Washington qualifies five more athletes for NCAA championships...

LAWRENCE, Kansas—The University of Washington advanced a total of five athletes to the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Saturday’s final day of competition, hosted by the University of Kansas at Rock Chalk Park.

Washington’s Anna Maxwell (left/photo by Paul Merca) won her heat of the women’s 1500, running 4:18.39, with teammate Amy-Eloise Neale placing fourth in 4:18.67.  Maxwell got the auto qualifier to Eugene as the heat winner, while Neale’s time held up as the final time qualifier.

In the men’s 1500, Izaic Yorks took no chances, and ran solo, winning in 3:43.14 in clocking the fastest time of the four heats. Like Neale, Blake Nelson earned the final time qualifier in 3:44.08, running in the same heat as Yorks, while finishing fourth.

Puyallup native David Elliott of Boise State was an auto qualifier in the 1500 as well, finishing second in his heat in 3:46.46.

Gig Harbor HS grad Brenna Peloquin of Boise State added the 5000 to the 10000, finishing third in her heat to qualify for Eugene in 16:09.14.

Washington’s Colby Gilbert qualified easily in the men’s 5000, as the Skyview/Vancouver grad finished third in his heat in a time of 14:12.25.

Montesano HS grad Tera Novy of USC threw 182-6 (55.62m), which was the sixth furthest throw of the day to qualify for the national finals.

Federal Way HS grad Hannah Cunliffe ran her customary third leg to help Oregon win their section of the 4 x 100 meter relay, as they ran the second fastest time of the day in 43.75.  Tacoma’s Marcus Chambers ran the anchor leg on Oregon’s 4 x 100 relay, helping the Ducks clock 39.76 to get the next-to-last automatic spot to Eugene.

The NCAA championship finals begin Wednesday June 8th at Hayward Field in Eugene.


PRO ROUNDUP: Nike Pre Classic/Gotzis Hypomeeting

In Eugene, many of the world’s best track & field athletes mixed it up at the Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.

The National mile run saw Auburn Riverside HS alum Jordan McNamara (left/photo by Howard Lao) finish third in 3:58.28, as Great Britain’s Charlie Grice won in 3:52.64.

Camas native Alexa Efraimson finished twelfth in the women’s Diamond 1500m race running 4:08.81. Faith Kipyegon of Kenya won in a field record 3:56.41.

Washington State University hall of famer Bernard Lagat failed to finish the men’s 5000.  Muktar Edris of Ethiopia won the race in 12:59.43.


In Gotzis, Austria, University of Washington alum Jeremy Taiwo stands third at the halfway point of the Gotzis Hypomeeting decathlon competition with a first day score of 4373 points.

Taiwo, who was sixth in this meet last year, started the day by running the 100 in 10.89, just 5/100ths off his personal best.  He then jumped 23-11.5 (7.30m) on his lone fair attempt in the long jump, before throwing the shot 48-8.25 (14.84m), just 9 centimeters short of his personal best of 48-11.75.

The two-time world championships team member took the overall lead in the high jump, winning that event with a outdoor personal best of 7-1.75 (2.18m).  He then finished the day by running a sub par 49.25 in the 400.

IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 silver medallist and 2013 Gotzis champion Damian Warner of Canada leads the decathlon by just seven points over Germany’s 2015 Hypo meeting winner Kai Kazmirek with a total of 4424.

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