Stumptown Twilight features Washington athletes looking for Olympic Trials/Games standards...
Thursday's Stumptown Twilight meet at Portland's Lewis & Clark College marks ten days for athletes to obtain either an Olympic Trials qualifier or the Olympic Games standard.
The Stumptown Twilight is slanted towards distance events, as the meet will offer high performance sections in the 800 meters to the 5000. The first race gets underway at 4pm with two sections of the men's steeple, followed by one section of the women's steeplechase.
The final race of the evening is the women's 5000 meters at 8:40 pm.
The meet will be streamed live ($) via Portland Track's website for $5.99, with most of the proceeds going towards the athlete prize purse.
Every top men's and women's race will have at least one athlete with Washington ties, as they either sharpen up for the Trials, or make a last effort to hit the standard and/or run fast enough to move up the descending order list.
One of the top races of the twilight meet is the women's 1500, featuring 2016 Portuguese Olympian and Brooks Beasts team member Marta Pen Freitas (Paul Merca photo) as she goes against Beasts teammate Karisa Nelson, along with Nikki Hiltz and Washington alum Eleanor Fulton.
2019 world championships finalist Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts, who already has the Olympic standard, goes against UW volunteer coach Sam Prakel, as he looks to dip under 3:35 in the men's 1500.
Entering the meet, the only US Olympic Trials events that don't have enough qualifiers with the standard are the men's 800 and steeplechase, and the women's 1500.
Bottom line--hit the standard or you're not running in the Olympic Trials.
The start list for the Stumptown Twilight is available here.
NOTE: The Portland Track Festival contributed to this report.
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