Posted: June 23, 2007

Athletics: Gay, Spearmon Advance on Day Three at USA Championships

Indianapolis, Ind. - Former Hogs Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon, Jr. advanced to the semifinals in the 200 meters on day three of competition at the AT&T USA Championships at Indianapolis' Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI. Gay, fresh off his 100-meter title win Friday night, posted the fastest prelim time of 20.66 and won his heat. Spearmon also won his heat but in a slower time of 21.00. He had the fourth-fastest prelim time. All four heats of the 200-meter prelims were run into a head wind. "It was a slow heat and it was windy", Spearmon said. "I didn't like the wind but you have to deal with it. It was my first time running this week and everything feels okay. I'll be ready (for Sunday's semis and finals)." Gay won the 100 meters in a meet-record winning time of 9.84 Friday night. With a headwind of .5mps, the time is the fastest in the world this year and the second-fastest ever run into a headwind. Gay's time shattered the meet record of 9.90 held jointly by former world record holders Maurice Greene and Leroy Burrell. "Last night has sunk in and I'm focusing on a new day," Gay said. "I didn't really warm up for long and I'm a little fatigued. The wind was pretty bad but everybody had to run into it." Michael Chinchar finished fourth in the finals of the junior 1,500 meters. His time of 3:51.45 was a second faster than his prelim time of 3:52.17. He will be joining the Razorbacks this fall as freshman. For complete results, schedule and details of the AT&T USA Championships, visit USATF.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest