Kara Patterson makes her second Olympic team with second place finish...
Before a record crowd of 22497 inside Hayward Field, Patterson set the tone early with a throw of 193-10 (59.09m), before extending her lead to 196-2 (59.79m) in round three.
In the fourth round, Patterson felt a twinge in her left knee when she planted to make her throw, which traveled 185-6 (56.55m). After some work by one of the on field medical trainers, she elected to shut it down for the afternoon.
After the end of the competition, she said that she hyperextended her knee on that round four throw, saying that she was a bit forward when she went to make the toss.
That opened the door for Brittany Borman, as in the final round, she threw 201-9 (61.51m) to take the victory from Patterson, and most importantly, earn the Olympic A standard of 61 meters (200-1) to join Patterson and fourth place finisher Rachel Yurkovich (186-6, 56.85m), who was the only other thrower with the requisite mark to go to London.
Patterson, whose streak of four consecutive USA national titles came to a halt Sunday, said, “I came into today really wanting to make a statement in the first round. I would have liked to have thrown farther. I am really happy to make the team. It was one of the best competitions ever.”
“I am very extremely thankful for Asics at this meet. It’s a family. To be around them the whole meet and to be supported. My parents were over there. The support I have in the Northwest is amazing.”
In the men's 1500, Auburn-Riverside HS alum Jordan McNamara took the early lead in the men's 1500m, knowing that a top three finish without the Olympic A standard of 3:35.50 would keep him off the team.
McNamara led through the first lap or so, slipping to second to let Will Leer, who was also chasing the standard, lead with two laps to go, before ultimately finishing seventh in 3:37.79.
Afterwards, he said, that he “felt great, (but) lulled myself into a bit of a box. Just didn’t have the last 150 that I needed.”
He said that he talked to Leer before the meet to help take out the early pace.
“We had it arranged. We figured we might as well give a shot. I’d rather be seventh and give it my all. We knew it was going to be a dog fight.”
He said that he will go to Europe to chase marks in various meets throughout the Continent.
Former Washington Husky Katie Mackey was ninth in the women's 1500, running 4:11.46.
In the women's long jump, Curtis HS grad Andrea Geubelle from the University of Kansas finished eleventh with a best of 20-7 3/4 (6.29m).
The run-off between Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix for the third spot on the US Olympic team in the 100 meters will be held at 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, July 2. The race will be held at Hayward Field and broadcast live on NBC.
Complete results from Sunday's competition are available here.
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