Armstrong strong-arms short-handed shot put field.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

Adam Nelson was warming up when he felt his right hamstring tighten and, just like that, an already small shot-put field got smaller with the loss of one of its marquee performers and the defending meet champion.

With Nelson out, Dylan Armstrong stepped up with a throw of 66 feet, 2 1/4 inches to defeat four others, including three-time world champion John Godina, at Hayward Fied on Sunday in the Road to Eugene '08 track and field meet.

"I tweaked my (right) hamstring a little bit on the second or third warmup throw and it's not something I'm going to push through today," said Nelson, 31, a two-time Olympic silver medalist and four-time U.S. champion from Virginia. "It was a little tight last week, but it was feeling good today. It's just disappointing to get hurt. It's always frustrating."

Armstrong, who led from his first attempt, delivered his best throw in the third round. Godina threw 63-11 3/4 on his last attempt to jump ahead of former University of Kansas all-American Sheldon Battle, who finished third at 63-7 1/2 .

"Right now it's still early for me because my national finals are in July, so I still got a little ways to go," said Armstrong, 26, the top-ranked Canadian for the past three years. "But I felt really good today. It was good to get in there with some bigger guys and get some practice."

Nelson only wished he could have been a part of the fun.

"I love competing here," said Nelson, who has the fourth-best throw in the U.S. this year. "It's always a great town to compete in. They've always backed us and supported us. It's a little disappointing to travel all this way and not get the benefit of great competition in front of a great crowd."

Amber Campbell picked up the win in the women's hammer throw, going against a field that included 2006 U.S. champion Jessica Cosby and 2006 U.S. runner-up and Pre Classic winner Erin Gilreath.

Campbell, who has the fourth-best throw in the U.S. this year, recorded a mark of 222-6 on her first attempt. Former Penn State standout Jennifer Leatherman was second with a throw of 221-9.

"Today was a pretty good day," Campbell said. "I'm always grateful for a win, so I can't complain about that. I think I could've been a bit more consistent as far as technique goes, and keeping it together."

In the men's 1,500 meters, Ryan McKenzie picked up his second win of the month at Hayward.

The Canadian slipped by Matt Tegankamp just before the finish line to win in 3 minutes, 39.93 seconds. Tegankamp, last year's meet champion, was second in 3:40.34.

McKenzie also won the Twilight Mile at the Oregon Twilight meet on May 5.

"I was sitting in fourth place for most of the race letting everybody else do the work," McKenzie said. "When you're running for a good time, it's not smart. When you're running just to win or maybe for some money, it's a good tactic. But (today) I would rather have come in last and run about three seconds quicker. But I'll take the win. It's a nice payday and actually a very good time for me this time of the year."