EUGENE, Oregon (AFP) - Rising star Mike Rodgers is eager to take his place among the world's top sprinters after booking his World Championship berth with a 100m triumph at the US athletics championships.

Rodgers won in a wind-aided (3.1m/sec) 9.91seconds, slightly slower than his wind-aided (4.0m/sec) 9.85 in the semi-finals earlier in the day.

Even though the final was missing 100m and 200m world champion Tyson Gay and injured double Olympic sprint bronze medallist Walter Dix, Rodgers was delighted to secure his spot on the team for the World Championships in Berlin in August.

"Now it's off to Berlin I go!" he beamed.

Carmelita Jeter was also Berlin bound after an impressive performance in the women's 100m. Jeter edged Muna Lee for the title, both clocked in a wind-aided (3.3m/sec) 10.78sec. Jeter got the nod at 10.776sec to Lee's 10.777. Lauryn Williams was third in 10.96.

There was a scary moment at the end of the final as Jeter clutched at her right thigh then dropped to the ground after crossing the finish line.

"I caught a cramp about the 70," she said. "I'll be fine."

Jeter, who is unbeaten this season, clocked a wind-aided (3.0m/sec) 10.72sec in the semi-finals, the fastest time in any conditions in more than nine years.

"It was a great race," she said of the semi. "I did everything right. I didn't catch a cramp in that one."

Rodgers said the windy afternoon at Eugene's Hayward Field made it hard to judge where he really is in terms of time, but his confidence got a boost nonetheless.

"My coach told me, everybody told me, 'If you can do it with the wind, you can do it without the wind,'" said Rodgers, who was unhappy with his start but pleased that he "kept his composure" to fashion the win.

The 24-year-old beat quality fields at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York in May and the Prefontaine Classic earlier this month here in Eugene, where he posted the world's leading time with legal wind of 9.94.

"I've been running good all year," he said of his expectations for the worlds, where he will face the likes of Gay and Jamaican world record-holder Usain Bolt. "I think I can medal."

"I'm up and coming," he added. "If it's my turn to beat them, it's my turn to beat them."

Darvis Patton was second and Monzavous Edwards third to join Gay - who skipped the semis and final thanks to his bye into Berlin - as the US challengers to Bolt in the 100m in Berlin.

Dix, who took bronze behind Bolt in both the 100m and 200m at the Beijing Games, pulled up at the end of his 100m semi with a strained hamstring.

He said he wouldn't race the 200m starting on Saturday, his World Championship hopes dashed.

Trey Hardee notched a dominant victory in the decathlon with a total of 8,261 points. Ashton Eaton was second and Jake Arnold third, with 2008 Olympic gold medallist Bryan Clay sidelined.

Clay withdrew pulled out before competition started on Thursday after straining a hamstring on Tuesday, his World Championship bid over.

Angelo Taylor, 2000 and 2008 Olympic gold medallist in 400m hurdles, made it safely into the semi-finals - barely.

"That was a terrible, terrible race, but I made it through," Taylor said. "I hit the third hurdle and I almost fell down. After that I just relaxed and made sure I made it through without killing myself."

Olympic gold medallist LaShawn Merritt reached the final of the 400m with a solid semi-final performance, winning his heat easily and settling for the second-fastest time overall behind reigning 400m hurdles world champion Kerron Clement.