UW alum Izaic Yorks wins 1500m; Viking alum Bethany Drake takes silver in javelin at NACAC Championships...

TORONTO—University of Washington alum Izaic Yorks (left/photo by Paul Merca) took the victory in the men’s 1500 meters at the NACAC Track & Field Championships to conclude the final day of the three-day competition at Varsity Stadium on the campus of the University of Toronto.

In a typical sit-and-kick race, Yorks, a member of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts, took the lead with one lap to go and held off the late charge of Team USATF teammate Patrick Casey to win in 3:51.85 to Casey’s 3:51.87.

Competing against a small field of four runners in a championship meet setting, the pace was not surprising slow.

“In a race that small, it’s better to be reactive from the back. Regardless, I was going to get the race going from 600 out, but Charles (Philibert-Thibodeau of Canada) did what I was going to do, so I said ‘all right, I’ll take the free ride—let’s go!’”

In addition to the prize money offered for the meet, the most important take away is not having to worry about obtaining a time standard for next year’s IAAF world track & field championships in Doha, as regional champions are accorded as having met the qualifying standards.

“The importance of these regional meets have changed (since the IAAF put in provisions for regional championship winners to get into the world championships), since meets like this play into the world rankings system.  I accomplished everything I wanted to do by coming to this meet.”

A few moments after Yorks’ victory, Western Washington alum Bethany Drake (left/photo by Paul Merca) earned a second place finish in the women’s javelin, after originally being announced as the third place finisher.

Drake threw a lifetime best 179-6 (54.71m) in the first round, the same distance as Puerto Rico’s Coralys Ortiz, while Drake’s Team USATF compatriot Ariana Ince who led from the start, took the win in a stadium record 195-6 (59.59m).

After the results were originally announced, Drake’s second best throw of the day of 177-4 (54.07m) was discovered by officials to be better than Ortiz’ second best of 174-3 (53.11m), causing a holdup in the announcement of the results, while a protest was filed.

Afterwards, Drake said, "I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this experience. I am grateful for everyone back home cheering me on, I'm grateful for my family traveling to support me and I'm grateful to USATF providing this opportunity. Wearing that U-S-A jersey was truly special.”

"And throwing a new personal best was the perfect cap to the experience. I feel truly blessed."

Complete results of the meet are available here.

NOTE:  Athletics Canada contributed to this report.