Temple coach longing for a London ticket

EUGENE, Ore. - Shameka Marshall leaped her way into the USA Olympic trials women's long jump final, with one of the best performances of her life.

All the Temple University assistant track coach, a former star at Rutgers, has to do now is jump even farther in the final Sunday at Hayward Field to earn a place in the top threesome going to the London Olympic Games.

"Not bad," she called her 21-foot, 111/2-inch jump, which put her sixth in Friday's qualifying round at Hayward Field. The top 12 jumpers advanced to the final.

"If I get off the best jump of my life, I might make it," Marshall said.

Former Methacton High star Ryann Krais, now at Kansas State, had the best heptathlon score of her life at the nationals in 2011, 6,030 points, within shouting distance of the Olympic "A" qualifying total of 6,150.

But things are not going well for her at the trials.

She ranks 10th in a field of 30 after the first four events, well behind the leaders, 2008 Olympic silver medalist Hyleas Fountain (who scored 3,948), Sharon Day (3,797), and Chantae McMillan (3,762).

"I've had a couple of setbacks this year [notably a right quadriceps injury] and I lost some time," Krais said. "I've never been able to regain that lost ground. I'm just making up for missed time.

"My speed's not really there, but I know I'll get it back."

Allyson Felix won her semifinal heat. Same with training partner Jeneba Tarmoh, who moments earlier captured her race convincingly, too.

After the 200 final Saturday, these two sprinters will finally address what everyone is anxious to know: Just how they will break their third-place tie in the 100 last Saturday and decide who earns the final spot to the London Games in the event.

A runoff? A flip of the coin? The sprinters have elected to not say anything until after the 200. The controversy has overshadowed everything.

Including this: Some of the biggest names in U.S. sprinting were missing from the blocks in the opening round of the men's 200 meters. Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay were expected to sit out after securing spots to London in the 100.

But the absence of Olympic bronze medalist Walter Dix was a bit of a surprise. Dix was hampered by a lingering left hamstring injury that slowed him in the 100, but he thought he might be ready for the 200.

Now, his only option will be as a member of the 400 relay.

In the only finals on Friday, Emma Coburn won the steeplechase and Jillian Camarena-Williams captured the shot put.

But these days and at these trials, the overriding topic is Felix and Tarmoh. Just how they're going to settle the matter is something that's now been hanging over the competition for the last week. USA Track and Field didn't have any procedure in place to break the dead heat.

The Fastest Man in the World wasn't the fastest man in Kingston, Jamaica.

That honor goes to Yohan Blake, who got out of the blocks fast and finished the 100-meter final in 9.75 seconds to upset world-record holder Usain Bolt by 0.11 seconds in the Jamaican Olympic trials.

Blake is the reigning world champion but Bolt didn't run that night after a false start.

This was their first rematch, and Blake showed he more than deserved his title.

Asafa Powell will join them at the Olympics, where the calculus has suddenly changed dramatically.

In the women's 100, defending Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won in a Jamaican record 10.70 seconds, with Veronica Campbell-Brown second and Kerron Stewart third.