During the first day of the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, both Oregon athletes Raevyn Rogers and Marcus Chambers qualified for the semifinals in the women’s 800 and the men’s 400, respectively.
For Rogers, there was a brief fear that she wouldn’t make the team, as she finished third in her heat. Only the top two finishers in each of the five heats were guaranteed a spot in the next round. Roger’s heat was one of the fastest and the closest, with three of the runners making the next round based on their time, including Rogers. She finished tenth overall, while the two that finished behind her, Olicia Williams and Anima Banks, finished in 11th and 12th.
She admits to being nervous prior to the race, shaking at the starting line. Rogers pulled out of the first turn in fourth place, with a noticeable gap between her and third place. On the final straightway, Rogers managed to pull into third, finishing just .14 seconds behind second place finisher, McKayla Fricker, with a time of 2 minutes, 1.67 seconds.
It was a particularly quick race; the first place finisher, Kate Grace, finished in 2:01.36.
“I remember looking at the clock and seeing 54. I was like ‘Woah, this is fast,” Rogers said.
Rogers seemed torn by her finish. On one hand, she did qualify. But, on the other, she is used to being the fastest on the track and winning. After all, she was a two-time NCAA Champion from her first two years in college.
“This is just a reminder that everybody else wants it just as bad as I do, but I want it worse. I want it more,” said Rogers. “I know that everyone can be beaten. I can be beaten. Anyone here can be beaten, so just taking that into consideration and not belittling myself.”
Chambers’ race went a bit more smoothly. Although he spent the first part of the race in fourth, he unleashed a strong kick on the last straightaway to push him into second, with a time of 45.87 seconds. He finished 11th overall.
David Verburg finished with a time of 45.31; the fastest preliminary time and the fastest in Chambers’ heat.
“I know Verburg likes to get down and go fast, so I mean, I can’t change my race plan just because he’s going fast,” said Chambers. “I just kicked at the end to make sure I got second.”
Chambers said that he and Coach Robert Johnson’s plan going into his race was just to make sure that he got second and automatically qualified. Looking forward to the next round, Chambers is understandably nervous.
“Next, semis is the hardest thing to do,” Chambers said. “Everyone is going balls to the wall to make the finals.”
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03