McNamara sets new personal best at Harry Jerome meet Sunday...

BURNABY, British Columbia--Auburn-Riverside HS alum Jordan McNamara (left/photo by Paul Merca) set a personal best in finishing second in the 1500 meter run at the Harry Jerome Track Classic Sunday afternoon at Swangard Stadium.

McNamara ran 3:36.03, beating his previous PR of 3:36.84 set last month at the Oxy High Performance meet in finishing behind former University of Oregon teammate Andrew Wheating, who won in 3:35.89.

However, McNamara was really gunning for the Olympic A standard of 3:35.50, which he missed by .53 seconds.

In a series of tweets after the race, he said, "Big last 80 but left it far too late. Agonizing 1/2 second off Olympic A. I'm fit for it!"

He continued, "I'm only getting faster. Still got a lot of sharpening to do! In the perfect spot for the Trials. Looking to take 1 last crack at 3:35 low," noting that he plans to take a shot at it on the 16th in Eugene.

Other highlights of the meet, which was one that several from the area competed in as the deadline to qualify for and/or improve provisional qualifying marks for the Olympic Trials before the June 17th deadline:

--In the 100 hurdles, Rainier Beach HS alum Ginnie Crawford was surprised by Canadian heptathlete Jessica Zelinka, who won in 12.76 to Crawford's 12.87. Former Husky Falesha Ankton was sixth in 13.49, while Idaho alum and UW volunteer coach Christie Gordon failed to finish;

--Washington State alum Anson Henry, who had missed most of the last few seasons after making Canada's Olympic team in 2008, was second in the 100 in 10.44;

--Washington alum Norris Frederick finished second in the long jump with a leap of 24-11 (7.59m);

--Ex Husky Carly Dockendorf was second in the pole vault at 13-3 1/2 (4.05m);

--Another ex-Husky, Kyle Nielsen, finished third in the javelin with a toss of 243-5 (74.20m);

--Gig Harbor's Mark Wieczorek was fifth in the 800m at 1:46.72;

--Olympia's Brittany Hinchcliffe was fourth in the hammer at 203-11 (62.16m);

--Another Olympia resident, Jenny Brogdon, was third in the high jump at 5-7 (1.70m).

Complete results are available here.

One mark we missed from Saturday's adidas Grand Prix meet in New York was that of former Husky Jordan Boase, who won the B section of the men's 400 in a time of 45.73.

At Saturday night's Portland Track Festival at Lewis & Clark College, Tacoma's Brie Felnagle finished second in the 1500, running 4:15.12 behind winner Kim Conley's 4:12.53.

In a very competitive men's 5000, former Husky Mike Sayenko was fifth in 13:39.75, as Dathan Ritzenhein ran 13:19.78, then turned around less than an hour later and ran 13:58.68 in the B section of the 5000.

Complete results from the Portland Track Festival, which involved several other athletes from Washington chasing marks for the upcoming Olympic Trials, are available here.

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