Clayton resident Johnny Dutch advanced to the semifinal round of the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in the 400-meter hurdles Friday night in Eugene, Ore. Dutch, a rising sophomore at the University of South Carolina, finished 15th in the opening round in 49.96 seconds.
Dutch, who was 15th fastest in 49.96 seconds, will run in the semifinals Saturday evening. The top eight from the round of 16 will move onto the finals on Sunday afternoon.
Benson's Anna Raynor will compete in the opening round of the javelin competition on Saturday morning. We'll file another update after those results are posted.

When you’re a world-class hurdler the summer gets busy and it makes it a little tough to hook up with the old local sports guy at times. But Clayton resident Johnny Dutch and I finally caught up via email (he was traveling over the weekend for the U.S. Junior National meet) and discussed his run in the upcoming Olympic Trials.

A story in Wednesday’s print edition of The Herald discusses the chances of Dutch, Benson javelin thrower Anna Raynor and West Johnston High School swimmer Sarah Henry in the upcoming trials. Deadlines prevented me from getting these quotes from Johnny in that story, so here’s a transcript of our email interview.

Were you surprised to qualify for the Trials this year?

Dutch: “I was surprised I ran the time that I did. But one of my main goals was to qualify at the 'A' standard at the least, so when I ran past my own expectations I was ecstatic. ... But at the same time I knew I had been working hard enough to run the time that I did.”

Did qualifying for the Trials change your thought process about the summer?

Dutch: “I really changed my whole outlook for the rest of my summer season. I knew soon as I ran my times that what I had been doing had finally benefited me. Therefore, I knew for the rest of the summer I'd have to continue that same pattern.”

What is your goal at the Trials? Finishing position, time, etc?

Dutch: “First, I want to make it to the final heat of the 400-meter hurdles. Then when I'm on that line, I'll give it all I've got and hope and pray for the best. It'd be awesome to make the team.”

Having qualified for the U.S. Juniors, the World Juniors and the Trials, how has that affected your training? Does it make it easier or harder, having many events to prepare for instead of building towards one big one?

Dutch: “I'm use to running many meets during the summer being I grew up running during the summer, all summer long. Being that I have these three big meets under my belt, I simply train harder, but less. I don't change anything too much. The body just needs rest. It's important to not over train the body, especially for upcoming races like those mentioned.”

Does it make it easier going into the Trials knowing your best chance at the Olympics is probably down the road?

Dutch: “I'm simply honored to be able to run at the track meet. Regardless of my chances down the road, I'm running for this moment. I must have some type of chance if I'm there now, so I'm going to go for the team.”

Channel 5 repors that inbound I-40 was a bit trafficacious this morning for Triangle commuters who have the bad luck to live in Johnston County and points east.

So?

Slow traffic is newsy because today's bottleneck was in the vicinity of the new US 70 Clayton Bypass, which opened for business yesterday.

The question:

Was this just another dreary I-40 day -- better than some mornings, worse than others? Or did the new bypass make it worse?