Slew of Washington pros in Los Angeles for Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic...

A slew of pros with Washington ties are in Los Angeles for the Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic Friday beginning at 6pm at Jack Kemp Stadium on the campus of Occidental College.

Like Stanford’s Payton Jordan Classic, this meet is focused on getting athletes qualifying marks for this July’s US Olympic Track & Field Trials in July, complete with pacemakers to help runners get their goal.

Nearly every race on the program, with the exception of the men’s steeple and 5000 has at least one athlete with Washington ties in the field.

The Seattle based Brooks Beasts has the largest group of athletes in the field, led by world championships team member Cas Loxsom in the men’s 800, and Katie Mackey (left/photo by Paul Merca) in the women’s 1500. Other Beasts entered include Dorian Ulrey (m 800/1500), Phoebe Wright & Megan Malasarte (w 800), Riley Masters & Garrett Heath (m 1500), Natalja Piliusina (w 1500), Jessica Tonn, Angela Bizzarri & Brie Felnagle (w 5000), with Felnagle entered in the 1500 as well.

A trio of Washington State alums—Jesse Jorgensen & Joe Abbott (men’s 800) along with Collier Lawrence (w 3000 steeple) are in the field. WSU assistant coach Allix Potratz-Lee is in the steeple field as well.

Besides Mackey, Washington alums in the field include Mel Lawrence (w 3000 steeple), and Eleanor Fulton (w 1500).  Seattle Pacific alums McKayla Fricker (w 800), Jessica Tebo and Jane Ricardi (w 5000) are in the field, with Ricardi entered in the women’s 1500 as well.

Club Northwest’s entries include Ricardi, Amber Schultz (w 1500/steeple), and Katelyn Steen (w steeple).

The live stream of the Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic begins at 6 pm on usatf.tv.

The entries are listed here.

At Friday’s Great Manchester CityGames held on a specially built track in the middle of downtown Mancester, England, University of Washington alum Norris Frederick finished third in the long jump with a leap of 24-10 (7.57m), as reigning Olympic champion Greg Rutherford won with a jump of 26-11 (8.20m).

Complete results of the Great Manchester CityGames are available here.