Day 4 (June 30): Highlighting Monday’s action at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. Kenyan native and naturalized U.S. citizen Bernard Lagat looked extremely pleased to wave the U.S. flag after winning the 5000-meter final in 13:27.47. No doubt he’ll look even happier if he can do so in Beijing. He’ll have his chance in the Olympic 5000, and possibly the 1500 as well. Lagat’s strong finishing kick Monday propelled him past second-place Matt Tegenkamp (13:29.68). Ian Dobson also qualified, placing third (13:29.76). Lagat will run in the 1500 Trials, which conclude this Sunday. He’ll attempt to duplicate his 2007 World Championship feat when he earned gold medals in both the 1500 and 5000.

Kara Patterson won the javelin competition with a third-round toss measuring 58.44 meters (191 feet, nine inches) Monday. She’ll be joined in Beijing by Kim Kreiner, who overcame recent Tommy John surgery and placed fourth with her only legal throw (55.9). The second- and third-place finishers, Dana Pounds (57.83) and Rachel Yurkovich (56.41), respectively, have not reached the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 198 feet, 6 inches, while Patterson and Kreiner have.

Another fourth-place finisher, Nicole Teter, qualified for Beijing in the women’s 800 meters Monday. Hazel Clark-Riley won the race in 1:59.82 while Alice Schmidt took second (2:00.46). Third-place finisher Kameisha Bennett (2:01.20) hasn’t met the “A” standard of 2 minutes, permitting Teter, who finished in 2:01.30 Sunday, to make the team courtesy of a qualifying time in an earlier event. Teter and Bennett had been slowed by a collision in Saturday’s semifinal, but race officials advanced them to Monday’s 12-runner final.

The home fans had plenty to cheer about during the men’s 800-meter final, as Nick Symmonds, from Eugene’s Willamette University, won the race with a strong kick to finish in 1:44.10. Andrew Wheating, from the University of Oregon, was second (1:45.03) while Christian Smith of the Oregon Track Club also qualified for Beijing with a third place finish (1:45.47).

As the decathlon competition closed with the 1500-meter run Monday, the only drama was whether or not 2004 Olympic silver medalist Bryan Clay would break Dan O’Brien’s U.S. record of 8891 points. He didn’t, but Clay scored a personal best 8832 to win the event. Runner-up Trey Hardee also scored a personal best (8533) to edge Tom Pappas (8511) for second. The three athletes took turns atop the standings during Sunday’s five events, then pulled away from the pack on Monday.