Blewitt is fifth, but still has outside chance

There is a chance that she could try for the Olympic standard until Aug. 9.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Boardman's Adriane Blewitt finished fifth in the shot put Friday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Meet Team Trials with a throw of 54 feet, 21/2 inches, but there's still a possibility she could earn a trip to next month's Summer Olympics in Greece.
The top three finishers earn the Olympic berths. Denise Gorski, Blewitt's coach at Boardman High, says the fourth-place shot-put finisher (Stephanie Brown, 56-10 3/4) also qualified in the discus and may cede her fourth-place shot-put ranking to Blewitt.
This would give Blewitt a chance to try to make the Olympic-standard distance of 60-101/2 until Aug. 9 in other meets, in a last-ditch attempt to make the top three.
Gerraughty wins
Laura Gerraughty of the University of North Carolina won the shot put with 60 feet, 81/2 inches. Kristin Heaston, who is sponsored by Nike, finished second at 59-43/4.
Jill Camerana of Stanford threw 58-2 for third place, followed by Brown who is unattached and Blewitt, a member of the Ashland Elite team.
Gerraughty and Heaston have surpassed the Olympic standard of 60-101/2. If Brown drops out, Blewitt would have a month to try and attain the Olympic standard which would send her to Athens if Camerana hasn't reached it.
Jones looks ordinary
In other events, Marion Jones returned to the track a night after her emotional victory in the long jump at the U.S. Olympic trials, and looked downright ordinary in the 200 meters.
Jones faded to last in her five-woman qualifying heat, slowing to nearly a trot on the final straight-away.
But she still easily advanced to today's semifinals, because only one of the 19 women entered in the quarterfinals was eliminated.
It was unclear whether Jones, the reigning Olympic champion in the 200, was struggling in the final meters of the race or whether she knew she could qualify without much effort. She declined to talk with reporters after the race.
The fastest time in the quarterfinals was 22.60 seconds by Torri Edwards, who placed second in the 100 last weekend. But Edwards' chances of going to the Athens Olympics depend on the results of an arbitration hearing in a drug case.
Tested positive
Edwards acknowledged this week that she had a positive test for a banned stimulant this year, but claims she took the drug inadvertently and is trying to avoid a 2-year ban that would knock her out of the Olympics.
In the men's 200, Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay ran three of the four fastest times in the world this year in the qualifying heats.
Crawford ran a world's best 19.88, while Gatlin ran 20.06 and Gay, the NCAA champion from Arkansas, had a personal best 20.07.
Gatlin and Crawford already are on the U.S. Olympic team in the 100, along with defending Olympic champion Maurice Greene. Greene was entered in the 200 as well, but -- as expected -- did not show up for his heat.
In the women's 200, there were six no-shows. LaTasha Colander, the trials' 100-meter champion, and Chryste Gaines, who has been charged with steroid use and faces a lifetime ban if found guilty, were among those who withdrew.
So Jones began her heat -- the last of four -- knowing she could take it easy and still advance to the semifinals.
Jones got off to a poor start, but ran the curve well and was among the leaders coming into the final straightaway. Then she slowed significantly in the last 80 meters and finished far behind heat winner Inger Miller.