By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Melissa Jefferson-Wooden claimed the 200 metres prize in a pristine sprint on the final day of the U.S. national championships on Sunday, where the world champion Noah Lyles pulled up short on the men's side.
Jefferson-Wooden completed the sprint double in Tokyo last year and was near the top of her form as she blitzed through the first half of the race and crossed the line in 21.69 seconds, one hundredth of a second off her personal best.
Cambrea Sturgis
was a distant second in 22.22 while Camryn Dickson (22.58) took third.
"Going up to the line, I just told myself, 'Just let each phase of the race come to you. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just go out there and when the gun goes off, let it rip'," said Jefferson-Wooden. "And that's what I did."
Lyles gave the fans a fright when he pulled up with a leg cramp down the final straight, sending audible gasps through the stands at Icahn Stadium. The winner of the 100m earlier in the championships later said he was okay, citing the intense workload he put on himself.
Garrett Kaalund won in 20.04 seconds while Brandon Hicklin took second in 20.29 and Maximilian Thomas finished two thousandths of a second slower for third.
ATHLETES ABSENT IN 'OFF YEAR'
An "off year" with no Olympics or worlds deprived the competition of its usual suspense, marking the first time since 2018 the U.S. nationals did not serve as a selection meet for the two global competitions.
The New York crowd also took time to warm up to the event — which was held in the five boroughs for the first time in more than three decades — and sparse early attendance gave way to a packed house for Sunday's finale.
Some of the sport's top names were absent, including the reigning women's and men's 400m hurdles Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who gave birth earlier this month, and Rai Benjamin.
The Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell confidently ran to the top of the podium in 52.94 while Christopher Robinson produced his best performance of the season to win the men's race in 47.61.
Nia Akins (1:59.25) pipped Addy Wiley (1:59.40) to win the women's 800m after sprinting down the final straight. It was the second heartbreak in two days for Wiley, who lost the 1,500m by four hundredths of a second to Nikki Hiltz on Saturday.
On the men's side, the 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus put on another clinic to win in 1:43.48, more than a second ahead of Wes Ferguson (1:44.55).
In the final track event of the day, Cordell Tinch outlasted Bradley Franklin to win in 13.00 by a margin of just four thousandths of a second, with the recent world record-breaker Ja'Kobe Tharp not competing.
The back-to-back Olympic champion Valarie Sion reached 69.54 metres on her fourth attempt to win her eighth consecutive women's U.S. national discus title, while Jordan Geist took the men's shot put with 22.32 in his final throw.
In a final bit of drama for the day, the Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall finished third in the women's long jump, after initially being declared the winner on her final attempt. The jump was ruled a foul after a protest and Alyssa Jones took the win with 6.96, while Monae' Nichols (6.92) finished second.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
