Pair of Arizona frosh with Washington ties finish in the top nine at USATF Junior Champs Friday...

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana—A pair of University of Arizona freshmen with Washington ties finished in the top nine in the finals of their events as the first day of the USA Track & Field Junior Outdoor Championships got underway Friday at the University of Indiana in Bloomington.

Kaelyn Carlson-Shipley from Kalama (above/photo by Paul Merca) finished ninth in the women’s javelin, as the Pac-12 scorer threw 144-1 (43.92m).

Montesano native Jordan Spradlin, who was redshirted at Arizona this past season, finished eighth in the women’s discus with a best of 160-7 (48.96m).

Eastlake HS senior Brooke Manson, who will compete for the University of Utah next year, finished sixth in her heat of the 800, running 2:10.31.

The semis of the men’s 800, which was to feature Washington freshman Devan Kirk, was cancelled, and all advanced to Saturday’s finals.

Incoming University of Washington freshman Cass Elliott from West Seattle HS, ran 52.09 to finish second in his heat of the 400 hurdles, and advance to Saturday’s finals.

Besides Elliott and Kirk, Washington freshman Evan Mafilas will run in the semis of the men’s 400 meters, and Jaylen Taylor goes in the men’s triple jump finals. The Huskies’ Kevin Liu runs in the semis of the men’s 200.

The top two finishers in each event who meet the world under-20 standards at the national championships will compete at the IAAF world under-20 championships next month in Tampere, Finland.

Complete day 1 results of the USATF Junior Championships are available here.

In Portland, reigning Washington state 3200m champ James Mwaura from Tacoma’s Lincoln HS, finished second in the men’s 5000 meters at the Stumptown Twilight meet Friday night at Lewis & Clark College.

Mwaura, who is the highest profile high schooler to sign with Gonzaga since Pat Tyson took over the reigns of the Bulldogs in 2008, ran 14:00.42 to finish second behind Diego Estrada, who ran 13:33.30.

Estrada was running behind US Olympian and former Emerald Ridge HS standout Hassan Mead, when Mead dropped out with 600 meters to go.

Other highlights:

—Justine Fedronic finished second in the women’s 800 in 2:03.15, behind Georgia Griffith of Australia’s 2:00.13, while Hannah Fields of the Brooks Beasts was fourth in 2:04.01.  Washington alum Eleanor Fulton was sixth in 2:04.23;

—The Huskies’ Izzi Batt-Doyle, who was a redshirt this spring after getting injured at the NCAA cross country championships in November, was sixth in the 1500 in a personal best 4:17.80, as Canada’s Courtney Hufsmith won in 4:12.95.

Complete results of the Stumptown Twilight are available here.

RIBICH NAMED GNAC MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR; FURMAN'S ALLIE BUCHALSKI JOINS BROOKS BEASTS...

Western Oregon senior David Ribich, who made his pro debut with the Seattle based Brooks Beasts at Sunday’s Portland Track Classic, was named by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference as its men’s track and field athlete of the year for the second straight season.

Ribich swept the conference’s cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field Athlete of the Year awards and was the Track Athlete of the Meet at both the GNAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He also swept all three men’s West Region honors by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), an organization that also named Ribich as its Division II Male Athlete of the Week five times.

He earned All-American trophies in cross country and the indoor 3,000 meters and national championships in the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 1,500 meters. Ribich also ran 3:37.35 for 1,500 meters outdoors at April’s Bryan Clay Invitational to set another Division II all-time best.

The GNAC release is available here.

Speaking of the Brooks Beasts, the Greenville (S.C.) News reported that Furman’s Allie Buchalski, who finished second in the 5000 meters at the NCAA championships in Eugene last week, has signed a pro contract with the Beasts.

At Furman, Buchalski earned All-American honors seven times through her career in track and cross country.

In Eugene last week, she crossed the line in 15:42.77, 1.19 seconds behind national champion Karissa Schweizer, a senior from the University of Missouri. It was the highest finish by a Furman athlete at the national championship meet.

Buchalski graduates with PBs of 4:17.73 for 1500m, 9:06.68 for 3K and 15:35.55 for 5K.

The article is available here.

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