Bernard Lagat finishes 7th in Track & Field News' 2009 US Athlete of the Year voting...

For as long as I’ve followed the sport, I’ve always anticipated the receipt of Track & Field News’ season ending rankings, world and American lists in early January.

Though the results of the 2009 Athlete of the Year voting was announced in mid-December (Usain Bolt was voted the men’s Athlete of the Year; Sanya Richards won the women’s honors, and Tyson Gay won the US athlete of the year) by the magazine’s 32-member panel, readers had to wait until the magazine reached their possession to see how their favorite stars fared.

Here’s how Washington affiliated athletes fared in the rankings:

MEN:

800m—Ryan Brown, 4^th US (Renton HS/UW)

1500—Bernard Lagat, 7^th world, 1^st US (Washington State)

5000—Lagat, 2^nd world, 1^st US

400 hurdles—Jeshua Anderson, 6^th US (Washington State)

Pole vault—Brad Walker, 3^rd US (University HS/UW); Scott Roth, 10^th US (UW)

Discus—Jarred Rome (above/photo by Paul Merca), 2^nd US (Marysville-Pilchuck HS); Ian Waltz, 3^rd US (Washington State); Drew Ulrick, 9^th US (Washington State)

Decathlon—Chris Randolph, 5ht US (Seattle Pacific)

WOMEN:

Steeplechase—Mel Lawrence, 7^th US (UW)

100 hurdles—Ginnie Powell, 9^th world, 4^th US (Rainier Beach HS)

Discus—Aretha Thurmond, 2^nd US (Renton HS/UW)

Javelin—Kara Patterson, 2^nd US (Skyview HS); Marissa Tschida, 9^th US (Washington State)

Heptathlon—Diana Pickler, 2^nd US (Washington State).

Lagat, the bronze medalist in the 1500, and the silver medalist in the 5000 at the world championships in Berlin, was the only Washington affiliated athlete to receive votes in the magazine’s US athlete of the year, finishing seventh, and obtaining 112 votes, or 40% from the panel (panelists were asked to vote for 10 athletes with 10 points for 1^st, 9 for 2^nd, 8 for 3^rd, etc).

For more information on Track & Field News' Athlete of the Year rankings, please visit trackandfieldnews.com.