Former Castle High School standout Bryan Clay cleared 6 feet, 7 inches in the high jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Clay 3 points behind
decathlon leader after
event’s first dayA top-two finish would make the former
Castle star Hawaii's first track Olympian
since 1988
Bryan Clay didn't sound like a man one day away from having his ticket punched to Athens last night. You never would have guessed he had just turned in his personal best for the first day of a decathlon.
"My 100 wasn't very good, and during the race, I dinged my left hamstring," Clay said. "I almost didn't long-jump, but I got treatment and, after that, I was at about 85 percent. That's the way things go, that's the breaks," Clay said.
Despite "the breaks" the former Castle High School track star was three points behind leader Tom Pappas after the first five events of the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
Clay won the 100 (10.48 seconds) and the long jump (24 feet, 11 inches) and did his decathlon-best in the shot put (50 feet, 13Ú4 inches) on his way to 4,471 points. Pappas, who most considered the favorite coming in, had 4,474 points.
"Now, it's all about making the team. I kind of know what he (Clay) is capable of," Pappas said. "The better the competition, the better the scores. I had a feeling that Bryan and I would be close after the first day, so it should be interesting."
After completing his day with 6-7 in the high jump and 47.90 in the 400, Clay held a comfortable edge on third-place Ryan Olkowski (4,321) and fourth-place Stephen Moore (4,271) going into today's final five events. The top two finishers are guaranteed a spot on the U.S. Olympic team at the Athens Games next month.
If Clay finishes third, he still makes it based on a previous qualifying score.
Among those watching Clay yesterday was Duncan Macdonald, the Kailua graduate and Punahou track coach who made the U.S. Olympic team as a 5,000-meter runner in 1976.
If Clay makes it, he will be the first member of the U.S. Olympic track and field team from Hawaii since steeplechaser Henry Marsh (Punahou graduate) in 1988.
Today's events are the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters.
"Bryan felt like he missed on a couple of events. The runway was weird and he lost a little rhythm in the high jump. But it was a first day (personal record), so it's not bad," Clay's coach, Kevin Reid, said. "He got decent lane draws (for today). It's just a matter of staying steady. We felt like today could've been a ton more, but he doesn't have to set the world on fire."
