Walter Dix, Allyson Felix win 100-meter titles at USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Dix, Felix win 100s at US Outdoors

DES MOINES, Iowa — Walter Dix and Allyson Felix captured the 100-meter titles at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday.

Dix, who won bronze medals in the 100 and 200 in Beijing two years ago, dominated a thin men’s field at Drake Stadium, winning in 10.04 seconds for his first national outdoor title in the 100.

Felix, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200, fought through the heat and a strong headwind and finished in 11.27 seconds — the slowest at this meet since 1977.

Bernard Lagat won his fourth outdoor title in the 5,000, holding off Tim Nelson to win by less than a second.

Lauren Fleshman was the surprise winner of the women’s 5,000, crossing in 15 minutes, 28.70 seconds.

Kara Patterson was the star of the field events, shattering the American record in the javelin with a toss of 218 feet, 9 inches. Patterson made the record-setting throw on her final attempt, breaking Kim Kreiner three-year-old mark of 210-7.

The men’s 100, typically the glamour event of the sprinting world, lacked some serious sizzle this year in Iowa.

American record-holder Tyson Gay was sidelined by a hamstring injury and Shawn Crawford, a fourth-place finisher in Athens six years ago, scratched late to focus on his training.

The race got off to a rough start, too, when Travis Padgett lunged out too quickly and was disqualified. Dix had no troubles on the restart, making his push 60 meters in to beat Trell Kimmons by 0.23 seconds. Ivory Williams took third.

Patterson, who won the Olympic trials in 2008, threw 34 feet longer than the runner-up, Rachel Yurkovich. Her throw was still far from the world record of 237-1 set by Barbara Spotakova of the Czech Republic in 2008, but it was the fourth-longest in the world this year.

Kreiner was sidelined by injuries and missed the meet, but she texted her friendly rival with congratulations. Patterson said the crowd, which clapped before her final throw as though it were a jump, gave her a much-needed boost.

“A little extra energy, I guess,” Patterson said.

The biggest development from Friday’s semifinals came from 400 star Sanya Richards-Ross, who ran 51.82 and said afterward that she might scratch from Saturday’s final because of a lingering right quadriceps injury.

Richards-Ross got hurt the day before she was to run in the Penn Relays in late April and hadn’t competed until Thursday. Richards-Ross, who’s been ranked No. 1 in the world for the past five years, said she’ll get treatment and decide whether or not she’ll run on Saturday morning.

A lot of that depends on her lane assignment. The further out Richards-Ross is seeded the better, because the sharp turn on the inside lane is much harder on her injury.

“I don’t feel like I have the turnover that I’d like to have,” Richards-Ross said. “I definitely want to be out there. I want to compete. I mean, I didn’t come here to scratch either. But at the end of the day, it is somewhat of an off-year, so I just want to stay healthy this season.”

Lolo Jones, who grew up in Des Moines and is favored to win the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday, topped the first round with a 12.82 into a steady headwind. It was an encouraging start for Jones, who showed up in her hometown feeling ill earlier this week.

“I just got a Kleenex right before the start line from the trainer, so that was nice of him,” Jones joked. “It’s all good.”

Jones figures to get pushed by Ginnie Powell and Damu Cherry, who upset Jones on this track at the Drake Relays in late April.