Bernard Lagat uses trademark kick to win another USA outdoor 5000m title...
Bellingham's Jake Riley from Stanford University led for the first few laps, and as has been his modus operandi, Lagat tucked in behind the leaders, most notably Chris Solinsky, and Galen Rupp.
With less than two laps to go, Solinsky and Lagat opened up a slight gap on Rupp, who won the 10000 last night, and the race was truly on.
“I took over when I thought the time was right,” Solinsky said. “I knew I had the gears left to get home.”
Only problem was that the Cougar hall of famer, who finished with a winning time of 13:23.06 had an extra gear that Solinsky had no answer for.
“Chris didn’t make it easy, man,” Lagat said. “He took control of the race. I was thinking that was going to happen, and it wasn’t easy. I was working, I was working hard.”
Riley, the very early leader, finished 12th in 14:06.07.
Lagat, who will run in the finals of the men's 1500 on Saturday, said, “I feel awesome. I have nothing to lose now, I made the team and that is the most important thing. I’m really excited that I won the race today. Tomorrow, I’m going to be in there to run serious again and look for another win.”
In the men's decathlon, former Seattle Pacific standout Chris Randolph was fifth with a final two day score of 7606 points.
Oregon freshman Michael Berry from Seattle's Rainier Beach HS advanced to the finals of the men's 400 in a time of 45.39. Washington alum Jordan Boase finished eighth in his semi-final, in 46.18.
“I’m very excited right now. It’s a dream come true to come out here and race against all these pros. Last year I was in high school. I just wanted to come out here and show what I have, I’m just very blessed to have my talent.”
Washington State's Jeshua Anderson, the current US leader in the 400 hurdles, cruised to victory in his preliminary heat, running 49.53, the fastest time in the first round.
Joe Zimmerman of the Huskies, last year's USA junior champion, finished 25th in the senior men's javelin, throwing 181-3 (55.24m).
Washington State grad Blessing Ufodiama finished 7th in the women's triple jump with a mark of 43-10 (13.36m).
In junior action, Eastern Washington's Jordan Arakawa was third in the hammer throw with a best of 216-6 (65.99m).
Washington's Kayla Stueckle advanced to the finals of the 400 hurdles, running 61.86, while California prep Gianna Woodruff, who will join Steuckle at the UW only ran 63.10, and did not advance.
Husky signee Derrick Daigre from Kent advanced to the finals of the 800, running 1:51.87.
Oregon signee Alec Fellows from Edmonds/Woodway HS finished fourth in the decathlon with a final score of 6802 points.
Complete day 2 results are available here.
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