Brooks Beasts' Josh Kerr leads 1-3 finish in men's 800 at Portland Track Festival...

PORTLAND—With over a month left before the various national championships, many of the area’s pros took to the track at Lewis & Clark College Sunday for the annual Portland Track Classic high performance middle distance meet.

Great Britain’s Josh Kerr (above, #376/photo by Paul Merca), last year’s NCAA indoor champion at the University of New Mexico and now competes for the Seattle based Brooks Beasts, swung wide and charged down the final home straight to lead a 1-3 Beasts finish with Kerr winning in 1:46.06, and Brannon Kidder (#381) third at 1:46.51. 

Drew Windle was fifth in 1:47.42, while Henry Wynne was sixth in 1:47.64, and UW volunteer coach Amos Bartelsmeyer, fresh off winning a road mile in Yakima on Saturday, was seventh in 1:47.87.

Incoming Washington freshman Daniel Maton won his section of the men’s 800 in 1:49.69.

In the men’s 1500, Craig Engels of the Nike Oregon Project nearly hit the Olympic standard as he ran 3:35.22.

Behind Engels was Washington alum Izaic Yorks of the Brooks Beasts who ran 3:37.13, while teammate David Ribich was fifth, just missing the USATF standard of 3:39.00 with a time of 3:39.04.

Washington redshirt freshman Isaac Green won his heat of the men’s 1500 in a personal best 3:45.38.

In the women’s 1500, Washington’s Katie Rainsberger improved upon the season best she set last week in Nashville, running 4:13.15 to finish eighth overall.

Seattle resident and Stanford alum Justine Fedronic, a 2016 French Olympian, finished second in the 800 in a season best of 2:02.99, despite being sick over the past few days before the race. Camas’ Alexa Efraimson was fifth in 2:03.61. Washington alum Eleanor Fulton won her section of the 800 in 2:07.08.

Pasco HS alum Marisa Howard won her first steeplechase in two years 9:41.50 after missing 2018 with a double stress reaction in both hips, getting under the USATF standard of 9:50.00. Washington State alum Caroline Austin won her section of the 3000 steeplechase in 9:59.29.

Former Puyallup high school standout David Elliott was third in the 5000 meters in 13:45.62.

Many of the contestants in Sunday’s high performance 1500 will return to the track on Saturday as the Brooks Beasts will host a high performance 1500 at Husky Track in conjunction with the Brooks PR elite high school meet.

Complete results of the Portland Track Festival are available here.