Taylor's Fred Kerley punches Paris ticket in stacked men's 100-meter final
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Taylor native Fred Kerley ran to a spot on the U.S. Olympic team with a third-place finish in the men's 100-meter dash at the Olympic Track and Field Trials on Sunday in Eugene, Oregon.
Kerley edged out Christian Coleman to make it on the podium with a time of 9.88 seconds, .05 faster than Coleman. Noah Lyles won gold with a 9.83, equalling his personal best, and Kenny Bednarek finished second in 9.87. Five of the nine finalists clocked times under 10 seconds.
Kerley will run in the first round of the men's 200 on Thursday. He qualified fifth with a time of 19.86.
On Saturday, former Texas Longhorn Ryan Crouser won the shot put to send him back to defend his Olympic crown. Crouser won it with a heave of 74 feet, 11.25 inches (22.84 meters), more than a foot further than runner-up Joe Kovacs.
Crouser has won the last two gold medals at the Olympics.
The trials, held at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus,