Huskies' Nathan Green advances to 1500m finals; Moll twins sail to pole vault finals at world U20 champs...
Green, who was seventh at the NCAA championships in that event, and the reigning US U-20 champ, stayed near the front of the pack within striking distance of the leaders.
After crossing the 800 meter mark in about 2:03. there was some pushing and bumping in the pack, with Green nearly stumbling 100 meters later.
He composed himself and was at the front of the pack entering the bell lap with Ermias Girma of Ethiopia.
Girma took the lead with about 150 meters to go, and once Green saw that he was going to get one of the three automatic qualifying spots to Wednesday's final, he cruised through the finish, content to get second behind Girma.
Girma won in 3:45.40, with Green clocking 3:45.80.
Green told reporters in the mixed zone, "I felt controlled. I had a few slip ups where I almost tripped there but I stayed on my feet. I am very thankful for this opportunity and to be in the prelim at all."
"It's not very common that you have an American that places well in the final. At the end, I was looking around, trying to see if I could ease up just because there's no point in hammering it home if you've already got the qualifying."
In the afternoon session, twins Amanda and Hana Moll of Olympia's Capital HS easily qualified for the finals in the women's pole vault as one of thirteen to clear 13-3.5 (4.05m).
Both opened at 12-11.5 (3.95m) with Amanda needing a second attempt to clear the bar, while Hana needed two attempts in total to qualify for Wednesday's finals.
Afterwards, Hana said, "It means a lot to me to be here with my sister Amanda. Going into the national qualifiers, I was worried that one of us wasn't going to make it. We're on our own paths, and we're not the exact same and we're aware of that. We know that one of us might do better and one of us might not but there are great things for both of us."
The Molls go for the world championship crown on Wednesday starting at 3:55 pm, local time (1:55 pm in Seattle), while Green runs in the men's 1500 finals at 5:55 pm local time (3:55 pm in Seattle).
Wednesday will be a busy day for athletes with Washington ties, as JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Emerald Ridge HS in Puyallup starts day 1 of the heptathlon at 8:30 am local time (6:30 am in Seattle), while University of Washington rising sophomore Anthony Smith, who is the national champion of Turkiye (Turkey), goes in the first round of the men's 200 at 11:25 am local time (9:25 am in Seattle).
NOTE: World Athletics contributed to this report.
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