World champ Josh Kerr of Brooks Beasts nipped at the line at Weltklasse...
ZÜRICH, Switzerland--In his first race since winning the world championship at 1500 meters in Budapest, Josh Kerr (center/photo courtesy Wanda Diamond League) of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts ran a great race for 1400 meters of the 1500 Thursday night at the Weltklasse Meeting in Zürich, the eleventh stop on the season long Wanda Diamond League tour.
After the pacemakers dropped out, Kerr appeared to have control of the race.
Unfortunately, as he made his stretch run, he swung to the outside of lane 1, and opened a gap for former Notre Dame standout and USA champ Yared Nuguse to slip past him with less than 10 meters to go, throwing himself at the finish line to nip Kerr in a time of 3:30.49 to 3:30.51.
Former Husky Sam Tanner finished 11th in a time of 3:32.16.
Washington State alum CJ Allen, who missed making the finals of the world championships when he finished third in his semifinal in Budapest, was fourth in the men's 400 hurdles, running 48.28.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands, who was second in Budapest, pulled a minor upset, beating world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway 47.27 to 47.30, while Alison dos Santos of Brazil was third.
Allen was putting pressure on dos Santos as they entered the final hurdle, but Allen appeared to stumble coming off the hurdle, losing his momentum in the run to the finish.
US champion Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts, who finished sixth at the world championships in the 800, took fourth place in a time of 1:59.29, as Great Britain's Laura Muir won in 1:57.71.
In the men's 5000, Washington alum Brian Fay finished sixth, running 13:24.61, as former Oregon Project runner Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia won in a time of 12:46.91.
The Wanda Diamond League tour and the road to Eugene for the Diamond League finals at the Nike Prefontaine Classic, moves on to Xiamen, China for the first Diamond League meet in China on Saturday.
Washington alum Gianna Woodruff is entered in the women's 400 hurdles in Xiamen.
FOUR OF FIVE WASHINGTON D1 SCHOOLS OPEN CROSS COUNTRY SEASON FRIDAY...
Four of the five Washington Division I schools open the 2023 cross country season with competitions on Friday.
The 30th ranked Gonzaga men's squad makes the short drive across Spokane to Cheney for the annual Clash of the Inland Northwest meet hosted by Eastern Washington on the EWU soccer field and intramural facilities, with the men running 6k and the women 4k, starting at 8:30 am.
With James Mwaura and Yacine Guermali now graduated, the Zags will be led by Wil Smith, who was fourth at the NCAA West Regionals at Chambers Creek last year, along with Kyle Radosevich, who was 22nd at regionals.
Both ran at last year's NCAA championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where they helped lead the Zags to a 13th place finish, the highest in school history.
According to a text sent to publisher Paul Merca by head coach Pat Tyson, most of their top runners returning from last year's NCAA championship squad will run Friday.
On the women's side, Rosina Machu is expected to lead the Zags. Machu was seventh at last year's West Coast Conference championships, and finished 22nd at the NCAA West Regionals.
For Eastern Washington, Noah Hasselblad on the men's side, and Lilly Fetzer on the women's squad, are the projected leaders of the Eagles. Both were the top returning finishers for the Eags at last year's Big Sky Championships.
In McMinnville, Oregon, Seattle University opens its season at the Linfield Harrier Classic, hosted by Linfield at Joe Dancer Park, starting at 10 am.
The women's 4k race kicks things off, followed by the men's 6k.
Azalea Groleau is the team's top runner on the women's side returning for the Redhawks, as she finished 38th at the Western Athletic Conference meet.
Alex Franklin and Gus Harquail are the top two runners on the men's side returning for SeattleU, as they finished 42nd and 49th in the conference meet.
Washington State opens its season with the WSU Alumni Open at the Colfax Golf Club, with the men's 6k starting at 5 pm, and the women's 4k at 5:30 pm.
WSU returns five of its six who finished last season at the 2022 NCAA West Regional including Samantha Boyle, Mevin Jelagat, Caroline Jerotich, Neema Kimtai, and Alaina Stone Boggs, plus transfers Maya McCabe from SeattleU, and Cristina Molteni, who joined the Cougs during the indoor track season.
Kelvin Limo and Brian Barsaiya lead the Cougars on the men's side. Barsaiya won last year's meet, while Limo was second.
Barsaiya was 33rd at Pac-12s, and Limo was three places behind.
NOTE: The Weltklasse Meeting in Zürich, the Wanda Diamond League, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Seattle University, and Washington State University contributed to this report.
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