Andre Korbmacher gets second in 110H at World U20s; Buckmiller & Rhodes lead USA into 4x4 finals...
Korbmacher, who was positioned in lane 6, got off to a solid start, but was eventually overtaken by USA teammate Ja'Kobe Tharp, who won in a world leading time of 13.05 over the 39-inch barriers.
The Bellingham native set a personal best with his runner-up finish of 13.14, breaking his previous best of 13.25 set in Thursday's semifinals. It's also currently the third fastest time in the world over the 39-inch barriers this season.
In the semifinals of the women's 400 hurdles, Carnation native Braelyn Baker, the Bear Creek School grad and current freshman at Duke University, finished fifth in her heat, running 57.97, and didn't advance to Saturday's finals.
In the semifinals of the men's 4 x 400 relay, rising sophomores Grant Buckmiller from Washington State on the leadoff leg, and the University of Puget Sound's Alex Rhodes on the anchor leg, led Team USA to the fastest time of the day, winning the second heat in 3:05.16.
Buckmiller ran 46.69 on the opening leg to give the United States a lead it never relinquished, while Rhodes had the fastest split of the day for Team USATF, running 45.89 on the anchor, despite holding a 30-plus meter lead at the start of his leg.
The finals of the men's 4 x 400 relay will be contested Saturday at 4:45 pm Pacific/6:45 pm local time, as the final event of the championships.
The composition of the team for the finals won't be known until shortly before the race, but Jayden Davis and Sidi Nije, who finished second and third in the open 400 Thursday night, are probably going to be added.
Peacock ($) is streaming the meet in the USA, starting at 2 pm Pacific time Saturday.
GONZAGA SWEEPS CLASH OF THE INLAND NORTHWEST IN CHENEY FRIDAY...
The 2024 NCAA cross country season officially got underway around the country, and in Cheney Friday morning, the Gonzaga cross country teams swept the individual and team titles at the Clash of the Inland Northwest hosted by Eastern Washington University on the practice fields of the campus.
In the opening women's 4k race, the Gonzaga women took a commanding lead as the quintet of freshman Jade Rypkema, Alexi Fogo, Keira Saavedra, Anna Grabowski, and Kate Donaldson pulled ahead.
Rypkema took the win in 13:37, followed by Fogo in 13:42, and Saavedra was third in 13:47.
Grabowski was fourth in 13:57, with Donaldson fifth in 14:09, as the Zags scored a perfect 15.
Grad transfer Cassidy Walchak-Sloan, the NCAA Division II All-American at Saint Martin's in 2023, led Eastern Washington with her sixth place finish, one second behind Donaldson.
Jasmin Muneton was the only other Eagle to crack the top ten, finishing ninth in 14:20, as Eastern Washington was an easy second in the team standings with 79 points, with conference rival Idaho third with 79.
The men's 6k saw Ryan Mitchell and Jeremiah Mackie of Gonzaga tie for the win in 18:13, with teammate Mason Kissell third in 18:16.
Noah Hasselblad and Evan Peters broke into the top ten, finishing fourth and fifth in 18:18, and 18:22.
Nick Braz in sixth in 18:24, and Will Thorsett in seventh in 18:25 rounded out Gonzaga's scorers.
Gonzaga won the team title with a low score of 19 points, with Eastern Washington second at 60 points.
As expected, the Zags did not run any of their top seven runners from last year's men's squad that qualified for the NCAA championships. On the women's side, Gonzaga held out their top three runners from last year's NCAA regionals team, including All-American and defending WCC individual champion Rosina Machu.
In Colfax, Zenah Cheptoo and Evans Kurui were the winners of Friday's WSU Alumni Open at the Colfax Golf Club.
In what essentially was a intrasquad race, Cheptoo ran 13:06 for 4k to win by 40 seconds over Nicole Bissell.
Freshman Kurui won the men's 6k in 16:57, with last year's team leader Brian Barsaiya second in 17:51.
Washington State hosts the Cougar Classic in two weeks at the Colfax Golf Club with Gonzaga, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Seattle University, as the teams preview the course that will host the NCAA West Regional championships in November.
In Dresden, Germany, Allie Buchalski of the Brooks Beasts finished seventh in the women's 5000 meters at the Stadioneröffnung Dresden meet Friday.
Buchalski ran 15:39.49, as Birtukan Molla of Ethiopia was the only runner to break 15 minutes to win in 14:59.10 in what was an attempt by the top entries to go under the world championships qualifying standard of 14:50.00.
NOTE: World Athletics, USA Track & Field, the German Athletics Federation, and the sports information offices of Florida State, Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, and Washington State contributed to this report.
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