Kieran Lumb finishes a close second in wild 1500 at Portland Track Festival...
PORTLAND--It was only fitting that the most competitive race of the Portland Track Festival, contested in downtown Portland at Lincoln High School Sunday night was run last on the final day of qualifying for the US Olympic Trials, set to go on June 21st just down Interstate 5 in Eugene.
Washington alum Kieran Lumb (Paul Merca photo), the reigning Canadian national champion at 1500 meters, made a late charge over the last 150 meters for the win, but couldn't close the deal, as 2022 USA national champion Cooper Teare swung to the outside to win the metric mile in a time of 3:35.48.
Lumb stayed close to pacer Craig Nowak, going through 300 in 43 seconds and 1:40 at 700 meters, or just a shade over 57 seconds.
The third lap slowed a bit after Nowak moved off the track, with Florida's Parvej Khan passing Henry Wynne of the Brooks Beasts as they hit the bell with a 58.69 lap.
Exiting the final turn, Lumb held the lead with Wynne on his inside, occasional training partner Johnny Gregorek on his right, and Teare tucked behind Lumb.
Teare found an opening in the last 50 meters, shooting a gap created by the fading Gregorek after initially trying to squeeze past Wynne on the inside, catching Lumb in the last five meters.
The Oregon alum took the win in 3:35.63, with Lumb running 3:35.63.
Behind Lumb were Waleed Suliman of the Brooks Beasts in fourth in 3:35.86; Seattle resident Sam Prakel in 3:36.08 in fifth; Gregorek sixth in 3:36.16; Wynne seventh in 3:36.17; and Washington State alum Paul Ryan tenth in 3:36.65.
Suliman and Ryan got under the Olympic Trials standard of 3:37.00, while Prakel, Gregorek and Wynne all had the standard going into the meet.
Courtesy of Portland Track and KGW, here is the invitational section or the "Hot Window" of the meet:
Other highlights of the Portland Track Festival:
--Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts won the invitational women's 800 in 1:58.04, while in the first of two sections of the high performance women's 800, teammate Valery Tobias was third in 2:01.62.
Washington's Samantha Friborg won the second section of the high performance 800 in 2:03.29.
--The invitational women's 1500 saw Washington alum Eleanor Fulton finish seventh in 4:08.70. Fellow UW alum Anna Gibson was 13th in 4:11.42, while Marta Pen Freitas of the Brooks Beasts was 14th in 4:11.55.
--In the steeplechase, which was actually contested Saturday night at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, due to Lincoln not having a steeple pit, Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks won the event in a time of 8:18.77, while in a separate section, Washington alum Mick Stanovsek won his heat in a personal best 8:29.70, in his first full season in the event;
--The women's steeple was won by Seattle resident Allie Ostrander in a season best 9:24.70, just over a second from the Olympic standard of 9:23.00.
Pasco HS alum Marisa Howard was fourth in 9:34.01, while Washington alum Kayley DeLay of the Brooks Beasts was fifth in 9:38.81.
GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN...
After the 2022 world track and field championships, where she finished second, as well as the Wanda Diamond League finals in Brussels that she won, giving her a free pass into last year's world championships in Budapest, Vancouver native Kara Winger (Paul Merca photo) insisted that no matter what, she was retiring.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Winger said that she would return to competition with the intent of joining Allyson Felix as a five time Olympian.
Winger took the first step by winning the New York Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island, throwing 207-5 (63.22m),beating long time rival Maggie Malone-Hardin, the only American with the Olympic standard of 210-0 (64.00m).
Malone-Hardin threw 196-7 (59.93m) for the runner-up position.
Winger, who was the number one thrower in the world at the end of the 2022 season, is currently unranked. For her to make her fifth Olympic team, she needs to finish in the top three at the Olympic Trials, AND accumulate enough world ranking points between now and the Olympic qualifying period which ends June 30th, coincidentally the final day of the Trials.
The simplest path to Paris 2024 is throwing the Olympic standard of 210-0 (64.00m), a mark which only seven women have achieved so far in the qualifying period, which began last July 1st.
Here's the Instagram post from the USOC:
In the men's 800, Washington alum Sam Ellis ran his personal best, finishing seventh in 1:45.93, and getting under the US Olympic Trials qualifying standard of 1:46.30.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS HIGHLIGHTS...
In Rome, competition continued in the European Championships at Stadio Olimpico, site of the 1960 Olympics and the 1987 World Championships.
Saturday's finals of the men's 5000 saw Washington alum Brian Fay of Ireland finish 14th in 13:29.48, while former Husky Jack Rowe was 17th in 13:31.77.
Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen won in 13:20.11.
Monday night, Washington's Wilma Nielsen finished third in her first round heat of the women's 800.
Nielsen, who scratched out of last week's NCAA championships to focus on the European Championships, ran a personal best 2:01.82 to advance to Tuesday's semifinals, where she'll need to finish in the top 3 or capture one of the two time qualifiers for Wednesday's finals.
Nielsen, who graduated early from Bradley last December, is reportedly entering the transfer portal to use her final outdoor season.
STUFF WE MISSED...
On June 4th, Washington alum Cass Elliott, who is competing for the Baltimore based Under Armour Mission Run 800 group, qualified for the US Olympic Trials at the Maryland Qualifier meet in Landover, Maryland at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex.
Elliott ran a personal best 1:45.77 to duck under the Trials standard of 1:46.30, as Jonah Koech won in 1:44.70.
The West Seattle HS grad, who ran the 800 meters and qualified last year for the NCAA indoor championships in that event, is in his first full season as an 800 runner, after finishing his career at Washington as an All-American at 400 hurdles.
Elliott had already qualified for the Trials in the 400 hurdles.
NOTE: USA Track & Field, World Athletics, the USOPC, Portland Track & European Athletics contributed to this report.
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