EUGENE, Ore. — Even at 34 years old and a veteran at his sport, David Oliver still gets butterflies the night before a big meet.
But Oliver tamped down the nerves and coasted through unscathed, winning his first-round heat in the 110-meter hurdles in 13.68 seconds under cool, cloudy conditions here at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. The mark automatically advances him to Saturday’s 5:25 p.m. semifinal round, with the final about 90 minutes later.
“It wasn’t that difficult, really,” said Oliver, who’s the No. 2 performer in the event this year. “I just wanted to take it easy. Standing around a lot out there getting cold, so didn’t want to really have to push it.”
His time was ninth-best in the field. Oliver, who lives and trains in Florida, hit his best mark of the season — 13.09 seconds — at a meet in Jamaica about a month ago.
“I feel good, just knock this race out and get ready for tomorrow,” Oliver said. “(The competition) is always strong, plus we’re talking about hurdles, so there’s barriers in the way. So you always have to have your mental focus up.”
Three CU Buffs advance to women’s 1,500 final. Jenny Simpson led from the front in her heat and finished with the top qualifying time — 4:10.09 — in the 1,500 semis, advancing to Sunday’s final as she attempts to make her third Olympic team. She was third at the trials in 2012.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you do it or how confident you are, it’s a relief to be through,” Simpson, 29, said. “As you whittle it down, there’s a higher concentration of really good people. So you’re standing on the line thinking, ‘OK, these people can run a legitimate race’ and make it hard and fast.”
Sara Vaughn, 30, just 11 months removed from giving birth to her third child, continued to impress with her fourth- place finish. She said she hasn’t run better in her career.
“I just feel so good right now,” Vaughn said after running 4:11.26, the fifth-fastest time. “I’ve got nothing to lose. This isn’t my whole world — it’s the happy part of my world. For once, I don’t have all of that starting line dread. I’m standing out there, like, ‘I want to be here.’ ”
Sara Sutherland, who earned a graduate degree from CU and raced a season of cross country and outdoor track after graduating from Texas, also advanced to the final, the last runner to get in, based on her time of 4:11.92.
Stevens finishes strong in men’s steeplechase. Tabor Stevens knew he was facing stiff competition in the men’s steeplechase. And when the pace heated up, he tried to go, but knew he’d have to set a personal best to hang on.
“The pace changed real fast, and I was trying to go with that, but it was so hard to move up,” said Stevens, who is running in his first Olympic Trials. “I didn’t position myself very well. I was trying to be efficient in the beginning and just relax. I wasn’t try to surge a lot or pass guys wide. I was just having trouble moving up closer to the front.”
Stevens, who lives and trains in Alamosa with his college coach, Adams State’s Damon Martin, had a successful career at the Division II college, where he won multiple NCAA titles. Last year, he attempted to become the first known runner in Colorado history .
