EUGENE - Hurdlers Bershawn Jackson and Tiffany Ross-Williams missed making the 2004 Olympic team but positioned themselves Saturday for a trip to the Beijing Games by cruising to first place in their 400-meter hurdles semifinal races at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Jackson ran a clean race in 48.63 seconds. Kerron Clement won the other semifinal in 48.20.

“It looked easy but felt hard because of the wind on the backstretch,’’ said Jackson. “Let’s see what might happen in the final.’’

Jackson, 25, failed to qualify for the 2004 team when he clipped the final hurdle at trials and finished fourth. A year later, he won the world championships title.

“I will have a whole different game plan to deal with that wind, but the game plan is to win,’’ said Jackson, who trains in Raleigh, N.C.

Ross-Williams won her heat by a five-foot margin in 54.75 seconds, beating favorite LaShinda Demus.

“I felt really good and got out strong, knowing I had LaShinda behind me,’’ Ross-Williams said.

Ross-Williams, 24, was pregnant with daughter Samya in 2004 and couldn’t compete at trials.

This time, she is motivated to fulfill her grandparents' dream for her. Clifford and Cliffornia Ross are both ill.

“It was always their goal for me to go to the Olympics, and I didn’t have that chance in 2004,’’ Ross-Williams said.

FIRING SHOTS

Reese Hoffa won the battle of the shot put showmen with a toss of 72 feet, 6-¼ inches. Christian Cantwell was second (71-2-¾) and two-time Olympic silver medalist Adam Nelson was third (68-6-½). They are the top three shot putters in the world this year.

In the women’s heptathlon, Hyleas Fountain broke Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s 20-year-old record in the 100 meters on her way to winning the seven-event test of versatility.

Fountain, who finished fourth in the 2004 trials, beat Jacquelyn Johnson, a four-time NCAA champion. Diana Pickler finished third, which means she will be in the Olympics without twin sister Julie.

LATE FRIDAY

Distance runners Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley, who train together in Portland under coach Alberto Salazar, finished second and third in the women’s 10,000-meter final, which was contested late Friday night in front of a record crowd of 20,964 at Hayward Field.