ROAD TO OREGON22: Kerr sharpens up for worlds by winning 800m at CNW All-Comers meet...

SHORELINE--In the midst of age group hotshots and senior citizens competing at Wednesday night's Club Northwest All-Comers meet at Shoreline Stadium north of the Seattle city limits, there was a men's and women's 800 set up to give Olympians Josh Kerr (Paul Merca photo) and Marta Pen Freitas of the Brooks Beasts, and Oregon alum Johnny Gregorek some sharpening work on the road to Oregon22 and the world track & field championships that begin a week from Friday in Eugene.

In the invitational men's 800, Olympic Trials fourth place finisher Isaiah Harris of the Beasts paced the field through the first 400 in around 51 seconds before stepping aside to make way for teammates Kerr and Brannon Kidder.

Meanwhile there was a second group behind the three Beasts, led by University of Washington volunteer coach Sam Prakel, fresh off winning the Yakima Road Mile last Saturday, with training partner Johnny Gregorek and Henry Wynne of the Beasts in tow.

Kidder took the lead and held it through approximately 600 before Kerr, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 1500 meters took command, winning in 1:46.59, with Kidder finishing in second at 1:47.00.

Gregorek, who will be on Team USATF in the 1500, finished third in 1:47.41, with Prakel fourth in 1:49.47.  Wynne was fifth in 1:53.34, and Western Washington's Mac Franks sixth in 1:53.94.

In the women's invitational 800, which for all intents and purposes was a Brooks Beasts intrasquad race, University of Pennsylvania alum Nia Akins set the table through the first lap before giving way to Laurie Barton and Pen Freitas (Paul Merca photo) .

Barton came agonizingly close to her personal best of 2:00.65 set at last year's NCAA championships, running a season best 2:00.78. 

Pen Freitas, who will represent Portugal at the world championships and has a lifetime best mark of 2:00.09 set in 2018, ran a season best 2:02.35, her fastest 800 in almost a year.

Here are the complete results of the invitational 800s at the Club Northwest All-Comers meet:

SQUADS FROM NEW ZEALAND, POLAND & GREECE ALSO CAMPING AT UW...

In addition to the Australian federation holding its pre-World Championships training camp at the University of Washington, the teams from New Zealand, Poland and Greece are also conducting their training camps at Montlake.

For the past few days, those teams have been training on the UW's purple oval in the morning and the late afternoon, and using the Husky weight room during the lunch hour and the early afternoon before returning to the track.

Most of the teams will head to Eugene beginning on Tuesday.

NOTE: The Brooks Beasts, Club Northwest, and World Athletics contributed to this report.

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