Andrea Geubelle nabs third place in Olympic Trials triple jump--but won't go to London...
Geubelle, a resident of University Place who was the NCAA indoor triple jump champion, got her best mark of 45-3 (13.79m) in round 1 of the competition, but could not build upon it as the jumping continued.
In perhaps one of the country's weakest events, Amanda Smock won the competition with a first round jump of 45-9 (13.94m). As she was the only one in the field who owned an Olympic B standard of 46-3 14 (14.10m) or better, Smock will be the lone American representative in the event in London.
"Throughout the finals, nobody really improved," said Geubelle. "It's hard to stay warm out there, hard to stay fast."
When asked about finishing in the top three, but not making the trip, she said, “Not having the ‘A’ standard makes it bittersweet, but I just have to build on that.”
WSU grad Blessing Ufodiama finished tenth with a jump of 42-3 1/2 (12.89m).
Vancouver high schooler Sean Keller, the two time Washington 4A champion from Heritage HS, finished seventh in the javelin, throwing 246-5 (75.12m), just over a week after winning the US junior title. He does move on to Barcelona next month for the IAAF world junior championships.
In the other final involving a Washington athlete, Gig Harbor's Mark Wieczorek, he of the distinctive blue striped t-shirt, finished seventh in the 800 meters, running 1:45.62.
Here's how Washington athletes fared in Monday's qualifying rounds:
--In the 5000, Tacoma's Brie Felnagle was a disappointing 13th in her heat, running 16:13.34. Former Husky Katie Mackey was a late scratch from the event;
--The women's 3000 steeple saw WSU alum Collier Lawrence finish tenth in her heat in 10:00.35, one spot ahead of Club Northwest's Lois Keller (10:00.62);
--In the men's steeple, John Ricardi of Club Northwest was 12th in his heat at 9:05.92;
--The pole vault saw former Huskies Brad Walker and Scott Roth clear the qualifying height of 17-8 1/2 (5.40m), while Seattle residents Levi Keller and Jason Colwick didn't clear a height;
--All three Washington affiliated athletes in the men's discus--Jarred Rome (202-11/61.84m) of Marysville; WSU grad Ian Waltz (201-1/61.30m); and former Husky Will Conwell (198-10/60.61m) advanced to the finals;
--In the men's 5000, Bellingham native Jake Riley, doubling back from the 10000, finished tenth in his heat in a time of 13:59.73, while WSU hall of famer Bernard Lagat looked relaxed and in control, as he ran an easy 13:42.83 to finish second in his heat behind fellow 2008 Olympian Lopez Lomong's 13:42.81.
For the next two days, Hayward Field goes dark, as the meet takes a break before resuming on Thursday.
Complete day 4 results are available here.
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