By Doug Binder for Armorytrack

The Armory’s own Justin Gaymon returned to the U.S. Championships stage on Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Gaymon, who handles communications and social media at The Armory, was disappointed by his first round race in the 400-meter hurdles. He ran 51.37 seconds and missed moving to the next round by three spots.

“By the time I hit 150 (meters) left I realized I was really behind,” Gaymon said. “Hurdles still weren’t coming up for me (in cadence) and I couldn’t get into a rhythm. It was the worst race of my entire life.”

Perhaps not many people know that Gaymon was working long hours during the rapid-fire indoor schedule at the Armory and then pushing himself through late-night workouts and The Armory – and sometimes later lifting sessions at the New York Athletic Club.

Gaymon has also been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury since May. He did, however, travel to Turkey for a pair of club races that went reasonably well.

“I was very positive,” Gaymon said. “I had a good week of practice last week and that gave me a lot of confidence. Even though I didn’t have the speed or didn’t have the hurdles down, I wanted to use the crowd here at Hayward Field to bring me through.”

Elsewhere on Thursday, athletes with Armory ties fared somewhat better:

-          Neptune NJ native Ajee Wilson advanced in the women’s 800 meters with the leading time in the event, 2:01.96. Wilson is aiming to make her second World Championships team. Charlene Lipsey (Hempstead NY) also advanced safely, and so did LaTavia Thomas of NJNYTC.

-          In the men’s 800, NYNYTC’s Michael Rutt was among the 16 athletes who stayed out of trouble and advanced to the semifinal round. Jesse Garn of Binghamton, however, ran 1:48.59 and missed going forward by two spots.

-          In the women’s 400, there were few surprises. Sanya Richards Ross and Allyson Felix advanced to the next round along with Phyllis Francis (McAuley NY) and Natasha Hastings.

-          In the men’s 400, the University of Florida’s Najee Glass (St. Peter’s Prep) ran 45.73 for second place in the fifth heat to automatically advance, and so did Clayton Parros (Seton Hall Prep NJ), but Brycen Spratling (Schroeder NY) missed the cut.

-          English Gardner ran 10.92 in her first round 100 meters race to advance with the fifth-fastest time.

-          Sam Mattis of Penn, the NCAA champion in the discus, finished eighth in the U.S. final with a best throw of 199-6.

-          In the men’s hammer final, three Americans met the IAAF A standard for the first time since 1992. Chuk Enekwechi of Purdue finished 10^th with 224-3, Rudy Winkler of Cornell was 11^th with 223-3 and Jake Freeman, the Millrose Games weight throw champion, was 16^th with 215-10.

-          In the men’s javelin, Curtis Thompson of Mississippi State (Florence NJ) finished sixth with a best throw of 237-8. Timothy vanLiew of adidas/Garden State was seventh with 227-0 and Barry Krammes of Shore AC was 12^th with 223-3.

-          Matthew Centrowitz and Robby Andrews posted the two fastest times in the first round of the men’s 1,500 to easily advance. Kyle Merber of Hoka/NJNYTC also made the cut but Chad Noelle did not.

-          Ashley Higginson of NJNYTC ran 9:46.79 for the fifth fastest time in the first round of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. She will advance to the final on Saturday.