Eight time national champ Kara Winger falls short of ninth crown at USATF nationals...

DES MOINES, Iowa—Vancouver native Kara Winger’s (left/photo by Paul Merca) quest for a ninth national title was denied, as the three-time US Olympian finished second in the javelin competition to highlight day 1 of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University.

Winger took the lead early, throwing 191-7 (58.40m) in round 1, then improved to what ultimately was her best throw in round 3, a toss of 195-11 (59.73m).

However, current American leader Ariana Ince, who was seventh after the preliminary throws, fired a throw of 200-4 (61.06m) in the fifth round to overtake Winger and ultimately win the national title.

After Ince took the lead, Winger could only respond in the final two rounds with a best of 193-11 (59.12m) in the sixth round.

Winger thus makes her career fifth world championship team with her second place finish.

“The series was not good. I’m disappointed in the overall distance. It’s been kind of how my season has gone, and that’s what’s frustrating.”

“I’ve been focusing on my legs (in practice), but sometimes I forget about my arm. My legs have been good (during the throw), but I’ve been lazy with my left (non-throwing) arm. I had a good warmup, but I didn’t do that in my competition.”

Western Washington alum Katie Reichert threw a season best 175-7 (53.53m) to finish eighth, while fellow Viking alum Bethany Drake was 12th at 152-4 (46.45m).

In the only other final involving a Washington athlete Thursday, Garrett Heath of the Brooks Beasts dropped out of the men’s 10000 with less than 3 k to go, in a race won by two-time Olympian Lopez Lomong of the Portland based Nike Bowerman TC in a stadium record 27:30.06.

Thursday’s session at Drake Stadium was comprised primarily of qualifying races. Here’s some of the highlights:

--In the women’s 1500, Karisa Nelson (4:07.66 PR) and Katie Mackey (4:10.98) of the Brooks Beasts advanced to the finals, along with Washington alum Eleanor Fulton (4:08.42), who set a personal best, and was a time qualifier to Saturday’s final.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises was the failure of Camas native Alexa Efraimson to advance in the 1500.

--In the women’s 800, Savannah Colón advanced to Friday’s semis, running a personal best of 2:02.75, while Brannon Kidder also advanced to Friday’s semis in the men’s 800 running 1:47.68;

--Marcus Chambers of Tacoma advanced to Friday’s 400m semis by finishing third in his heat in 45.62.

Complete day 1 results of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships are available here.