Bernard Lagat returns to winning ways in Linz, plus links...
LINZ, Austria--In his first race since finishing sixth in the 5000 meters at the IAAF world track & field championships, Washington State University hall of famer Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) won the 3000 meter run Monday night at the Gugl Games.
Lagat ran a time of 7:46.39 to outlast fellow American Will Leer, who finished at 7:46.69.
Tacoma's Matt Scherer was the pace setter in the featured 1000 meter run, won by Paul Robinson Ireland of Australia in 2:18.29.
One of the key meets we neglected over the weekend was the Pan Am Junior championships in Medellin, Colombia, where Tacoma's Marcus Chambers finished fourth in the 400 in 46.75, and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 relay for Team USA in 3:06.57, running a opening split of 46.1.
In the finals of the men's 800, Marcus Dickson, who graduated from White River HS and completed his freshman year at Brigham Young, finished fifth in the 800 in 1:52.00.
University of Washington volunteer jumps coach and Seatown Express head Eric Metcalf was the jumps coach for Team USA in Colombia.
Results from the Pan Am Junior championships are available here. The USATF recap of the meet is available here.
Smith will also serve as an assistant to the cross country team, under Falcon head coach Karl Lerum, who was elevated to program director for both track and cross country after Erika Daligcon stepped down as head cross country coach and distance assistant coach after the end of last season.
Courtesy of SPU Athletics, here's a video interview with Smith:
Finally, the Donn Cabral experiment in Bellingham is over, as the 2012 US Olympian in the steeplechase has moved back to the East Coast.
In a release, Cabral, who graduated from Princeton, will join the NJ*NY Track Club, coached by Frank Gagliano, after being coached this season by his high school coach, Peter Oviatt, who lives in Bellingham.
"I am so excited to be coming back to the east coast and to be part of this wonderful training group led by such a renowned coach as Coach Gagliano," stated Cabral. "I left Washington like I arrived last year; knowing that Coach Oviatt is a close friend and an outstanding coach. I just felt like I needed more of a structured group to train with and the east coast was pulling me back. I have many friends and family here and it is where I feel I can best develop as an athlete."
NOTE: The sports information department at Seattle Pacific, along with the NJ*NY Track Club and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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