Hampton's Wells, McCorory and Lewis at the 2012 Olympic Track Trials - Update

The coverage of the USA Olympic Track and Field trials begins on the evening of Friday, June 22nd on NBC or one of its sister stations. Stay tuned for Facebook updates.


Last year, a worldwide television audience caught a glimpse of the World Track championships, broadcast from Daegu, Korea. Amazingly, three of the female athletes who earned airtime during the NBC and Universal Sports television coverage of the meet have a common bond in that they are all graduates of Hampton University in Southeastern Virginia. Although running more for personal glory than Pirate pride these days, there is still a connection of sorts among the three – Kellie Wells, Francena McCorory and Yvette Lewis, that being the dream of representing their country and winning an Olympic gold medal. The trio didn’t all compete together for Coach Maurice Pierce at Hampton (Wells and Lewis were teammates from 2003 – 2006, Lewis and McCorory in 2006-07, the year after Wells graduated), but do bump into each other occasionally at track meets in America and Europe. As a followup to last year's profile of the three young ladies, here's an update of their progress, coupled with the initial entries. The Olympic track and field trials began today at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, a town affectionately called "Tracktown USA."

The Veteran - Kellie Wells

   Wells is the oldest of the three (30 on July 16th) and possibly the athlete most primed for Olympic gold given her age, experience and record of recent success.

At Eugene, Wells won gold in the 100-meter hurdles, with an inspiring performance in a world best time of 12.50, topping better known competitors such as Lolo Jones and Danielle Carruthers. Speaking to NBC’s Louis Johnson (after hugging him), her emotion was apparent. “I’m speechless and I’m a woman of many words!”

Indeed, Wells had traveled a rocky road. At the 2008 Olympic Trials, the Richmond, VA native competed in the semifinals and crossed the line in a personal best of 12.58 to qualify for the finals. However, with her first step after crossing the line, she heard a pop and suddenly fell to the track. The pop was from a tear in her hamstring and prevented Wells from the opportunity to compete for a shot at making the team.

Most of the 2009 season was spent in recovery mode, but signs of life showed in 2010 as the graduate of James River HS finished second in the 100 hurdles at the USA Outdoor Championships and ended up ranked ninth in the world for the event.

The road to recovery continued into 2011. Wells won her first US title in the indoor 55-meter hurdles with a world best time of 7.79. Her winning ways continued through the outdoor season with strong finishes at meets in Doha and Rome, then reached a new plateau with the race in Eugene. Given that the women’s hurdling contingent is arguably the strongest group of tracksters on the Olympic team, it looks as if the strongest from the group of Wells, Jones and others will take gold at the World Championships and become the immediate favorite for London.

Update: Kellie was the subject of a feature story in last month's Runner's World magazine. She comes into the trials with a qualifying time of 12.55, which seeds her second in the 100-meter hurdles, just behind Dawn Harper (12.47). This could be Wells' last chance to make the team and she will be a crowd favorite of the knowledgeable Hayward fans who know about Kellie's past trials and tribulations on and off the track.

The Phenom - Francena McCorory

McCorory is just 23 years old, but boasts a wealth of accomplishments over her short career. At the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track Championships, she won her second consecutive collegiate 400 title, but this time broke the nineteen-year old American record of Diane Dixon with a blazing time of 50.54. This was not her first American record, having also set the national standards for the 300 (indoor) and 400 (outdoor) as a star athlete at Hampton’s Bethel HS.

In one memorable high school race, at the 2006 Eastern region championships, McCorory ran the anchor leg for the Lady Bruins 1600-meter relay and grabbed the baton in eighth and last place, roughly 70 meters behind the leader. In a memorable comeback, she managed to systematically pass all seven other runners while posting an unprecedented split of 51.9. Accomplishments such as these helped McCorory earn the title of HS Athlete of the Decade from the Peninsula’s (VA) DAILY PRESS newspaper..

McCorory entered the finals of the 400 at Eugene with a strong qualifying time, but a heavy heart. Two weeks before the national meet, her father passed and she was determined to dedicate the finals race to his memory. In spite of a sluggish start, she regained her composure between the 150 and 350-meter marks and almost chased down three-time world champion Allyson Felix while finishing second. The margin (50.40 – 50.49) of difference was close enough to consider the Hampton resident a favorite to win a medal in Daegu, with Felix serving as her main competition for the gold.


Update: Francena comes to the Trials in a great position. Last year, at Daegu, she placed 4th in the open 400, while lowering her time to 50.26. However, given a second chance on the world stage, the Hampton native shined, anchoring the 1600-meter relay to a gold medal. Sanya Richards-Ross was her relay teammate in Daegu and will now be the top seed in Oregon with an impressive clocking of 49.39. However, McCorory is the second seed at 50.06, which she accomplished less than two weeks ago while winning the New York Grand Prix meet (shown to a national audience on NBC). With Allyson Felix opting out of the open 400, there is a great chance for Francena to make the Olympic team in the open 400. She is a shoo-in to make the 1600-meter relay team

The Grinder - Yvette Lewis

To date, Lewis has been a victim of an unusual run of bad fortune in her professional career. In 2007, the native of Newport News, VA finished second in the triple jump at the US Championships only to not qualify for the World Championships due to missing the qualifying standard. At the Olympic trials the following year, Lewis turned in a jump of 13.84/45-5 (after a best of 45-6.5 in the preliminaries), only to finish in fourth and miss making the Olympic team by one place and less than five inches.

The two-time NCAA champ also narrowly missed qualifying for the American team heading to Daegu. At Eugene two weeks before, Lewis placed fifth in the triple jump, then was disqualified from the women’s 100-meter hurdle finals due to a false start caused by a very minor shoulder move.

However, the future still looks bright for Lewis. At 27, she reports to looking forward to competing in a full slate of meets in Europe this summer while keeping in check for next year’s Olympic trials where she will be a force to be reckoned with in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles.  Don’t count out the woman who essentially won a state title for the Menchville (HS) girls track team by herself in 2003, then later set a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) record with 48 individual points at the 2006 meet.

Update: Yvette may be the only woman in history to run the 100-meter hurdles under 13 seconds while also having a best triple jump of over 45 feet. If there is anyone else on the list, my guess would be Jackie Joyner-Kersee. But Yvette is bypassing the triple jump (best - 45'6 1/2") to concentrate on the 100-meter hurdles, which is arguably the deepest event for the American women's team. She has been training hard in Chula Vista, CA for several years now, and the effort has produced success. Lewis has won several hurdle races in European and Australian meets while lowering her time to an impressive 12.76. In most years, that would be enough to make the team easily. but with Harper, Wells, Lolo Jones and others competing in the same event, the battle is uphill for Yvette. The good news is this - she has gained some experience and national TV exposure. Plus, Lewis is peaking right now.