Husky redshirt freshman Colby Gilbert finishes ninth in 5000m at world juniors...
EUGENE--University of Washington redshirt freshman Colby Gilbert (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished ninth in the finals of the men's 5000 at the IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships Friday night at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
Gilbert ran 14:09.98, just off of his personal best of 14:07.13, run this spring at the Stanford Invitational.
The Skyview/Vancouver standout started conservatively, running in a second group of about seven athletes, then picked off several runners in the latter stages of the race.
"I wanted to finish strong. In the last mile, we were rolling," said Gilbert.
On his decision to redshirt this season and point to the world junior championships, he said the plan was to be here.
On what he learned from being here at the world championships, he said that running against the Africans showed him how much better they are, and that you can't be satisfied with being a national junior champ.
"I wanted to finish on a high note; I wanted to PR, but that's a solid time."
Incoming University of Washington freshman Jacopo Spanò ran the second leg on Italy's 4 x 100 meter relay. The Italians were disqualified for a pass out of the zone between Spano' and third leg Roberto Rigali.
Spanò remained upbeat, and said that the biggest thing that he learned from competing the last two days in two rounds of the 200 and the 4 x 100 relay is how to stay relaxed and in the moment, noting that this was his first major international competition.
Saturday, the University of Washington's Amy-Eloise Neale (Great Britain) and Eastern Washington's Paula Gil Echervarria (Spain) will run in the finals of the women's 3000 steeplechase at 4:55 pm.
Following the conclusion of day 5 of the IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships Saturday, TrackTown USA will host the Run TrackTown high performance meet featuring several leading American pros, including triple jumper Christian Taylor, and hurdlers Aries Merritt and Jason Richardson.
Athletes with Washington ties competing in the meet include Spokane native Britney Henry in the women's hammer; Erica Moore and Phoebe Wright of Seattle in the 4 x 800 meter relay, as they'll team up with Oiselle athletes Kate Grace and Lauren Wallace; Garrett Heath and Riley Masters of the Brooks Beasts, and Auburn/Riverside grad Jordan McNamara in the men's 1500.
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