U.S. Olympic track and field trials, Day 8

Oregon's Deajah Stevens burst onto the international scene last summer, when she made the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 meters.

(Joel Odom/Staff)

EUGENE - Deajah Stevens didn't expect to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team.

In fact, she didn't expect to run in the Olympic Trials.

"I didn't feel like I could be in the race with the time I had," she says. "I was like, 'I have more work to do.' And I was fine with that."

A mid-year transfer to the University of Oregon from the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California, Stevens clearly was talented but still acclimating last spring.

She had made a spot for herself on the Ducks' fast 4x100 and 4x400 relays, and was good enough to place second in the 200 meters at last year's Pac-12 Championships.

Then came her breakout performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, when she finished just behind teammate Ariana Washington in the 200 final. Stevens took note of her time of 22.25 seconds and began to recalibrate her goals.

"I was like, 'Wow,'" Stevens says. "I was like, 'Maybe I have a chance in the trials. Maybe I can make it to the final at least. I'm just going to give it my all. I have nothing to lose.'"

And, as it turns out, everything to gain.

Not only did Stevens make the Olympic Trials 200 final, she chased first-place finisher Tori Bowie to the finish line to finish second in 22.30, ahead of ex-Oregon sprinter Jenna Prandini and four-time Olympian Allyson Felix.

"It wasn't a surprise for me," says Oregon's Raevyn Rogers. "I think it probably was a surprise for her."

Stevens was floored. It was a pinch-me, I-must-be-dreaming moment.

"I was just overwhelmed with emotion," she says. "I was like, 'How am I up here? What am I doing?' It was like so many different emotions, I couldn't express them?"

Well, not verbally. The tears streaming down face told the story.

"I'm not really a person who shows a lot of emotion," Stevens says. "I didn't realize I was crying until I felt my face. Then I'm like, 'I'm crying on national television.'"

Well, why not? Stevens, was then a 21-year-old college sophomore who had just made the U.S. Olympic team.

The story wasn't over, because Stevens handled the Olympic qualifying rounds in Rio de Janeiro like a consummate professional.

She made it all the way to the 200 final, where she finished seventh.

It was transformative. Stevens brought the experience of running on the brightest stage in international track and field back to Oregon for her junior season.

The takeaway?

"I should have believed in myself a little more," Stevens says. "That's the mindset I went into this year with."

It might explain what happened at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas in March.

Stevens clocked a blistering preliminary-round time of 22.28. It would have broken the collegiate indoor record of 22.40 set by Bianca Knight of Texas in 2008 had Stevens not been disqualified for stepping on a line.

"I had my sights set on breaking that record," she says. "Unfortunately, it didn't pan out the way I wanted it to. But at the end of the day, I ran that time.

"Now, I feel I can do anything I put my mind to."

Stevens swept the 100 and 200 two weeks ago at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays.

Both races were remarkable.

Her performance in the 100 was especially notable because Stevens came to Oregon as a 200/400 specialist, without a particularly strong start. That part of her race clearly is improving.

Her 200 time of 22.31, run into a headwind, puts her on top of the 2017 Division I order list this week by a wide margin over second place Danyel White of Texas A&M, second with a wind-aided 22.55.

Stevens also has a share of Oregon's 4x100 relay, which has twice reset the collegiate record this spring, holding it at 42.12 heading into this weekend's Penn Relays.

Track & Field News projects the Ducks to run away the NCAA women's outdoor title, with Stevens winning the 200 and placing third behind teammate Hannah Cunliffe and San Diego State's Ashley Henderson in the 100.

The Track & Field News form chart has Washington, the UO junior who swept the NCAA 100 and 200 last year and joined Stevens on the U.S. Olympic team, fifth in both short sprints.

The Ducks are formidable on paper.

"It's awesome," Stevens says. "This girls group is changing history. Oregon was known was known as a guys' distance school. I mean everybody was good, but that was the main thing.

"I feel we're changing that and it's an honor to be part of it."

-- Ken Goe

kgoe@oregonian.com | @KenGoe