EUGENE – For the last month, Kara Patterson hasn't been able to step on a runway and throw a javelin without her mind taking control and dooming her to another poor performance.

That is until Saturday, when the American record holder blew away her competition to take first in the women's javelin throw at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

"I've been thinking too much in competitions and I just wanted to come out and really lay it all on the line," said Patterson, who broke the American record at this meet last year when she threw 218-8 feet (66.67m).

The Vancouver, Washington native eased to victory throwing 194-8 (59.37m) on her first throw, more than 14 feet (4,20m) better than University of Oregon alumna Rachel Yurkovich (180-2 feet/54.95m) who went away with second.

Patterson met the "A" qualifying standard of 200-1 feet (61.00m)in May when she threw 205-11 (62.78m) in a Diamond League meet in Rome. Meeting the "A" standard and taking first in the javelin throw Saturday guarantees Patterson a spot at the IAAF World Championships in South Korea on August 27.

However, after her last couple of meets, Saturday's victory was anything but a given.

Patterson placed sixth in a Diamond League meet in Eugene in early June, throwing 191-7 (58.43m). She fell even further in a Diamond League meet in New York June 11, where she threw just 179-2 (54,64m) to place last.

"Considering how my meets have gone in the last couple weeks, I'm really happy with throwing far on my first throw," Patterson said. "That was my big goal for today. I knew I was the first thrower. I wanted to put a mark out there that would be hard to chase."

The win is Patterson's fourth consecutive at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. However, she has her work cut out for her if she wants to be a contender in South Korea.

"It will be really nice to just take this ferocious attitude to those Diamond League meets to compete against the girls who will be in Daegu," Patterson said. "It'll be good to get the real season underway."

Yurkovich and third place finisher Alicia DeShasier, who threw a 177-2, did not meet even the "B" qualifying standard of 193-7 feet. They will have until August 8 to reach the standard.

"I'm disappointed with how today went, " Yurkovich said. "It just didn't feel really great today, but I think it was a constructive day. I think I just need to get back in the weight room and get some more power from myself."
The U.S. can send only one "B" standard qualifier to the world championships and that spot with be Yurkovich's if she can reach the standard.

"I have no doubt in my mind that I'll do that," Yurkovich said. "I'm happy with the position I'm in."

Avione Allgood, a high school student from Las Vegas, finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 176-8 to claim the prep record. She broke the previous record of 176-5 set by Yurkovich while she was a student at Newburg High School in 2005.

"It was nice to have her watching me do it," Allgood said.

Source: Jamie Goldberg, oregonlive.com