EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Tyson Gay easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday.

His wind-aided 9.85 seconds was a fairly cut-and-dry performance compared to what happened a day earlier. On Saturday, Gay misjudged the finish in his opening heat and had to scramble to finish fourth, then in his quarterfinal a couple of hours later, ran 9.77 to break the American record that had stood since 1999.

One of the men who talked about challenging Gay in the 100, his former Arkansas teammate Wallace Spearmon, failed to make it to the final by the slimmest of margins. The top four runners advance from each semifinal, and Spearmon finished fifth in his — all of .001 behind Michael Rodgers.

Spearmon, twice a medalist at world championships in the 200, was last out of the blocks and managed to make up a lot of ground, but it wasn't quite enough.

"Aim to win. Got fifth. Feelings are hurt," Spearmon said. "I'll make the team in the 200. That's about it."

Gay didn't get off to a particularly strong start in the first semifinal, but by the halfway mark he had established a comfortable lead. He slowed somewhat over the final 10 meters — nothing like the way-too-soon complete shutdown that almost cost him Saturday.

Asked how he felt, Gay said: "A little fatigued."

He's hoping to win both the 100 and 200 at this meet — and at the Beijing Olympics. He pulled off that double at the 2007 world championships.

Walter Dix, the 2007 NCAA champion from Florida State, was second in that race in 9.93. Rodney Martin and Xavier Carter also advanced to the final.

Darvis Patton won the second semifinal in 10.04, followed by Travis Padgett in 10.11, Leroy Dixon in 10.17, and Rodgers in 10.18.

In other early action Sunday at Hayward Field, 2004 Olympic silver medalist Bryan Clay was leading through the first four events of the decathlon, with 2003 world champion Tom Pappas in second place. The top three finishers in each event qualify for Beijing.

The Day 3 schedule also included finals in the women's triple jump, women's discus, men's pole vault, men's long jump and the men's and women's 400-meter hurdles.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.