EUGENE, Ore. --- As Molly Huddle made her way around the curve of Hayward Fields copper-colored track, the fans rose to their feet as the last leg of the womens 5,000 meters of the U.S. Track and Field trials turned into a sprint. Huddle, with a stride and demeanor that is both bird-like and strong, led the competition and pushed her way across the finish line first. And in doing so, Huddle, 31, became the first woman to win the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters in a single U.S. Olympic trials.If you had told me that [Id win both events] back in 2008, I never would have believed it, Huddle said after her race, remarkably not out of breath while several of her peers wandered the grounds around the finish line dizzy, leaning over with their hands on their thighs, at war with lactic acid and digestive uncertainty. Its pretty crazy to look back on it.It was a breakout performance, but nothing new to track fans who have been watching closely. Huddle has won bundles of national titles in cross country, road and track races, making her greatest challenge replicating that success on the international stage. Many at Hayward Field wondered: Can Americas great hope in womens distance running bring home a rare Olympic medal?Since it was added as an Olympic event for women in 1996, no American woman has made the podium in the 5,000 meters, as nearly half of the medals in the event have gone to Ethiopians. In that same time frame in the 10,000, only one American woman won a medal -- Shalane Flanagan -- who received a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games.Huddle, though, has decided not to run the 5,000 in Rio and will compete only in the 10,000, even though she calls the shorter distance her favorite event. (Huddle became the American record holder in the 5,000, running 14:42.64 in Monaco two years ago.) It came down to scheduling and preserving her body.In addition to her ambitious double win in Eugene, Huddle has announced that after the Olympics, she will run the New York City Marathon, one of the most anticipated marathon debuts in recent memory. The training regimen for an Olympic 10,000 better fits the lead-up to a marathon, but Huddle knows even that is cutting it close, with only a couple of days to rest after Rio before she will start preparing for New York, which is scheduled for Nov. 6.I try to take it one event at a time, Huddle said of her regular scheduling conundrums.Huddle has wasted no time using her podium to champion for a fascinating, off-beat cause: the adoption of a female runner emoji. (All the sports characters look like dudes! she told Runners World magazine.) Huddle said that she submitted her proposal to Unicode (the company being emojis) and said that she heard via two tweets from its CEO that theyre working on a way to modify emoji genders for a few characters, including the runner, but she hasnt heard about a timeline or anything specific yet. In June, Huddle won a partial victory when Facebook announced it would launch a female runner option. Huddle supports a designer who sells a T-shirt and a coffee mug with her proposed design (the latter of which is paired comically with a coffee and poop emoji, echoing an agony known by many distance runners), the proceeds of which go to support youth running efforts in Rhode Island, where she trains.Emoji activism aside, some track fans also hope that Huddle can bring a fresh face to a sport that has been enshrouded in scandal. While the Russians are banned from track and field at the Olympics, in February came reports that nine Ethiopian runners were under investigation for alleged doping. Antidoping officials in the United Kingdom are investigating reports that British athletes had used EPO while training in Kenya and there continues to be criticism that testing efforts in the East African distance running powerhouses have been lackluster to nonexistent.Looking at the results of what I assume are the Ethiopian trials, its frustrating because theres not a lot of talk about that country, Huddle said. But we have to get as fit as possible and just trust that rules will be followed in August.Huddles start with the sport was an unusual one. Her high school in Elmira, N.Y., didnt have a cross country team, so she ran as a one-girl team her senior year with her father as her coach. At the University of Notre Dame, Huddle was a 10-time All-American and, upon graduating in 2006, began running as a professional. She remained competitive but got lost in the pack as she regularly landed in the top 10 but seldom on the podium. At the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials, she finished ninth in the 10,000 meters and 10th in the 5,000 meters as other big names like Flanagan and Kara Goucher beat her to the Olympic berths.She won a silver medal in the 5,000 at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and that same year set an American record in the event as her performances started to break out in road races. Two years later, she finished second in the 5,000 at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and in 11th at the Games in London.But it wasnt until 2013 that her breakthrough really began. At the world championships, Huddle finished sixth, the highest American female finish in that event ever. She finished fourth in 10,000 meters at the 2015 worlds, heartbreakingly close to the podium. American Emily Infeld beat Huddle for the bronze after Huddle appeared to celebrate a stride too soon.With the success has come sponsorship, chiefly from Saucony. In 2015, Huddle won the most prize money of any American, earning $151,700 -- a small kitty compared to her counterparts in other individual sports like golf or tennis, but impressive in the lower-paying world of professional track and field.Often the narrative of Olympians is one of extraordinary power and exceptionalism, that their bodies somehow can do something the rest of us can only dream of, that they were born to be on that track. But its a false one, and its not how Huddles brain is wrapping around her greatest forthcoming opponents from East Africa. Her finish in Eugene of 31 minutes, 41.62 seconds is strong, but she knows she still has work to do to shave seconds off her time if shes to contend. In March this year, she beat Kenyan star Joyce Chepkirui at the New York City Half Marathon, when she ran 1:07:41, setting an American record for a women-only race and beating out Chepkirui by a mere 0.08 seconds.It would be tempting to see Huddles performance at the trials, the New York City Half, or upcoming run at Rio as coming out of