Huskies' Sophie O'Sullivan breaks 3000m school record in Rovereto...
ROVERETO, Italy--The University of Washington's Sophie O'Sullivan (Paul Merca photo) demolished the school record in the women's 3000 meters at Wednesday's Palio Citta' Della Quercia meeting in Rovereto, Italy.
O'Sullivan, who broke her own school record in the 1500 meters in the fastest first round heat at the recently completed World Athletics Championships in Budapest, started cautiously before working her way to the front group with a few laps remaining.
She tucked on the shoulder of Washington alum Amy-Eloise Markovc, as Ethiopia's Wubrist Aschal slowly tried to pull away.
On the last lap, she burst past Markovc and made a run to catch Aschal but fell short, with Aschal taking the win in a meet record 8:44.13.
O'Sullivan crossed the line in second in 8:44.72, while Markovc was third in a season best 8:45.23.
O'Sullivan's time in Rovereto bettered both the indoor school record of 8:55.31 set by Katie Flood in 2012, and the absolute school record of 8:55.05 set by Regina Joyce in 1982, when the 3000 was a commonly contested event outdoors before it was moved up to 5000 meters.
It's the third fastest in Irish history behind mother Sonia's 8:21.64 set in 1994, and Mary Cullen's 8:43.74 set in 2009. It's also an Irish under-23 national record.
In the men's 3000, Washington alums Brian Fay and Kieran Lumb finished 2-3 behind Stanford alum Grant Fisher of the Eugene based Nike Bowerman Track Club, days after both set personal bests over 1500 meters in Padova.
Fisher won the race in a meet record 7:33.32, while Fay took second at 7:36.89, and Lumb took third in 7:38.92.
Fay's mark is the third fastest in Irish history, behind Mark Carroll's 7:30.36 set in 1999, and Alistair Cragg's 7:32.49 set in 2007. Fay moved past the great Eamonn Coghlan into the third spot on the Irish all time list.
For Vancouver native Lumb, his time in third set a new Canadian national record, eclipsing the old mark of 7:40.49 set by Mo Ahmed in 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia.
Courtesy of Flotrack, here is video of the race:
In the other race involving an athlete with Washington ties, current Husky Carley Thomas finished eleventh in the women's 800 in 2:02.84, as Vivian Kiprotich of Kenya won in 1:59.56.
In Pfungstadt, Germany, Washington alum Ed Trippas finished twelfth in the mile Wednesday at the Pfungstädter Abendsportfest, running 4:02.78, as Great Britain's George Mills took the win in 3:49.64.
NOTE: FIDAL and the Meeting Palio Citta' Della Quercia contributed to this report.
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