WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Tom Anderson & Sam Prakel get second in races in San Francisco & Honolulu...
In San Francisco, a felled tree on the course during the preliminary races combined with bad weather conditions in the days before the race at the USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships Saturday at Golden Gate Park forced organizers to re-do the course on the fly.
As a result, the field in both the open men's and women's races ran laps around the Golden Gate Park horse track that circles the polo fields, with the women running 4.75 laps, and the men running 7.75 laps around the supposed .8 mile distance to make up the 6k and 10k distances.
In the men's 10k, which was estimated to be roughly 9.2k, Club Northwest's Tom Anderson (Paul Merca photo) ran to a second place finish, completing the 7.75 lap course in 26:33, five seconds behind winner Cole Hocker of the Oregon TC's 26:28.
Bellarmine Prep and recent University of Oregon alum Jack Yearian finished seventh in 27:03.
Washington alum Julius Diehr was 25th in 27:56 to round out athletes with Washington ties in the top 40.
In the women's 6k, which was estimated to be about 5.6k after the course modification, Pasco native Marisa Howard, returning from maternity leave, finished eighth in 18:22.
PRAKEL EARNS A SECOND PLACE FINISH AT KALAKAUA MERRIE MILE...
In Honolulu Saturday morning, Washington volunteer coach Sam Prakel finished second in the Kalakaua Merrie Mile under warm and blustery conditions on an out and back course on the famous Kalakaua Boulevard, steps away from Waikiki Beach.
In the unique format of the Merrie Mile, the women competing in the field were given a 29-second head start over the men, with the prize money based on overall finish regardless of sex.
Washington senior Kieran Lumb set the pace for the men, with eventual overall winner Neil Gourley of Great Britain just off his shoulder.
As the men approached the finish line, the question became who could find some clear space to go through the traffic to cross the line first.
When the men passed the women over the last 200, Prakel swung right of the women, while the other men went to the left, a strategy Prakel later admitted may have cost him the momentum to get the win.
Gourley got the win in 3:56.1 to Prakel's 3:56.4.
Lumb held on to take fourth in 3:57.1
MARKOVC EARNS TEAM SILVER MEDAL FOR GREAT BRITAIN AT SPAR EUROPEAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS...
Glacier Peak HS & University of Washington alum Amy-Eloise Markovc earned a silver medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships Sunday outside of Turin, Italy at La Mandria Park in Venaria Reale.
Markovc finished 26th in the senior women's 8k, running 28:20 as the sixth finisher for Great Britain's squad that finished with 30 points behind team champion Germany's 9 points (top 3 score).
Karoline Grøvdahl of Norway won the individual title in a time of 26:25.
In the men's 10k, Washington's Brian Fay of Ireland finished 30th in a time of 30:50, while UW alum Jack Rowe of Great Britain was 44th in 31:19.
The Irish squad finished eighth with 72 points, with Fay the final scorer, while Rowe was the sixth runner for Great Britain, who was sixth with 46 points.
Reigning Olympic 1500 meter champ and world 5000 meter champion Jakob Ingebrigsten of Norway won the individual title in a time of 29:33, while France won the team title by a one point margin over Italy 24-25.
NOTE: USA Track & Field, the Honolulu Marathon, and European Athletics contributed to this report.
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