nowhere, breakthroughs in the ever-competitive sport. Shes trying to hedge expectations with low-key commentary, but given her recent performances, its not off-base to think she could shatter them as if no one had been paying attention.But the reality is: Huddle has been there all along.Having seen some of the Ethiopian and Kenyan results, Huddle said that to medal in Rio, she would need to be in shape to hit a time that would be an American record.Im going to get as fit as I can for that race, she said. But I could have a great day and finish eighth. You just never know. Jalen Hurd 49ers Jersey . The Croatian served 21 aces and hit 42 winners against Sijsling, who double-faulted to give Cilic a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. "All the players, they know me and they were really happy to see me and they were really happy that this is over for me," Cilic said. Deion Sanders 49ers Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.49ersrookiestore.com/49ers-Mitch-Wishnowsky-Jersey/ . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Nick Bosa Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Jalen Hurd Jersey . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15.ANAHEIM, Calif. - St. Louis scored more runs than the Los Angeles Angels had allowed in their previous six games combined, and the Cardinals table-setters were responsible for driving in half of them. Jon Jay had three RBIs, including a two-run homer off centre fielder Mike Trouts glove during St. Louis seven-run second inning, and the Cardinals ended Los Angeles seven-game winning streak with a 12-2 rout on Wednesday night. Matt Carpenter, batting leadoff in front of Jay, also homered and drove in three runs to help keep the Cardinals two games behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central. "Matt Carpenter sets the tone for us, and he had a terrific game," manager Mike Matheny said. "He put together good at-bats and he doesnt give any away. It was also nice to see John Jay have some real nice at-bats. We need to get him going, and today was a real good indicator that hes on the right path. Hes been making some adjustments that are allowing him to have good at-bats, and it worked out for him today." Shelby Miller (9-6) struck out six over six innings and allowed five hits, including a two-run homer by Hank Conger in the second. The right-hander was coming off back-to-back losses against two other AL West clubs, including a 6-1 defeat last Friday at Oakland in which he lasted only 1 2-3 innings and gave up five runs. "I wouldnt say I was any fresher tonight. I mean, I threw 51 pitches in the second inning at Oakland and thats going to wear your arm down more so than going eight innings and throwing 100 pitches," Miller said. "But I felt strong, so I basically wanted to try to go deep in the ballgame. My pitch (count) rose up again, but I got some big plays behind me. "The biggest thing was just trying to get the ball down and hit the corners," Miller added. "I felt like I was on the corners — not the whole game, but more so than I had been. My fastball command was better and I felt like my curve ball was sharper. I just made that one mistake to Conger where I did that slide-step and tried to fool him with the curve, but I just hung it and left it right over the middle of the plate." Jerome Williams (5-4) was charged with seven runs, four hits and four walks in just 1 2-3 innings. The right-hander had not given up more than three bases on balls in any of his previous 17 starts. "After winning that many in a row, you almost always think youre due for a butt-kicking," Angels right fielder Josh Hamilton said. "Youd rather lose one like this than a really close one, but youve got to put it behind you." One night after the Angels scored all of their runs in the second inning of a series-opening 5-1 victory, the Cardinals sent 12 men to the plate in the second after Williams had set them down 1-2-3 in the first.dddddddddddd The seven-run rally included a two-run double by David Descalso, and a two-run homer by Jay that Trout had in his glove for an instant before it popped out as his arm made contact with the top of the fence. "The hardest play to make is when you get there at the same time as the ball," Hamilton said. "Youre moving pretty good when you get there and dont have time to really have a chance to time anything." Yadier Molina, who raised his NL-leading average to .352 after going 3 for 4 with a walk, greeted Garrett Richards with an RBI single that delivered the seventh run. The Angels got two runs back in the bottom half on Congers fifth homer after a two-out walk to Alberto Callaspo. But David Freese scored an unearned run in the Cardinals third when Richards mishandled a throw from first baseman Mark Trumbo on Carpenters two-out grounder behind the bag. St. Louis increased the margin to 10-2 in the fifth on a run-scoring, ground-rule double by Carpenter and an RBI single by Jay, who had driven in only one run in his previous 35 at-bats coming in. It was only his second game this season with three or more RBIs, the other on May 4 when he had four at Milwaukee. Carpenter ended the scoring in the eighth with his eighth homer, a solo shot off Billy Buckner. NOTES: Matheny caught Williams when they were teammates in San Francisco during the 2005 season. ... St. Louis LF Matt Holliday didnt play for the second straight night because of a pinched nerve in his neck. ... Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright was named the NL pitcher of the month for June after going 4-2 with a 1.77 ERA in six starts, including a pair of complete-game 7-1 victories over San Francisco and Oakland. He is the only one on the staff this season to average at least seven innings per outing. ... Molina was back in the fifth spot in the batting order, after hitting in the two hole the previous six games and going 7 for 25 with a homer and three RBIs. ... Cardinals LF Allen Craig drew three walks in the first four innings, matching the total he had in 116 plate appearances over his previous 28 games. He has 18 this season in 338 plate appearances. ... Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of Albert Pujols 10th career grand slam with the Cardinals, which broke Stan Musials franchise record. ... Jays only other interleague home run came on June 30, 2011, at Baltimore against Brian Matusz. ... The Angels have committed 61 errors, the second-most in the AL. The Cardinals have made 34, the fewest in the NL. ... Howie Kendricks 102 hits are the most by an Angels second baseman before the All-Star break. ' ' '