Efraimson breaks American junior record in 1500m at Pre; Taiwo stands second at Gotzis...
EUGENE—The penultimate event of the Nike Prefontaine Classic saw Camas HS senior Alexa Efraimson (#3, left/photo by Paul Merca) destroy the American junior record in the 1500 meters at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon Saturday.
In a very competitive race won by former world champion Jenny Simpson in 4:00.98, Efraimson, who finished fourth at last year’s IAAF world junior championships at this distance at Hayward Field, finished seventh in a time of 4:03.39, one spot ahead of Washington alum Katie Mackey (4:03.81, personal best) of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts.
Efraimson’s mark broke the existing American junior record for the distance set by Mary Cain in 2013 of 4:04.62 in Eagle Rock, California.
Efraimson and Mackey both ducked under the IAAF A standard for this summer’s world championships and next year’s Olympics.
Vancouver’s Kara Winger finished second in the women’s javelin with a third round throw of 206-2 (62.85m) behind Germany’s Christina Obergfoll, who threw 206-11 (63.07m).
“I started out at 62.75 or something like that which is awesome for a first attempt, so I’m happy with that. Through injury and all that stuff, you learn what’s important and I’m trying qualify for World Championships and Olympics. Throwing the auto in the first three rounds is always paramount. So to have two 62-plus meter throws in the first three is great. I improved to 62.83 in the third round then only had one more legal throw at 61 in the last round to end up second, but I’m happy with that."
Garrett Heath of the Brooks Beasts finished fifth in the international mile, running 3:56.53.
In Gotzis, Austria, Washington alum Jeremy Taiwo (above/photo courtesy Decathlon2000), competing in his first decathlon since an injury forced him to withdraw from the 2013 world championships in Moscow, stands second at the halfway point of the Hypomeeting multi-events competition.
Taiwo has a first day total of 4388 points, 21 points behind leader Kai Kazmirek of Germany.
The Newport HS grad started the meed with a 10.95 clocking in the 100 for 872 points, then had a personal best mark of 24-10 (7.57m) in the long jump for 952 points.
In the shot put, he threw 45-9.5 (13.95m) for 725 points, then popped a mark of 7-0.5 (2.15m) worth 944 points.
He finished his day with a clocking of 48.29 in the 400 meters, as Kazmirek ran 47.30.
Reigning world and Olympic champion Ashton Eaton withdrew from the meet before the first event due to a back injury suffered in training a few days before the meet.
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