Frederick, Thurmond, and Crawford easily advance as US Olympic Trials open in rainy Eugene...
Roosevelt High School and University of Washington alum Norris Frederick (left/photo by Paul Merca) kept his goal of a berth in the London Olympics alive with a clutch third round jump.
Entering the final round of jumping in flight 2, Frederick had a foul, then a very mediocre jump of 24-5 1/2 (7.45m) which put him in 18th place and in danger of not making the finals.
He put everything together in round 3, jumping 25-8 3/4 (7.84m) which rocketed him into fourth place and a spot in Sunday's finals, where he'll have to finish in the top three and get the Olympic A qualifying standard of 26-11 (8.20m), beyond his current PR in order to go to London.
Afterwards, Frederick said that he felt sluggish in his round 1 jump. In fact, Washington jumps coach Pat Licari noted that he slowed down in the middle of his approach, to which Frederick said, "Pat didn't like that at all."
Aretha Thurmond's bid for Olympic team #4 started off with a bang, with the Renton HS and UW alum winning her flight with a third round throw of 197-6 (60.21m) and the second longest throw of the day, behind defending Olympic champ Stephanie Brown Trafton's 206-1 (62.83m).
Rainier Beach HS alum Ginnie Crawford had the sixth fastest time in finishing second in her heat of the 100 hurdles, running 12.89 advancing to Saturday's semis, with the finals later on Saturday.
Bothell HS and UW alum Jordan Boase squeezed through the first round of the 400, running 45.95 to advance to Saturday's semis as a time qualifier.
One of the biggest shocks of the meet was the failure of Rainier Beach HS grad and Oregon sophomore Michael Berry to advance to the semis in the 400, as his finish was not present, laboring down the homestretch and finished in 46.29.
Washington State senior Joe Abbott ran the fastest non-qualifying time of the day, finishing 4th in his heat in 1:48.16.
In the decathlon, Seattle Pacific alum Chris Randolph sits in 14th with a score of 3708 points after the first day, as he ran 11.39 in the 100, long jumped 21-11 1/2 (6.69m), threw the shot 43-4 1/2 (13.22m), high jumped 6-2 3/4 (1.90m), and ran the 400 in 50.40.
Bellingham HS alum Jake Riley was 13th in the 10000 in 28:08.36, while Washington alum Mike Sayenko finished 22nd in 29:18.57.
Western Washington alum Sarah Porter failed to finish in the women's 10000.
One athlete who did not compete Friday was the Huskies' Logan Miller, as the wet weather forced postponement of the women's pole vault to a Sunday final with the entire field competing.
Saturday, Vancouver high schooler Sean Keller, the US junior champ, competes in the javelin.
Curtis HS alum Andrea Geubelle, WSU alum Blessing Ufodiama, the Huskies' Shaniae Lakes, and former Seattle resident Tiombe Hurd are all in action in the triple jump.
On the track, Washingtonians competing Saturday include Crawford in the semis of the 100 hurdles and Boase in the semis of the 400.
Complete day 2 results are available here.
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