Beasts plus a few close friends aim for world and Olympic standards at Brooks PR meet Saturday...
The Seattle based Brooks Beasts will line up nearly their entire roster for the women’s and men’s 1500 meter runs, which start at 4:55 pm, and 5:05 pm, respectively.
These two races are designed to help runners achieve the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifying standard of 4:04.20 (women) and 3:35.00 (men), as well as the 2019 Doha world championships standards of 4:06.50 (women) and 3:36.00 (men).
In addition to the Beasts, University of Washington volunteer assistant coach Amos Bartelsmeyer (above/photo by Paul Merca) and current Husky Mick Stanovsek, along with Texas rising junior Sam Worley are in the field. Virginia Tech alum Neil Gourley, a member of the Nike Oregon TC Elite via Great Britain, is also in the field, along with Pac-12 1500m champ William Paulson from Arizona State, and incoming Husky freshman Sam Tanner from New Zealand.
Tanner, the first high schooler in New Zealand to break 4 minutes in the mile, was originally listed to run in the boys’ mile, but has opted to line up against the pros in his debut on the purple oval.
On the women’s side, Amanda Eccleston, who has a personal best of 4:03.25 from 2016, is the top seeded runner in the women’s field. The field also features a pair of Washington alums in Katie Mackey from the host Brooks Beasts, and Eleanor Fulton.
Justine Fedronic, a Seattle resident and 2016 French Olympian in the 800m, is in the field, as is 2016 Portuguese 1500m Olympian Marta Pen Freitas, the 2016 NCAA champ at that distance at Mississippi State. Pen Freitas is making her Seattle racing debut as a member of the Brooks Beasts.
Besides Tanner, incoming Husky recruits entered include Daniel Maton, Joe Waskom, and Luke Houser in the mile, who went 1-2-3 in the Washington State 1,600m final last month. Also in the mile will be Sam Affolder from Virginia, who was the Track & Field News National Indoor Track Athlete of the Year this season.
Colorado state champ Marlena Preigh will also be on the purple track tomorrow in the girl's 800-meters.
Action gets underway starting shortly after 3 PM, with the Beasts RC local mile.
The first high school elite event is the girls’ 2 mile at 3:51 pm.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com will have live streaming coverage of the meet. Brooks will also stream the meet via this link.
Note that traffic around the University of Washington sports complex will be heavy due to the school's graduation ceremony at Husky Stadium happening around the same time as the meet.
The start list for Saturday’s Brooks PR Invitational is available here.
In other events this weekend, Pullman’s Katie Nageotte, who tied her all time best mark in the pole vault in setting an outdoor personal best in Prague on Thursday, is off to Rabat, Morocco for Sunday’s IAAF Diamond League stop, the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme.
She’ll face world and Olympic champ Katerina Stefanidi along with world indoor champ Sandi Morris, as well as Great Britain’s Holly Bradshaw and Cuba’s Yarlsley Silva.
The start list for the sixth stop on the season-long IAAF Diamond League tour is available here.
Also on Sunday, University of Washington volunteer assistant coach Sam Prakel will run a street mile in Boston as part of the adidas Boost Boston Games at Copley Square.
The adidas Boost Boston Games is North America’s first and only “street meet”, bringing world-class track and field out of the traditional stadium and onto a temporary straightaway track in the heart of one of America’s most iconic cities.
The adidas Boost Boston Games, produced by Boston-based Global Athletics and Marketing, Inc., is part of the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championship Series and will be broadcast live from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PDT on NBC on Sunday, June 16.
Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier is entered in the women’s 600.
The start list for the adidas Boost Boston Games is available here.
NEALE LOWERS 5000M PERSONAL BEST AT ADRIAN MARTINEZ CLASSIC...
Neale, who already has the world championship standard after her personal best last month at the Payton Jordan meet at Stanford, lowered her PR to 15:11.11 in finishing third.
In the process, Neale, who competes for Reebok Boston, narrowly missed the Tokyo Olympic standard of 15:10.00, as she aims for a spot on Great Britain’s world championship team later this summer.
Brooke Feldmeier of Olympia finished 12th overall and fifth in her section of the 800, running 2:06.06.
Complete results of the Adrian Martinez Classic are available here.
NOTE: The media relations department of Brooks Running, the IAAF, and Global Athletics contributed to this report.
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