Alexa Efraimson seals spot for world champs with convincing win at USA Juniors...
EUGENE--In perhaps the most anticipated women's race of the entire meet, Camas HS standout Alexa Efraimson (left/photo by Paul Merca), bounced back from a disappointing performance at the USA outdoor championships last weekend to win the women's 1500 at the USA Junior Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
With Mary Cain opting for the 3000, Efraimson was the target of Niwot HS (Colorado) senior Elise Cranny, the reigning USA junior cross country champion.
Catherine Pagano took the early lead, with Efraimson tucked behind her, and Cranny doing the same thing behind Efraimson, as the field ran 72 second 400 pace for the first 700 meters.
Efraimson then slowly picked it up to just under 71 seconds on the penultimate lap, then finished off with a 61, to cross the line in 4:16.87, a pace only Cranny could come close to matching.
Cranny, who will attend Stanford in the fall, finished a comfortable second in 4:17.40.
In other action at the USA juniors:
--UW commit Rose Christen finished fourth in the finals of the 800, running 2:08.21;
--Washington State's CJ Allen, the reigning Pac-12 champ,was sixth in the finals of the 400 hurdles, running 52.11;
--Seattle's Whitney Diggs from Portland State ran 55.29 and finished eighth in the women's 400; she also ran in the 200, finishing fifth in her heat in 24.76;
--Portland State's CeCe Jackson from Seattle finished fourth in the finals of the 100 hurdles, running 13.58. She also finished seventh in the finals of the 400 hurdles, in 61.00;
--Chinne Okoronkwo of the Flying AJs TC in Tacoma, a sophomore at Mountlake Terrace and the reigning 3A champ in both the long and triple jumps, was 15th in the long jump at 18-6 1/2 (5.65m);
--In the men's hammer, Joseph Ellis from Eastlake HS was eighth with a best of 203-6 (62.04m), while Brock Eager from Tahoma HS in Covington was 12th with a throw of 198-7 (60.52m);
--The Huskies' Ashley Alexander was 12th in the javelin, with a best of 135-4 (41.25m).
Complete results from the USA Junior Track & Field Championships are available here.
In Edmonton, Spokane native Britney Henry finished fourth in the hammer at the Edmonton International, contested at Foote Field Sunday.
Henry, competing for Seattle-based Oiselle, threw a best of 222-6 (67.82m), as Amber Campbell won with a meet record throw of 241-6 (73.61m).
Cas Loxsom of the Brooks Beasts was fifth in the 800 in 1:49.52, as US national champ Duane Solomon won in 1:44.92.
In the women's 100 hurdles, Edmonton native and 2013 world championships finalist Angela Whyte, who is coached by Washington State coach Wayne Phipps, finished sixth in a time of 13.73, as Jackie Coward won in 13.29.
The Edmonton International is one of the stops of the Canadian National Track League circuit.
The circuit moves on to Victoria and the Victoria International Track Classic on Tuesday, then on to Burnaby on Thursday for the Harry Jerome Track Classic.
In Padova, Italy, Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry won his professional debut race at the Meeting Città di Padova Sunday, running 45.70 to win by 1/100th of a second over 2012 US Olympian Manteo Mitchell.
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