Washington adds three more NCAA qualifiers; McNamara shines in international mile at Nike Pre Classic...

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--On the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary round at John McDonnell Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas, 1500 meter runners Izaic Yorks, Nick Harris and Katie Flood (left/photo by Paul Merca) assured themselves spots in the national championship meet at Hayward Field in Eugene.

In the first heat, Harris finished fourth to get an automatic berth to Eugene, running 3:45.71, as Oregon's Mac Fleet won in 3:44.67.

The second heat saw Pac-12 champ Lawi Lalang of Arizona win in 3:40.35, the fastest time of the day, with Yorks sixth in a season best 3:42.29, as the two time qualifiers both advanced out of heat 2 (top 5 in each heat, plus two fastest times).  

2012 NCAA champ Katie Flood of the Huskies finished second in her heat, running a season best  4:17.76, behind Arkansas' Stephanie Brown, who won in 4:15.94, the fastest time of the day.

Stanford's Darian Brooks, a product of Burien's Kennedy Catholic HS, finished sixth overall with a wind-aided mark of 52-0 3/4 (15.87m).

The University of Oregon, with Washington prep products Marcus Chambers and Michael Berry, won their heat of the men's 4 x 400 relay in a time of 3:04.10.

Washington will head to Eugene with 13 athletes, while Eastern Washington will go with three athletes, and Washington State two.


At the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, the third stop on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, Auburn/Riverside HS alum Jordan McNamara finished second in the international section of the men's mile in 3:52.89, behind Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano, who won in a short lived world leading time of 3:52.41.

In the Bowerman Mile, the meet's final event, Djibouti's Ayanieh Souleiman (above/photo by Kirby Lee, Image of Sport), the bronze medalist in the 800 at last year's world championships in Moscow, and the reigning world indoor champ at 1500,  ran a world leading and meet record time of 3:47.32, taking five other runners under 3:50.  Souleiman's mark was the fastest mile run in the world since 2007.

University of Washington alum Brad Walker tied for fifth in the men's pole vault with a clearance of 18-1 3/4 (5.53m) as world and Olympic champ Renaud Lavilenie won with a jump of 19-0 1/4 (5.80m).

Washington State alum Bernard Lagat was 14th in the men's 5000 in 13:31.23 won by Kenya's Caleb Ndiku in a world leading time of 13:01.71.

Tacoma's Brie Felnagle was 15th in the women's 2-mile in a time of 9:54.61, as Mercy Cherono of Kenya won in 9:13.27.

Seattle's Phoebe Wright handled pace setting chores for winner Hellen Obiri's world leading time of 3:57.05, as five women ducked under four minutes.


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