Brooks Beasts' Allie Ostrander makes world championship team in steeple at USATF nationals...
Under cloudy conditions, Ostrander stayed just off the pace as Washington alum Mel Lawrence led the field for the first four laps.
As expected, the trio of defending world champion Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs, and Colleen Quigley broke away from the pack with less than 800 meters to go.
At the same time, Ostrander broke away from both Lawrence and Pasco HS grad Marisa Howard, both of whom had the world championship standard as well.
Coburn (9:25.63), Frerichs (9:26.61) and Quigley (9:30.97) went 1-2-3, with Ostrander getting the fourth and final spot on the world championship team by running 9:38.52.
Howard finished fifth in 9:51.37, with Lawrence sixth in 9:53.48.
Washington State grad Caroline Austin was ninth in 10:03.80.
Afterwards, Ostrander said, “Wearing the U.S. uniform will be something special. It is one of the hardest teams to make and I will take the Worlds very seriously and try to do my best. I’m happy to get the opportunity and thankful to be on Team USA.”
“The plan today was if they (Coburn, Frerichs, Quigley) went out I wanted to try to go with them as long as I could and still have a little left in the tank.”
Former Emerald Ridge HS standout and 2016 Olympian Hassan Mead made yet another world championship team, as he finished fourth in the men’s 5000, running 13:28.04.
However, winner Lopez Lomong (13:25.53) and third place finisher Woody Kincaid (13:26.84) did not have the world championship qualifying standard, so Mead gets one of the three tickets to Doha, along with second place finisher and Olympic medalist in this event Paul Chelimo (13:25.80), and fifth place finisher Drew Hunter (13:29.19).
Dillon Maggard (13:59.20) of the Brooks Beasts was 13th, while Bellingham’s David Elliott was 17th in 14:04.99.
In the women’s pole vault, former Pullman resident Katie Nageotte finished second, with a clearance of 15-9 (4.80m), as defending champ Sandi Morris took the win at 15-11 (4.85m).
Nageotte told reporters, “I was really happy with how I was vaulting. This was maybe one of my best meets from an execution standpoint for me. It was some of the best technical jumps I have taken in a competition. I think had the rain had not thrown a wrench in it for us and we started playing the passing game to beat the rain, I think it could have been a really high jumping competition...”
The Huskies’ Olivia Gruver finished eighth at 14-11 (4.55m), while West Seattle HS standout Chloe Cunliffe of the Seattle Speed TC failed to clear the opening height.
In the two-day, seven-event heptathlon, Washington State alum and former Pac-12 champ Alissa Brooks-Johnson finished 14th with a final score of 5753 points.
VETERANS ALLEN AND CENTROWITZ ARE CLUTCH...
A pair of veterans came through when needed, as former Renton resident Devon Allen and University of Washington volunteer assistant coach Matthew Centrowitz finished in the top three to punch their tickets to Doha and the world championships in late September.
Allen, who drew lane 8 in the finals after finishing fourth in the semis earlier in the day (13.55), finished third in the men’s 110 hurdles, clocking 13.38, as Daniel Roberts (13.23) and Grant Holloway (13.36) went 1-2.
“I’m glad I made it. Like anybody here, we are all dealing with something, so we have to push through it. Now we have eight weeks before we run in the 110 at Worlds. There’s time to get healthy, time to train and get sharp.”
Husky volunteer assistant coach Matthew Centrowitz, now competing for the Bowerman TC, finished second in the men’s 1500 to former Nike Oregon Project teammate Craig Engels, with Engels getting the win in a tactical 3:44.93 to Centrowitz’ 3:44.97.
Fellow Husky volunteer coach Sam Prakel was sixth in 3:46.09, while Washington school record holder Izaic Yorks of the Brooks Beasts was seventh in 3:46.10. Beasts teammate Henry Wynne was eighth in 3:46.16.
Centrowitz, who reminded reporters in the mixed zone that he’s now one of the older men in the field, said, ““No one likes to lose, but Craig is in phenomenal form. I think would put him as the favorite coming into this meet just with how his outdoor season is going compared to mine. I definitely happy to be on another team. I am more excited where I am right now and giving myself another two months to really prepare.”
On the dual on the last lap with former Oregon Project teammate Craig Engels, he said, “I think I tried to get the pole position right after the quarter. We are arm-checking a little bit. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get around him. I didn’t know when I did that if it was going to be easy, but I knew it was going to be pivotal.He had the whole inside and made me run the extra few meters that made the difference.”
BURNETT WALKS TO NATIONAL TITLE IN 10K...
Bellevue native Katie Burnett kicked things off Sunday morning with a victory in the women’s 10 kilometer walk contested on the Blue Oval at Drake Stadium.
Burnett took the lead for the first mile of the race, then retook the lead shortly before the halfway point and kept it for the duration, winning in a personal best of 46:12.45, eclipsing her previous mark of 46:52.56 set in El Cajon, California last year.
“My goal was to break 46-minutes but I did get an over 30 second PB today. It was stellar today. I just did a 50k two weeks ago so coming off that I had a really good recovery. I knew I could do well, I knew I could PR today. Luckily, I had a hot race in Mexico in April so I’ve continued heat training all year in preparation for this and Doha.”
Burnett will walk for Team USATF at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru in a few weeks.
Complete results of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships are available here.
NOTE: USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
Comments