EUGENE, Ore. — Instead of hawking shoes from the trunk of his car, maybe now Mike Rodgers will be promoting them from a billboard somewhere.

He is, after all, America's best sprinter this side of Tyson Gay.

Wearing his trademark headband, Rodgers sped down the track in 9.91 seconds, beating a depleted field in the finals Friday night at the U.S. championships. Darvis Patton was second and Monzavous Edwards took third.

In the women's race, Carmelita Jeter outleaned Muna Lee at the finish to beat her by one-thousandth of a second for her first national title. Jeter finished in 10.776 seconds. Lauryn Williams took third to round out the world championship squad bound for Berlin later this summer.

Rodgers opened up a big lead on Patton, then held on at the end. Now he has an outdoor crown to go with his 2008 indoor title and four other wins this season.

Olympic bronze medalist Walter Dix wasn't in the field for the finals, pulling up just before the finish line with a right hamstring injury in the semis. He joined Gay on the sideline for the marquee race.

Gay didn't even line up, keeping his vow to run only one race at the championships. He was using the championships as a tune up. He ran a wind-aided time of 9.75 in prelims Thursday, then left, having already qualified for this summer's world championships in Berlin in both the 100 and 200.

Gay thought Rodgers might be the favorite given that he was out of the race.

"I see the progression similar to what I had when I had my breakout year," Gay said earlier in the week. "He was kind of running 10 (seconds) for the past couple of years and had a breakout year this year."

Rodgers almost gave up track a few years ago when he was making more money selling shoes out of the back of his Malibu than he was at racing.

"I'd buy like 20 pairs of (Nike) shoes, and double my money," said Rodgers, who sold them on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist.

But he decided to stick with running.

A good decision, especially considering this year's results.

"I am stunned. I never thought I'd be running this fast this early," Rodgers said in a pre-race interview. "I'm putting it together. When I try to put something together, I try to perfect it. I'm not perfect yet, but I'm getting there."

In other action, Trey Hardee ran away with the decathlon competition, taking a leisurely lap around the Hayward Field track in the 1,500 to seal his title. His score of 8,261 points beat Ashton Eaton by 186. Jake Arnold was third.

Missing from the field was Bryan Clay, the Olympic gold medalist who pulled out of the decathlon competition Thursday with an injured left hamstring. It's a decision that will cost him a spot at the world championships.

Sanya Richards expended little effort in her semifinal heat of the 400, easing up well before the finish line. She has the two fastest times in the world this season, including a 49.57-second performance in Berlin two weeks ago.

"I'm really confident. Really positive," said Richards, who came out wearing a hot pink shirt and matching shoes. "This year I'm trying to forget it's nationals. I just want have fun with my friends and my family and I think it's working."

Like Richards, LaShawn Merritt looked strong in the semis, the Olympic champion winning his heat of the 400 by 0.52 seconds. Kerron Clement had the fastest time, though, finishing in 45.08 in taking his heat.