Former Husky Ingvill Makestad sets personal best in 1500 at Doha Diamond League meeting...

DOHA, Qatar--Former Washington Husky Ingvill Makestad (left/photo courtesy runingvill.wordpress.com) set a personal best in finishing sixth in the 1500 meter run at the Doha Diamond League meeting in Doha, Qatar at the Qatar Sports Club stadium

Makestad ran 4:06.08 in a very fast race won by 2008 Olympic champion Nancy Langat in a 2010 world-leading time of 4:01.63, as Langat ran down Ethiopia's Gelete Burka (4:02.16) over the last 200.

Makestad's previous personal best was 4:09.62, set last year in Heusden, Belgium, which was short of the A standard needed to compete in last year's IAAF world championships in Berlin.

(The Norwegian national record is 4:00.55 set by Grete Waitz in 1978. In an earlier version of this story, we stated that Makestad's time was a new national record. We regret the error.)

While early, Makestad's time puts her among the top contenders in that event for this summer's European Championships in Barcelona, a meet that she told paulmerca.blogspot.com earlier this season that she was aiming for, going so far as to skip the world indoor championships in Doha.

Rainier Beach HS graduate Ginnie Powell-Crawford was overtaken in the final stages of the 100 meter hurdles by both reigning world indoor champion Lolo Jones (12.63) and Olympic bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (12.67).

In the women's discus, three time US Olympian and former Washington Husky Aretha Thurmond finished fourth with a mark of 204-3 (62.26m). Cuba's Yarelis Barrios won the event with a toss of 212-11 (64.90), with reigning world champ Dani Samuels of Australia second at 212-2 (64.67), and Croatia's Sandra Perkovic third at 204-6 (62.33).

Complete results of the Doha Diamond League meet can be accessed here.