Luchini, Lane advance, set for Friday 5K final

SACRAMENTO – Maine runners Matt Lane and Louie Luchini had a straightforward mission on Monday night at the Spanos Sports Complex at California State University: qualify. In a race less concerned with winning and fast times than simply getting around the track, Lane and Luchini accomplished that mission by qualifying for the final of the 5-kilometer run at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

Lane (13 minutes, 44.99 seconds) and Luchini (13:46.62) finished fourth and sixth in the first heat of the semifinals, respectively. The top six from each heat, as well as the next six fastest finishers, advanced to Friday’s final. The final is set for 11:55 p.m.

Matthew Gonzales won the heat in 13:44.19. Tim Broe won the second heat in 13:42.19

The race went pretty well according to plan for both runners, who were amongst the favorites to qualify for the finals. But an unusually slow start – even for a usually tactical semifinal – had Lane worried.

Adam Goucher paced the pack through 800 meters in a pedestrian 2:17.87 and 1,600 meters in 5:40.52. So with two kilometers to go Lane made his move.

“When I looked at the list of runners, I knew I was going to make it through,” Lane said. “But it’s always harder than you think. So with 2K to go I’m having like this nightmare [because the pace was slow]. That’s why I went to the front,” Lane said.

Lane led until the last 400 and then cruised in with the other leaders.

Luchini was content to sit in the pack for most of the race.

“I knew I wasn’t going to take the lead!” Luchini laughed. “My plan was to sit in the group and finish in the top six. I didn’t want to have any places where I panicked. I just stayed in place and covered [the moves] slowly, and cruised in the last 200 meters.”

Earlier in the meet, Marion Jones, her vulnerability seeming to grow with each event, finished a shocking seventh, but managed to advance to the final of the long jump at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Jones, by far the best U.S. long jumper in a weak field, was among the 12 qualifiers who advanced to Thursday’s final. But she failed by a quarter-inch to reach the automatic qualifying mark of 21 feet, and got worse with each of her three jumps.

Jones, who won an unprecedented five medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, failed Saturday night to make the U.S. squad in the 100 meters – an event in which she is the defending Olympic champion.

Her qualification was virtually taken for granted in the long jump, in which she won a bronze medal in Sydney. Now it suddenly doesn’t look so certain.

Jones never smiled during her three jumps. She took off well before the foul line on each of her attempts, but never seemed to soar. As in the 100 two days earlier, she seemed to lack an extra gear.

Jones walked across the field after her three jumps, wearing a white cap and carrying a black and blue backpack. She did not come through the “mixed zone” where reporters awaited her.