Saturday Team USA track & field preview

ATHENS - There will be action in 14 track and field events Saturday at Olympic Stadium, with finals scheduled for the women's 100, discus and heptathlon.

Team USA has dominated the women's 100 in Olympic competition, earning gold medals in the last five Olympics dating back to the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Team USA has won more medals in the 100 (16) than any other women's event at the Olympics. Five-time Olympian Gail Devers will be seeking her fifth career Olympic medal, having already won the gold in the 100 in 1992 and 1996 and taking gold in the 4x100m in 1996. LaTasha Colander, the 2004 Olympic Trials champ, along with Lauryn Williams, the reigning NCAA champion from the University of Miami, will compete with Devers in the semifinals. The final will be contested Saturday night.

Maurice Greene takes his first step toward defending his men's 100m title from Sydney. He is joined by gold medal contenders Shawn Crawford and Justin Gatlin in the first and second rounds of competition on Saturday. The qualifying round in the women's pole vault also will start during the evening session, with 2000 Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila leading Team USA.

Tiombe Hurd, who set an American record (14.45m/47-05) en route to winning the Olympic Trials, will compete in the qualifying rounds of the women's triple jump.

The opening rounds of the women's 400 and 400 intermediate hurdles take to the track Saturday morning. Monique Hennagan and Sanya Richards pace Team USA in the 400, while two-time NCAA champion and 2004 Olympic Trials champ Sheena Johnson will run in the 400 hurdles.

TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY, AUG. 21

9 a.m. - Men's Discus Throw Qualifying Round - Group A (Olympic Stadium) - Jarred Rome, Chula Vista, Calif.; Ian Waltz, Chula Vista, Calif.

9:19 a.m. - Women's 400 Hurdles Round One - Heat 3 (Olympic Stadium) - Brenda Taylor, Chula Vista, Calif.

9:26 a.m. - Women's 400 Hurdles Round One - Heat 4 (Olympic Stadium) - LaShinda Demus, Columbia, S.C.

9:33 a.m. - Women's 400 Hurdles Round One - Heat 5 (Olympic Stadium) - Sheena Johnson, Los Angeles, Calif.

9:57 a.m. - Women's 400 Round One - Heat 2 (Olympic Stadium) - Monique Hennagan, Stockbridge, Calif.

10 a.m. - Women's Heptathlon Long Jump (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

10:11 a.m. - Women's 400 Round One - Heat 4 (Olympic Stadium) - Dee Dee Trotter, Knoxville, Tenn.

10:25 a.m. - Women's 400 Round One - Heat 6 (Olympic Stadium) - Sanya Richards, Austin, Texas

10:45 a.m. - Men's Discus Throw Qualifying Round Group B (Olympic Stadium) - Casey Malone, Fort Collins, Colo.;

10:52 a.m. - Men's 100 Round One - Heat 3 (Olympic Stadium) - Justin Gatlin, Raleigh, N.C.

10:59 a.m. - Men's 100 Round One - Heat 4 (Olympic Stadium) - Shawn Crawford, Raleigh, N.C.

11:27 a.m. - Men's 100 Round One - Heat 8 (Olympic Stadium) - Maurice Greene, Granada Hills, Calif.

6:30 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

7 p.m. - Women's Pole Vault Qualifying Round (Olympic Stadium) - Stacy Dragila, Phoenix, Ariz.; Jillian Schwartz, Jonesboro, Ark.; Kellie Suttle, Jonesboro, Ark.

7:40 p.m. - Men's 100 Round Two (Olympic Stadium) - Shawn Crawford, Raleigh, N.C., Justin Gatlin, Raleigh, N.C.; Maurice Greene, Granada Hills, Calif.

8:20 p.m. - Women's 100 Semifinals (Olympic Stadium) - LaTasha Colander, Garner, N.C.; Gail Devers, Duluth, Ga.; Lauryn Williams, Miami, Fla.

8:35 p.m. - Women's Triple Jump Qualifying Round (Olympic Stadium) - Tiombe Hurd, Upper Marlboro, Md.; Yuliana Perez, Fayetteville, Ark.

8:40 p.m. - Women's 800 Semifinal Round (Olympic Stadium) -Jearl Miles-Clark, Knoxville, Tenn.; Nicole Teter, Palo Alto, Calif.

9:15 p.m. - Men's 400 Semifinal Round (Olympic Stadium) - Derrick Brew, Raleigh, N.C.; Otis Harris, Columbia, S.C.; Jeremy Wariner, Grand Prairie, Texas

9:40 p.m. - Women's Heptathlon 800 (Olympic Stadium) - Shelia Burrell, Chula Vista, Calif.; Tiffany Lott-Hogan, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Michelle Perry, Los Angeles, Calif.

10:05 p.m. - Men's 3,000 Steeplechase Round One - Heat 1 (Olympic Stadium) - Daniel Lincoln, Fayetteville, Ark.

10:18 p.m. - Men's 3,000 Steeplechase Round One - Heat 2 (Olympic Stadium) - Robert Gary, Westerville, Ohio

10:31 p.m. - Men's 3,000 Steeplechase Round One - Heat 3 (Olympic Stadium) - Anthony Famiglietti, Knoxville, Tenn.

10:55 p.m. - Women's 100 Final (Olympic Stadium) - TBD