David Ribich among trio of Brooks Beasts qualified for Sunday's 1500m finals at Olympic Trials...


EUGENE--
A trio of runners from Seattle's Brooks Beasts track club advanced to Sunday's finals in the men's 1500 meter run to highlight action in day 6 of the United States Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon Friday afternoon.

In the first of two semifinal heats, Washington alum Izaic Yorks of the Beasts took the lead and kept it through 1100 meters, when the field began to pull away.

Teammate David Ribich (Paul Merca photo for TrackTown USA), who stayed away from the traffic up front, got enough running room in the homestretch to get the fifth and final automatic spot in the final, running a season best 3:38.75, as Craig Engels took the win in 3:38.56.

Right behind Ribich was new teammate Waleed Suliman, who finished sixth, and got one of the two time qualifiers, clocking 3:38.78.

Tacoma native Jack Yearian of Oregon was ninth in 3:41.00, while Yorks was tenth in 3:42.58.

The other semifinal saw Henry Wynne of the Beasts and UW volunteer assistant Sam Prakel finish fourth and fifth to get auto qualifiers for Sunday's final, with Wynne running 3:43.77 and Prakel 3:43.82, as 2018-19 UW volunteer coach and defending Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz won in 3:42.96.

Washington State's Paul Ryan finished seventh in 3:44.60, while Kirkland native Dillon Maggard was ninth in the heat in 3:45.91, and Tripp Hurt was twelfth in 3:47.38.

Nia Akins of the Beasts finished fifth in her heat of the 800 meters, and earned a time qualifier into Sunday's finals, running 2:01.09, as Ajee' Wilson won the heat in 1:59.49.

In the first round of the men's 110 hurdles, former Renton resident and Olympic finalist Devon Allen won his heat in 13.26 to earn a spot in Saturday's semifinals.

Eastern Washington's Parker Bowden was seventh in the same heat, running 13.94.

In the fourth and final heat, Sam Brixey of Washington State was disqualified for a false start, after the previous three attempts to start the race failed due to a mechanical failure of the pressure sensitive starting blocks that's wired to the starter's headset.

Vancouver native Kara Winger easily qualified for Saturday's finals in the javelin, as in her only throw of the afternoon, she launched the spear 192-10 (58.78m), before calling it a day. 

Her mark was the second best of the afternoon, as new American record holder Maggie Malone led all throwers with a best of 195-7 (59.62m). Both throwers are the only ones holding the Olympic qualifying standard of 210-0 (64.00m).

Western Washington alum Katie Reichert threw 146-9 (44.74m) in her flight and did not advance.

Washington State alum CJ Allen finished fourth in the semis of the 400 hurdles, running 49.72, but did not advance to Saturday's finals.

Saturday's program begins at 7 am due to heat concerns with the 20 kilometer walk through the streets of nearby Springfield. Vancouver native Daniel Nehnevaj is the top seed at 1:26:00.

1992 and 1996 Olympian Allen James, the 57 year old Seattle native, is qualified for the Trials, and will walk in the event.

At 10 am, Allie Ostrander of the Brooks Beasts, along with Washington alum Lindsay Flanagan are part of a 44 woman field in the 10000 meters, which was moved in anticipation of unusually hot temperatures Saturday and Sunday.

In fact, the National Weather Service is issuing an excessive heat warning for Saturday and Sunday for southwest Washington and northwest Oregon.

Kara Winger vies for her fourth Olympic team in the javelin at 5:30 pm, and should lock up one of the three spots on the squad as only she and Maggie Malone hold the Olympic standard.

Former Pullman resident Katie Nageotte and Washington alum Olivia Gruver are in the finals of the pole vault at 5:40 pm.

Devon Allen runs in the semis of the 110 hurdles at 6:03 pm, with a berth in the finals at 7:51 pm on the line, as he looks to make his second Olympic team.

UPDATE (10:00 pm) Washington State's Sam Brixey, who was originally charged with a false start Friday, was reinstated and will run in the semifinals.

NBC Sports (KING 5 in Seattle) and NBCSN, along with nbcsports.com will offer live and streaming coverage of the US Olympic Track & Field Trials.

The start lists along with all results from previous days are available here.

NOTE: NBC Sports, the National Weather Service, TrackTown USA and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.

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