Bernard Lagat second Team USATF runner across at IAAF/Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships...


VALENCIA, Spain—Washington State alum Bernard Lagat (above/photo by Mike Scott) finished 31st at the IAAF/Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships through the streets of Valencia Saturday afternoon.

Lagat was just short of his over-40 best of 1:02:00 for the 13.1 mile distance, finishing the race in 1:02:16.

The race was notable in that Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamwowor won his third straight world title at this distance in a time of 1:00:02, throwing down a 5k split of 13:01 between 15 and 20 kilometers to break down a strong field, after going through the first 10 k of the race in 29:28.

Lagat was Team USATF’s second runner across the line, finishing 14th in 1:01:23, with Diego Estrada 69th in 1:03:59, and 2016 US Olympian Jared Ward 83rd in 1:04:49.  

The fifth member of Team USATF, 2016 Olympian Leonard Korir, dropped out between the 10 and 15 kilometer split mark.

The men’s s squad finished seventh overall with a three-man team time of 3:07:38, as Ethiopia won the title with a time of 3:02:14.

Complete results of the IAAF/Trinidad Alfonso World Half Marathon Championships are available here.

AROUND THE SOUND

In Seattle, University of Washington alum Kristina Owsinski had the best mark of the meet in winning the women’s pole vault at the Doris Heritage Track Festival hosted by Seattle Pacific University.

Owsinski won the pole vault, which was contested at Husky Track, with a clearance of 13-8.25 (4.17m) to easily outdistance Western Washington’s Anna Paradee, who cleared 12-6.25 (3.82m), which is the best mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference so far in the outdoor season.

The Huskies’ Blaise Black led a 1-2-3-4 finish in the men’s pole vault, winning with a best of 16-4.75 (5.00m).

At West Seattle Stadium, where the rest of the meet was held (West Seattle’s pole vault pits had not arrived, thus the reason for the pole vault being held at the UW), Seattle Pacific freshman Renick Meyer won the women’s long jump with a best of 18-0.25 (5.29m), the second best mark in the GNAC this season.

The Falcons’ Mary Charleson won the women’s 1500 in 4:40.07, the second fastest time in the conference so far this season.

Western Washington’s Ian Fay won the mens’ 3000 steeplechase in 9:32.99, the second fastest time in the conference so far.


In Tacoma, Saint Martin’s Jackson Hand won the men’s 200 to highlight competition at the Joe Peyton Scoring Meet hosted by the University of Puget Sound Saturday.

Hand ran 21.92, despite a slight tail wind of 2.6 meters per second, a mark which is the fastest in school history under any conditions.

Hand was a double winner on the day, taking the 100 meters in 11.04, with the benefit of a 3.1mps tail wind.


NOTE:  The IAAF, USA Track & Field, and the sports information offices of Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin’s, and the University of Puget Sound contributed to this report.

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