummenacker failed to make the American squad after finishing fourth in 1 minutes, 45.67 seconds, well behind winner and NCAA champion Jonathan Johnson, who clocked 1:44.77. Khadevis Robinson and Derrick Peterson earned the other two berths.
It seemed Krummenacker would have no problems making the team. The three-time U.S. champion had even decided before the trials not to try to make the team in the 1,500. Now he might have to rethink his choice.
Krummenacker never got it going in the 800, falling behind Johnson and Robinson. Down the stretch he was third, but was outkicked in the end to lose his spot.
"I just couldn't put it together," Krummenacker said. "I just felt kind of flat out there."
When asked about the 1,500, he said, "It was kind of ruled out. Now I have to go back and think about it."
Qualifying for the 1,500 is Thursday.
Robinson came up just short at his last trials in 2000, finishing fourth, while Peterson finished fifth at the last trials.
"It's a shame we're going to be leaving our best guy at home," Peterson said. "We've got a good team, some of us have international experience so who knows what will happen."<
Yes
Hazel Clark got more than a spot on the Olympic team after finishing third in the 800. Her boyfriend of four years, Wenston Riley, got down on one knee and proposed after the medal ceremony. The answer: A resounding, "Yes!"
When she came around to talk to reporters, sporting a new one-karat, three-diamond ring, Clark was still in shock.
The two met at a stop light in Gainesville, Fla., four years ago. Riley, a former hurdler at Southern Mississippi thought he recognized Clark, who competed at the University of Florida.
"He asked me if I was Hazel," Clark said.
"We just clicked," Riley added.
The two endured a long-distance relationship over the last year after Clark moved to Knoxville, Tenn., to train with her brother and Tennessee coach, J.J. Clark. But Riley had plans to propose at the trials.
"I couldn't think of a better place to do it," he said. "We both love the sport."
Clark finished in 2:00.37 for her second Olympic berth. For the second straight Olympics, she will share the experience with her sister-in-law, Jearl Miles-Clark, who made her fifth team but won the trials for the first time in her long career in 1:59.06.
Miles-Clark was an alternate on the relay in 1988, then made the team starting in 1992. She won gold in 1996 and 2000 and silver in 1992 on the 1,600-relay team, but has never won an individual Olympic medal. She had plans to qualify in the 400 this year, but decided not to after winning the 800.
What does she have planned for the next trials?
"Hopefully I'll be pushing a baby," she said.
Miles-Clark is married to J.J. Clark, who gave his wife and sister hugs after they made it.
Hammer Time
Dawn Ellerbe, six-time U.S. outdoor hammer throw champion, barely qualified Monday for the final in the event. Ellerbe was 12th with a throw of 202 feet, 9 inches. The top 12 in qualifying make it to Thursday's final.
Erin Gilreath needed just one throw to advance, her first: 222-10, the best toss of the day. The former University of Florida athlete started the 2004 season winning every weight throw in which she competed. Anna Mahon, the 2002 U.S. outdoor champion, also qualified with a toss of 221-9.
James Parker won the men's hammer with a toss of 254-6, making his first Olympic team. He is the only one who has met the Olympic "A" standard, so he had to win to ensure his spot in Athens.
"It's a dream come true," he said. "I've been nervous about this for the past week. It's a relief to have thrown very well for myself."
Marathon Still On
Despite pulling out of the 10,000 with an Achilles tendon injury about 10 minutes into the race on the opening day of the trials, Bob Kennedy still plans on running in the New York City Marathon in November.
Kennedy was injured two weeks before the trials but decided to give it a go anyway.
"Although I am greatly disappointed in not going to Athens, I still look forward with incredible excitement and passion" to running in New York, Kennedy said of his marathon debut.
And, of course, New York Road Runners president Allan Steinfeld welcomes Kennedy.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press
