National championship recap over the final weekend of the Olympic qualifying period...

With the focus of our coverage the United States Olympic Track & Field Trials over the last ten days, there was considerable action over the weekend with various national championships involving foreign athletes with ties to the state of Washington leading up to June 30th, the final day of the Olympic qualifying period:

BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Manchester, Louie Hinchliffe (Paul Merca photo), who qualified for the NCAA championships in the 100m while at Washington State last year before transferring to the University of Houston, won the British title on a wet day, running 10.18, after running 10.22 in the semifinals.

The men's 800 saw Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts, who ran at the nationals to prove fitness as the reigning world champion at 1500 get knocked down with around 80 meters to go as he tried to pass leader Elliot Giles on the inside.

Kerr took the lead just before the bell, which the field passed in 52.81. He lead through 600 meters, when Giles moved on the outside, passing Kerr. 

Shortly afterwards, two other runners went past Kerr, who found himself in fourth exiting the final turn.

With eventual winner Ben Pattison and runner up Max Burgin putting pressure on Giles on the outside, Giles moved to the outside of lane 1 in an effort to hold the two off, leaving a small opening for Kerr to try and slip through on the inside.

As Giles tried to close the opening, he and Kerr collided, knocking both men to the ground.  

Kerr got up to finish seventh in 1:53.96, while Giles jogged it in after staying down on the track in 2:19.43.

Washington grad student Jack Rowe, who held the Olympic standard in the 5000 when he ran 13:04.75 in Boston in February, finished third in that event, running 13:46.60.

Hinchliffe clinched a spot on the British Olympic team in the 100 and the 4 x 100 by winning the national championship. Kerr is all but assured of a spot on the British 1500 team assuming he wasn't hurt, while Rowe must wait for British Athletics to make their selection (second place finisher George Mills has the standard, but ran the 1500 at nationals, while the fastest Briton in the qualifying period, Sam Atkin, didn't compete at all in the championships).

IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Dublin, Washington alum Brian Fay won the men's 5000 in 13:43.61, while current Husky Sophie O'Sullivan won the women's 1500m in 4:20.45.

Both Fay and O'Sullivan own the Olympic qualifying standard in their events, so they should earn selection to the Irish Olympic team.

CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Montreal, Washington alum Kieran Lumb won his second straight Canadian championship in the men's 1500, running 3:45.10 and in the process, beat Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, the only Canadian with the standard.

Lumb doesn't have the Olympic standard of 3:33.50, but is well inside the world rankings to merit selection. He was nominated by Athletics Canada for the Olympic team pending the release of the final "Road to Paris" rankings.

Courtesy of media partner RunnerSpace, here's video of Lumb's win in the Canadian championships:

One of the big surprises of the meet was the performance of Washington State senior Jasneet Nijjar (photo courtesy WSU Athletics), who finished fourth in the women's 400. 

Nijjar, whose personal best was an altitude-aided 52.26 at the Pac-12 championships in Boulder at altitude, finished fourth in 52.38 to earn nomination for Canada's 4 x 400 meter relay pool. The Canadians qualified for the Olympics at the World Relays in the Bahamas in May.

OTHER CHAMPIONSHIPS...

In Nassau, Bahamas, former Washington State standout Charisma Taylor, who transferred to Tennessee after the 2022 school year, finished second in the 100 hurdles, running 12.94, and won the triple jump with a leap of 45-3.5 (13.80m) at the national championship of the Bahamas.

Taylor has the Olympic standards in the 100 hurdles, and is currently inside the quota in the triple jump, where she's ranked number 21 in the world..

Wilma Nielsen, who opted out of the NCAA championships for the Washington Huskies in an effort to qualify for Sweden's Olympic team, won the Swedish national title in the 800, running 2:02.41 in Uddevalla.

Nielsen, who is ranked number 59 in the world at 800 meters, is outside the Road to Paris quota and is unlikely to be selected once the final rankings are released on July 7th.

Washington State's Micaela De Mello, who finished seventh in the 100 hurdles at the NCAA championships, won the Brazilian national title in Braganca Paulista, running 12.95.

De Mello, who is currently ranked number 57 in the world in the event, is unlikely to move up in the Road to Paris rankings.

PROJECTED OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS WITH WASHINGTON TIES...

Pending the release of the final Road to Paris rankings on July 7th, here's who we have competing in the Olympics:

WHO'S ON THE US OLYMPIC TEAM

Nia Akins--800m

Marisa Howard--steeple

Brandon Miller--800m

Katie Moon--pole vault

CJ Allen--400H

The five above all finished in the top three and have the Olympic qualifying standard in their events. Walla Walla's Kenneth Rooks, the winner of the steeplechase at the Olympic Trials, does not have the qualifying standard, but has enough world ranking points to warrant selection.

WHO'S ON THEIR COUNTRY'S OLYMPIC TEAM?

Former Huskies Sam Tanner (New Zealand, men's 1500) and Gianna Woodruff (Panama, 400 hurdles), have already been announced by their federations as going to the Olympics.

Washington alum Kieran Lumb and Washington State's Jasneet Nijjar were nominated by Athletics Canada for selection to the Canadian Olympic team in the men's 1500 and women's 4 x 400 relay pool, respectively.

The only possible scenario where Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts isn't selected for the British team in the 1500 is if he suffered an injury from the fall in the 800 at the national championships.

Louie Hinchliffe is on the British team in the 100 and most likely on the 4 x 100 relay team.

Jack Rowe's situation is slightly tricky, but we think that his performance at nationals should put him on the team.

In Australia, Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle, who ran under the Olympic standard in the 5000 meters in Liege, Belgium, clocking 14:49.75 after focusing on the marathon, should receive selection for her second Olympic berth in the 5000 meters.

Former Cougar Charisma Taylor (Bahamas, 100 hurdles and triple jump), and WSU senior Maribel Caicedo (100 hurdles), should receive selection from their countries' respective federations.

Discounting what British Athletics decides to do with Rowe, we have six Americans and nine foreign athletes with Washington ties going to Paris. Note this is unofficial until World Athletics announces the final Road to Paris rankings on July 7th, and the federations make their official announcements.

The link to results of all the national championships contested over the weekend is available through the World Athletics site: World Athletics>Calendar>put in filter 28 June 2024 to 30 June 2024.

NOTE: Athletics Canada, British Athletics, the sports information office of Washington State, and World Athletics contributed to this report.

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