Brooks Beasts' Josh Kerr adds his name to the list of athletes with the Olympic standard...
Josh Kerr (left/photo by Paul Merca) of Scotland and the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts became the first British athlete to attain the 2020 Olympic standard in the 1500 meter run as he ran 3:33.60 to win the pro section at the Brooks PR Invitational at Husky Track on the campus of the University of Washington.
The men’s and women’s pro invitational 1500 meter races were inserted in the middle of the annual Brooks PR Invitational high school all-star meet to give athletes an opportunity to race each other and attain the Olympic standard of 3:35.00 (men) and 4:04.20 (women), as well as the 2019 world championship standard of 3:36.00 (men) and 4:06.50 (women).
The University of Washington’s Nate Beamer and Oregon’s Blake Haney did the pace work for the field, going through the 800 around 1:56.
Shortly after the 800, Kerr went to the front, and as Haney moved aside, Washington alum Izaic Yorks of the Beasts and Pac-12 champ William Paulson of Arizona State gave chase to the New Mexico alum and collegiate record holder at this distance.
Kerr continued to lead through 1200 meters, with Yorks and Paulson leading the peloton, but as they made the turn for home, both Yorks and Paulson got swallowed up by the field.
Beasts teammates Henry Wynne and Brannon Kidder took advantage and broke away from the chase pack, but ran out of real estate in their efforts to catch Kerr, as Kerr ran a personal best 3:33.60, which is the sixth fastest time in the world so far this season.
The time makes Kerr the first Briton to go under the Olympic standard.
Wynne finished second at 3:35.14, and Kidder was third in 3:35.27. Oregon alum James West was fourth in 3:35.74, while Neil Gourley of the Nike Oregon TC Elite was fifth in 3:35.95, just ahead of UW volunteer coach Amos Bartelsmeyer’s 3:36.29.
Yorks was seventh in 3:36.52, while Paulson was eighth in 3:36.86.
Ninth went to Kirkland native Dillon Maggard of the Beasts in 3:37.43, 1/100th of a second ahead of teammate David Ribich.
Eleventh went to incoming Washington freshman Sam Tanner from New Zealand, who ran 3:38.74 to crush his previous personal best of 3:43.01 set in January.
That mark is currently the third fastest time in the world by an under-20 athlete this season.
Current Husky Mick Stanovsek was 13th in 3:41.27.
Wynne, Kidder, West, and Gourley all ducked under the world championship standard, with West and Gourley looking like strong contenders to chase Kerr for spots on the Great Britain squad.
In the women’s pro 1500, Washington alum Katie Mackey let Seattle resident and 2016 French Olympian Justine Fedronic do the early work, as they crossed 800 meters in 2:15.
Fedronic continued to the kilometer mark before giving way to Mackey, who was being chased by Notre Dame senior Jessica Harris as they went to the bell.
It became a two-woman battle between Mackey and Harris, but Mackey pulled away over the last 150 meters to win in 4:05.97, just over a half-second under the world championship standard of 4:06.50.
Harris was second in 4:08.83, followed by Nicole Hutchinson in 4:12.90.
Washington alum Eleanor Fulton was fifth in 4:15.03.
In the high school section, Ericka VanderLende (Rockford, MI) and Cole Sprout (Valor HS, Highlands Ranch, CO) were impressive in the girls’ and boys’ 2-mile, winning in 9:53.00, and 8:46.41, respectively.
The boys’ mile saw incoming Washington freshman Joe Waskom from Mt. Si HS finish second in 4:03.73, while fellow incoming frosh Daniel Maton from Camas was seventh in 4:09.54.
Woodinville’s Luke Houser was 13th in 4:27.49, while Virginia’s Sam Affolder was part of a group of runners that went down in a pileup, and crossed the line in 5:08.96.
Incoming Husky frosh Marlena Preigh from Colorado was fourth in the girls’ 800 in 2:06.70.
Complete results of the Brooks PR Invitational are available here.
NOTE: Special thanks to Brooks Running for their assistance.
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