EUGENE — Veteran Clayton Murphy won his heat of the men’s 800 meters in what was a homecoming of sorts Thursday at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Hayward Field.

Murphy used a final push on the home straight to finish in 1 minute, 47.05 seconds to qualify for Friday’s semifinal.

He is familiar with Oregon. Murphy trained in Portland as a member of the Nike Oregon Project before returning to Ohio, and is married to former University of Oregon sprint star Ariana Washington.

Murphy won the bronze medal in the 800 at the 2016 Olympics, and has a veteran’s perspective.

“You can feel great the for the week of the first round of the USAs, and feel incredibly flat and terrible in the first round,” Murphy said. “You can feel great the whole week and feel incredibly flat. Who knows what is going to happen in the first round of the 800?

“It felt really good. So, I’ll just get some recovery tonight, some rest, spend some time with the wife and kid, check out for a few hours and lock back in tomorrow.”

-- Ken Goe for The Oregonian/OregonLive