SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Appalachian State graduate Melissa Morrison won a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. She’ll have a chance to win gold in Athens. Morrison qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games by finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday. She finished with a time of 12.61 seconds. “I didn't have to win today to win. The goal was to get to Athens,” Morrison said on the Web site USATF.com. “I’ve been injured the past three weeks, and can barely walk on either Achilles.” Morrison finished behind Gail Devers, who edged Joanna Hayes for the victory. Both clocked a time of 12.55. Devers is just the third athlete to participate in five Olympic games, joining Carl Lewis and Willye White in that rare distinction. |
“The key to my longevity is still having fun,” Devers said, also on the Web site USTAF.com. “Going out on my own and coaching myself has been my biggest challenge. Now, when I go to the track, there is no one with me. It’s just me and my seven-pound Pomeranian, who is my training partner.”
Morrison, who graduated from Appalachian State in 1993, won a bronze medal in the same event in Sydney with a time of 12.76. She is also the 1997 outdoor champion in the event and a four-time indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles.
She qualified for the finals earlier on Sunday by winning her heat with a time of 12.67, just ahead of Devers, who had a 12.70.
"I really didn’t think I’d be here because of injuries,” Morrison said. “Coming in, I said, ‘I’m not going to be nervous, I’m just going to run and have fun. I called my mom in North Carolina and told here we’re going to Athens.”
Watauga High graduate Lindsay Taylor fell short of her bid to make the American Olympic team in the pole vault on Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Taylor finished in eighth place in the pole vault finals with a vault of 14 feet, 5 1/4 inches. Stacy Draglia, the American record holder, won with a vault of 15-7. Jillian Schwartz was second and Kellie Suttle was third.
Taylor qualified for the finals on Friday when she vaulted a 13-9 1/4 feet.
It was good for a tie for second with four other pole vaulters. Dragila won the flight with a 13-11 1/4 effort.
Taylor’s twin sister, Brenda, earned a berth in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games by finishing second in the 400-meter hurdles last Sunday. She was also the 2001 NCAA champion in the event.