We get the party started in Doha tomorrow!
Got into Doha around 6pm local time, and was hoping to get to the stadium to do a walkthrough, but that will have to happen tomorrow when all the action gets started.
Needless to say, five athletes with Washington ties will kick off day 1 of these world championships from Khalifa International Stadium.
In the women’s 800 meters, former Washington State volunteer coach Liga Velvere of Latvia will run in the third of six preliminary heats in the 800 meters, scheduled to get underway at 5:28 pm local time (7:28 am Seattle time).
She’ll be in the same heat as Lindsey Butterworth of Vancouver, BC, a familiar name to those who attend meets at Dempsey Indoor.
In the sixth and final heat of the women’s 800, scheduled for 5:55 pm, University of Washington freshman (yes, you read that right) Carley Thomas of Australia, who should be in Seattle learning where the various buildings around campus are, is instead racing on track and field’s biggest stage.
In the six heats of the 800, the top three in each heat, plus the six fastest on times will advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
At about the same time the 800s are going, the women’s pole vault qualifying gets started in two groups of 16, with the top 12, plus all who clear the automatic qualifying mark of 15-1 (4.60m) advancing to Sunday’s final.
At 7:11 pm (9:11 am, Seattle time), one of the newest members of the Brooks Beasts makes her world championships debut, as three time NCAA champion Allie Ostrander runs in heat 2 of the 3000 steeplechase.
In the steeplechase, the top 3 plus the six fastest time qualifiers advance to Monday night’s final.
Finally, former Emerald Ridge HS/Puyallup product Hassan Mead runs in the second semifinal of the men’s 5000 at 8:00 pm (10 am in Seattle), where the top five finishers plus the five fastest time qualifiers advance to Monday night’s finals.
The networks of NBC will provide coverage of the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, primarily on NBCSN & the Olympic Channel. Streaming coverage including dedicated field event coverage will be available on NBC Sports Gold ($).
The home page for the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, where all links to start lists and results reside, is available here.
Incidentally, in case you missed it, here's a revised edition of the viewer's guide to Washington athletes that was uploaded Sunday:
2019 World Champs Bios by paulmerca70601 on Scribd
COLLEGE NOTES:
While we were in the air, the USTFCCCA released its NCAA Division II cross country rankings, with the Seattle Pacific women’s team the country’s number 8 squad.
Western Washington remains at number 15.
Adams State, Grand Valley State, Western Colorado, U-Mary, and Colorado School of Mines are the nation’s top five women’s teams. Alaska-Anchorage at number 7 is the only other GNAC school ranked in the top 25.
On the men’s side, Western Washington (17) dropped out of the national top 25, as number 12 Alaska Anchorage is the only GNAC school ranked.
Colorado School of Mines, Western Colorado, Chico State, Grand Valley State, and Adams State are the nation’s top 25 men’s teams.
This weekend, the Vikings will go split squad this weekend, sending select athletes to the Roy Griak Invitational in the Twin Cities and the remaining team to the Ken Garland Invitational in Lacey on Saturday, hosted by Saint Martin’s.
Central Washington will also send a team to the Garland Invitational, while Seattle Pacific travels to Sacramento, California for the Capital Cross Challenge on the same course that will host the NCAA Division II Championships.
The USTFCCCA release is available here, while the GNAC release is available here.
NOTE: The IAAF, University of Washington, Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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