EUGENE, Ore. — Molly Huddle ran hard through the finish line this time. Didn’t matter. Nobody was going to catch her anyway.
The long-distance runner who gave up the bronze medal at the world championships last year by celebrating too soon left no room for doubt Saturday at the U.S. track and field trials.
She outdistanced second-place finisher Emily Infeld by nearly five seconds in the 10,000 meters, never coming close to the finish-line stumble in the world championships last year in Beijing, when Huddle slowed and raised her hands a step before the tape. That day the hard-charging Infeld shouldered her way past for the bronze medal.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over it,” said Huddle, who finished in 31 minutes, 41.62 seconds on a hot afternoon at Hayward Field. “But I’m trying to move past it and not dwell on it, not let it steal anymore from me by fixating on it.”
Huddle insisted she learned from the mistake, even if the lesson was a tough one. On Saturday, Huddle took the race out at a brisk pace so that not many runners would follow the lead. There were four for a while, then three, and finally just Infeld and Huddle with a lap remaining. Just to be safe, Huddle cranked it up another gear to pull away from Infeld.
Still, Huddle couldn’t help but cast a quick glance at the scoreboard near the finish, just to make sure Infeld wasn’t gaining ground.
She wasn’t. No celebration, though.
“I was just relieved,” Huddle said. “I didn’t want any disasters to happen.”
There were certainly a few chances for one, like when a discus rolled across the track during the middle of the race. No one was bothered by it.
Or when Kim Conley, a prerace favorite, was stepped on and lost a spike. She had to stop to put it back on, costing her valuable time. So much that she elected to call it a day early and save her strength for the 5,000 on Thursday.
NOBODY HAD a busier day at the trials than Tianna Bartoletta.
The world champion in the long jump secured her Olympic berth in that event, which was going on at the same time as her 100-meter qualifying heats. She advanced to the semifinals in the 100.
Bartoletta petitioned for a schedule change to no avail. So she changed her entire practice routine to get ready. On an 83-degree day, she took one jump before running in the 100, passed for two rounds, then jumped again.
Other qualifiers for the long jump were Olympic champion Brittney Reese, whose jump of 23 feet, 11¾ inches was the longest of 2016, and Janay DeLoach.
ALLYSON FELIX advanced to the final of the women’s 400 meters, finishing her lap in 50.31 seconds, .03 behind Francena McCorory. The final is Sunday.
WHITNEY ASHLEY won the discus title at the U.S. trials by edging Shelbi Vaughan of Texas A&M. Kelsey Card of Wisconsin was third.
Ashley’s top throw came on her fifth attempt, when she sent the discus 204 feet, 2 inches.
SWIMMING
MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY: Michael Phelps made it 3 of 3 at the trials, rallying over the final lap to win.
The real race was for the second Olympic spot, which went to Tom Shields in 51.20 – just ahead of Seth Stubblefield (51.24) and Jack Conger (51.26).
MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE: Nathan Adrian won, making up for the disappointment of failing to qualify in 2012.
Adrian touched ahead of Anthony Ervin in 21.51 seconds. Ervin claimed the second spot for Rio, one-hundredth of a second behind the winner.
WOMEN’S 800 FREESTYLE: Katie Ledecky added a third race to her Olympic schedule, cruising to a nearly 10-second victory.
Ledecky will go into Rio as one of the biggest favorites in any sport. Leah Smith took the second Olympics spot in 8:20.18, nearly half a lap behind Ledecky.
WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE: Maya DiRado clinched her third individual event, beating defending gold medalist Missy Franklin.
Franklin held on for the runner-up spot, good enough to ensure she’ll at least get a chance to go for another gold next month.
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