Henry Wynne of the Brooks Beasts gets third in International Mile at Nike Prefontaine Classic...
Competing in the penultimate track meet before Hayward Field’s planned demolition to install new stands and a new track for the 2021 IAAF World Track & Field Championships, Wynne ran 3:57.61, as Australia’s Luke Matthews won in 3:57.02.
Two spots behind Wynne was Washington alum and fellow Beast Izaic Yorks, who ran 3:58.04.
In the men’s 110 hurdles, former Renton resident Devon Allen finished third in a season best 13.13, aided by a +3.0 meter per second wind, won by 2016 Olympic champ Omar McLeod of Jamaica in 13.01.
Pullman’s Katie Nageotte finished fourth in the women’s pole vault with a best of 15-5 (4.70m) as 2012 Olympic champ Penn Suhr took the victory at 15-11 (4.85m).
Complete results of the Nike Prefontaine Classic are available here.
Keefe, who transferred to WSU in January from Eastern Washington after distance coach Chris Shane left, ran a PR time of 4:16.57 which was 12th-fastest time Saturday. Keefe's quarterfinals time was four seconds faster than her previous PR and is the second-fastest in WSU's all-time records.
Also qualifying for the national finals was Chandler Teigen in the men’s 1500m, as he finished fourth in the second heat of the men's 1500m quarterfinals where the top five in each heat automatically advanced to the semifinals in Eugene. Teigen's time Saturday was 3 minutes 43.41 seconds, just off his PR time of 3:43.13 which was run at the Stanford Invitational this spring.
WSU head coach Wayne Phipps said afterwards, “Kaili ran a gutsy race and battled all the way to the finish to run a four-second PR and grab a time qualifier. Chandler used an awesome last lap to automatically qualify. Both runners gained a lot of confidence from this weekend which is going to make a huge difference at the NCAA finals.”
The Huskies got their final two qualifiers for the NCAA finals, as seniors Colby Gilbert and Amy-Eloise Neale advanced to Eugene in the men’s and women’s 5000 meter races.
Gilbert punched his ticket to the 5k final for the first time since 2016, running a smart race that saw him solidly in the top-ten throughout then moving up into the top-five in the latter stages when a top-five spot was needed to advance. Gilbert pulled away in a group of three over the final two laps and finished third in 13:49.90.
Neale earned a third-straight trip to the NCAA finals, but her first in the 5k after making the 1,500-meter final the past two years. She was running in sixth-place after the halfway point in the race, keeping her eye on the leaders. The 2017 NCAA cross country runner-up then moved up into fourth going into the final lap and would hold off a couple chasers to finish fourth in 15:29.89. That is the second-fastest time of her career, giving her the top-two times in school history after her school record of 15:24.16 set last month.
Complete day 3 results of the NCAA West Preliminary round are available here.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Western Washington’s Alex Barry was one of two Washington athletes to earn podium positions in the men’s javelin on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at the Irwin Belk Complex.
Barry threw 224-4 (68.38m) in the sixth round to finish fourth, while Saint Martin’s Brian Chalkey threw 218-0 (66.46m) in the first round to earn a seventh place finish.
Western Washington’s Raquel Pellecer also earned a podium position in the women’s javelin, as she threw 148-8 (45.32m) to finish sixth.
Just missing the podium were Saint Martin’s Deanna Avalos, who threw 143-11 (44.06m) to finish tenth in the women’s javelin, and Seattle Pacific’s Kate Lilly in the women’s 1500, as she ran 4:30.49 to finish tenth.
Complete day 3 results from the NCAA Division II track & field championships are available here.
NOTE: The NCAA, University of Washington, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, IAAF, and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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