Photo caption: Darvis Patton, left, crosses the finish line ahead of Travis Padgett, center, and Groveland’s Jeffery Demps in the 100 meter semifinals at the U.S. Olympic track trials.

This just in from Patrick O’Neill, our correspondent at the Olympic track trials in Eugene, Ore.:

EUGENE, OR - The party ended abruptly for Olympic sprint hopefuls 29-year-old John Capel of Brooksville and recent high school graduate Jeffery Demps of Groveland. Both Floridians were eliminated in Sunday’s semifinal heat of the 100-meter dash at the US Olympic track and field trials.

Capel, the veteran, was sixth in his heat in a time of 10.21. Demps, a Florida football recruit who shocked the track-savoy Hayward Filed crowd Saturday with a national high school and world junior record of 10.01 in the quarterfinal, was eight and last in the same heat with a time of 10.34.

Demps, who left from the meet Sunday hoping to be in Gainsville for football practice today, said breaking the record was the highlight of his athletic career, but football remains his first love.

“To come out here and break the world junior record in track is just incredible,” he said. “It’s better than throwing a touchdown.”

Demps said he plans to run for the Gators, but he’s not planning any more races for the summer.

“I just grew up loving the game (football),” he said. “Track is something I can also do.”

Capel, who Saturday said he had a good chance of making top three in the 100 final, said he wasn’t sharp after taking time off from sprinting. He plans to run in the 200 heats beginning Friday.

“It’s difficult [to lose] because you want to go to the Olympics in two events; you at least want to try, but it’s just the kind of thing that happens at the Olympic trials,” Capel said. “You’ve always got to be prepared. Today I wasn’t prepared.”

Also on Sunday, South Florida sophomore and Freedom High graduate Mikese Morse finished 13th in the long jump final with a leap of 24-feet, 7.25 inches. After fouling on his first two attempts in the final, Morse got in his one legal jump on his last attempt. His mark was more than a foot off his personal best of 25-11.

Morse said he came to the meet hoping to compete for a berth on the US team.

“I still thought I had a big jump in me,” he said. “When you’re out here you have to shoot for the big one or else there’s no reason to being out here. I thought I could get a big jump, but it just didn’t happen yet.”

Being on track’s biggest US stage was a “good experience,” Morse said. “I know I’ll be back next year trying to compete for the World Championship team.”

Another Freedom product, University of Florida sophomore Calvin Smith, advanced to today’s 400-meter dash semifinal with a second-place finish in his heat in a time of 46.14—exactly a second off of his personal best of 45.14.

Despite running in an event dominated by veteran U.S. runners, Smith said he’s at the trials to run with the best of them.

“It’s pretty hard, a lot of people have been running 44 (seconds) this year and a couple of 43s, so I just got to get out there and do my best even though I haven’t ran those times yet. Hopefully I’ll hit ‘em.”