Tim Duckworth finishes second in long jump at Cork City Sports meeting...

With many of the major national championships out of the way, the second half of the European season began in earnest Wednesday evening with the Cork City Sports International Athletics Meeting in Cork, Ireland.

University of Washington volunteer coach Tim Duckworth (left/photo by Paul Merca), who is preparing for next weekend’s British Athletics championship meet in Birmingham, finished second in the men’s long jump.

Duckworth, a former NCAA decathlon champion at the University of Kentucky, who is training in Seattle under his Wildcat coach and current Husky associate head coach Toby Stevenson, jumped a best of 25-4 (7.72m) to finish behind Luvo Manyonga of South Africa.

Manyonga, the reigning world champion and 2016 Olympic silver medalist, jumped a best of 26-11 (8.20m), and had two jumps over eight meters (26-3) in his series.

In the men’s mile, defending champion and Husky volunteer coach Sam Prakel finished third, running 3:59.38.

Prakel took the lead with about 300 meters to go in a bid to win the race, but was overtaken by Reebok Boston teammates Robert Domanic and Justyn Knight on the final straightaway, after leading through the 1500 split, which Prakel crossed first in 3:43.55.

Domanic took the win in 3:58.91, with Knight, a former NCAA cross country champion, second in 3:59.08 to Prakel’s 3:59.38.

Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry finished third in the B section of the men’s 200 meters, running 21.53, as American Ameer Webb won in 21.10.

Complete results of the Cork City Sports International Athletics Meeting are available here.

KARA WINGER NAMED USATF ATHLETE OF THE WEEK…

Vancouver native Kara Winger (above/photo courtesy USA Track & Field) was named by the federation as its athlete of the week, for winning the gold medal at the Pan Am Games, in Lima, Peru last week.

Winger, a graduate of Skyview HS, and the silver medalist at the 2015 Games in Toronto, had the fifth-best throw in U.S. history in round two with a 64.92/213-0. The American record-holder at 66.67/218-8, Winger now has the six best throws ever by an American.

All six of her throws in Lima were beyond 200 feet, including three better than 205 feet, a distance only she and three other U.S. women have ever achieved. Winger is now ranked seventh on the 2019 world list, and sixth in the current IAAF world rankings.

The USATF release is available here.

PRAKEL AND NAGEOTTE RECIPIENTS OF USATF FOUNDATION GRANTS…

Seattle resident Sam Prakel and former Pullman resident Katie Nageotte were named as recipients of grants from the USA Track & Field Foundation earlier this week.

Nageotte, who finished second at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships last month, was one of 25 athletes who received a $25000 Stephen A. Schwarzman grant from the USATF Foundation Elite Grant Committee.

Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, became the largest individual donor to the USATF Foundation with an unprecedented $2.5 million donation in support of elite track & field athletes, and has since increased his total support to $2.75 million. 

The funding is meant to provide financial support to assist these athletes in achieving their goal of bringing home a medal from the IAAF World Athletics Championships this year in Doha, Qatar and the ultimate goal of competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics next summer.

Prakel was the recipient of a $4000 Elite Athlete Development grant to help relieve the financial stress and expenses that come with competing internationally such as proper coaching, training, medical care, recovery and travel.

The release announcing the grant winners is available here.

NOTE:  The Cork City Sports International Athletics Meeting, USA Track & Field, and the USATF Foundation contributed to this report.