CJ Allen rolls into finals of 400 hurdles; Kara Winger, Katie Moon, & Moll twins all advance...
EUGENE--Washington State alum CJ Allen (Paul Merca photo) easily advanced to Sunday's final in the men's 400 hurdles, running the second fastest time of the day to highlight track action among athletes with Washington ties on day 8 of the United States Olympic Track & Field Trials at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
Allen ran 48.16 in heat 3, as Olympic silver medalist Rai Benjamin won the heat in 47.97.
In the same heat, Pac-12 champ Jared McAlvey of Washington State was ninth in 51.78.
Running in heat 2, Washington's Jonathan Birchman was seventh in 51.86.
In what turned out to be the fastest of the three semifinal heats, Brandon Miller of the Brooks Beasts advanced to Sunday's final by placing second in 1:43.73, as Hobbs Kessler, who is already qualified in the 1500 meters, won the heat in a personal best 1:43.71.
Miller's time was also a personal best, beating his old mark of 1:44.24 set last month in Los Angeles.
In one of the surprises of the meet, Isaiah Harris of the Brooks Beasts did not advance to the finals, placing third in 1:46.21 and not obtaining one of the three time qualifiers (top 2 in each of the three semis plus the three fastest time qualifiers advanced).
Washington alum Cass Elliott finished sixth in that heat in 1:47.70.
The third heat saw Brannon Kidder of the Beasts finish fourth in a season best 1:45.81, while Washington alum Sam Ellis was eighth in 1:51.04.
Washington alum Eleanor Fulton was seventh in her semifinal heat of the women's 1500 (top 5 plus two time qualifiers) in 4:08.27, while Allie Buchalski of the Brooks Beasts was 11th in 4:13.22.
In the other semi of the women's 1500, Washington alum Anna Gibson was 11th in 4:09.75.
Vancouver native Kara Winger was the top qualifier in the women's javelin, of 206-8 (63.01m) to advance to Sunday's final.
When asked in the mixed zone why she decided to come out of retirement, she said, "For fun."
"I was miserable in retirement for a couple of different reasons...but the choice to return and the choice to test if I did understand the technique has been really fun. Satisfying curiosity is what brought me back."
"I'm 38 now, and some of the girls in the field were not born when I competed in my first Olympic Trials in 2004."
In the men's hammer, Ridgefield HS alum Trey Knight advanced to Sunday's final, with the seventh best throw of the day at 242-6 (73.91m), while Washington State alum Brock Eager missed qualifying by three places, finishing 15th at 234-8 (71.54m).
The women's pole vault saw former Pullman resident and defending Olympic champion Katie Moon only take one attempt to qualify for Sunday's final, clearing 14-9 (4.50m).
Washington's Hana (Paul Merca photo) and Amanda Moll both qualified for Sunday's final, clearing 14-9 (4.50m), though Amanda needed six tries over three heights to squeeze into the final, finishing eighth overall, while Hana was in a seven-way tie for first.
In the only final run Friday night, Grant Holloway won the men's 110 hurdles in a world leading time of 12.86.
The race saw for the first time in history three men break 13 seconds, with Freddie Crittenden placing second in 12.93, and Daniel Roberts third in 12.96.
For Washington athletes, Saturday is a rather light day, with two time US Olympian (1992-96) Allen James from Seattle and Vancouver native Daniel Nehnevaj competing in the men's 20 kilometer walk, while Bellevue native Katie Burnett is in the women's 20k walk.
Both events will be contested on the streets of Springfield, with the start and finish near Springfield's city hall starting at 7:30 am.
Back at Hayward Field, Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe, and former Brooks Beast and US Olympic marathon team alternate Jessica (Tonn) McClain will run in the finals of the women's 10000 at 6:09 pm.
OTHER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND...
Besides the final two days of the US Olympic Trials, we will track the national championships of Great Britain (Josh Kerr, Jack Rowe, Amy-Eloise Neale, Louie Hinchliffe), Portugal (Marta Pen Freitas), Canada (Kieran Lumb), Ireland (Brian Fay, Sophie O'Sullivan), Brazil (Michaela De Mello) and Sweden (Wilma Nielsen), as those athletes with Washington ties shoot for spots on their country's Olympic teams.
From this group, Kerr, Rowe, Hinchliffe, Fay, and O'Sullivan all have met the Olympic standards in their events.
That said, each country has different qualification standards for their Olympic team.
NOTE: USA Track & Field and World Athletics contributed to this report.
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