Lolo Jones comes through in hometown, winning 100 hurdles at USA Outdoor Championships

Jones wins 100 hurdles at outdoor championships

DES MOINES, Iowa — Lolo Jones gave the hometown crowd what it came to see, winning the 100-meter hurdles at USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

It was, in her words, “pure joy.”

For Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards-Ross, the outdoor nationals were downright miserable.

Jones, who grew up in Des Moines, cruised to the title in 12.69 seconds, winning her second outdoor national title in 12.69 seconds on a scorching Saturday.

“Anytime you get a medal, anytime you win, it’s great,” Jones said. “But the fact that it was in my hometown, in my back yard, I was able to handle the stress of all that. I’m just really proud of what I accomplished here today.”

Wariner and Richards-Ross never got the chance to top the local favorite.

Wariner, the favorite in the 400, collapsed halfway through the finals with a hip flexor injury and was helped off the track as Greg Nixon won in 44.61. Richards-Ross, who has been battling a quadriceps injury since April, was a late scratch in the 400. Debbie Dunn took advantage, winning in a world-leading 49.64.

Though the scorching low-90s heat was undoubtedly a factor, the announced crowd of 9,024 was a bit surprising for a city that prides itself on its support of track.

Chaunte Lowe had the breakout performance of the day, snapping her own American record in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 8-¾ inches. Lowe set the U.S. mark at 6-8¼ last month in Cottbus, Germany.

Bershawn Jackson, nicknamed “Batman” as a kid because he had big ears and flew when he ran, won the men’s 400 hurdles in 47.32, the fastest time in the world this year.

But the day belonged to Jones, who focused on this meet during what many athletes considered an off year since there’s no World Championships or Olympics on the horizon.

Jones comes back every year for the Drake Relays, which runs on the same weekend as the more competitive Penn Relays. There’s no question she’s the star attraction either, as signs featuring Jones were hung up all around downtown Des Moines this April to promote the event.

But Jones has lost her last two at Drake — including a narrow defeat to Damu Cherry in April — so she circled the outdoor nationals on her calendar. Her focus was evident from the start, as Jones powered out of the blocks to an easy win.

Kellie Wells was second at 12.84, followed by Cherry in 12.86.

“I just kept telling myself not to think about the crowd for that moment, just to think about what I had to accomplish in the race,” Jones said. “I literally just started focusing on one thing: have a good start.”

Wariner, who ran a 44.73 to win the Golden Gala in Rome earlier this month, came up lame 120 meters into his race, falling on the famed blue oval as the rest of the field pulled away.

Wariner didn’t meet with reporters after his race and an e-mail from The Associated Press to Wariner’s agent, Deon Minor, wasn’t immediately returned.

The extent of Wariner’s injury isn’t known yet, but USATF spokesman Tom Surber said Wariner hopes to be back in time for his next race in two weeks.

With LaShawn Merritt out as well, having been suspended for testing positive for a banned substance, Nixon made a late push for the win in world-leading time.

Unlike Wariner, Richards-Ross never even made it to the start line.

Richards-Ross said after a disappointing qualifying run on Friday that she might scratch for the finals to give her quad more time to heal. Richards-Ross said she might change her mind if she got an outside starting position — which offers less stressful turns — but she pulled out after warming up.

With the defending world outdoor champion out of the field, Dunn captured the title convincingl, beating Francena McCorory by nearly a second.

Dunn has certainly taken advantage of the extended absence of Richards-Ross this season. Dunn, who lost to Richards-Ross in this event last year, now adds a national outdoor title to her world and U.S. indoor championships.

“I still would have run the same way if she was in the race,” Dunn said of Richards-Ross. “I just focus on Debbie and what Debbie has to do.”

Though the sprinters took center stage, the charismatic Lowe did all she could to steal the spotlight.

The record-breaking jump gave Lowe her third straight outdoor national title and fourth overall. Lowe, who was the bronze medalist at the World Indoors earlier this year, broke down in tears after setting the mark, then celebrated with a victory lap.

“You want things so badly, and a lot of times you want them so badly that you usually mess yourself up,” Lowe said. “I was just glad that that didn’t affect me and take me out of the game. Because I wanted it so badly.”

Anna Pierce made the winning kick in the 1,500 with about 200 to go, beating Erin Donohue with a time of 4:13.65. Hyleas Fountain won the heptathlon with 6,735 points, the best mark in the world this year.

The final Saturday session of the Drake Relays has been sold out for over four decades, but the meet Drake officials have dubbed the biggest to ever hit Iowa hasn’t come close to selling out yet.