Olivia Markezich wins the mile at Folksam Grand Prix Borås in Sweden...
For most of the race, Markezich, who finished sixth in the steeplechase at the US Olympic Trials after both stumbling on the last water jump and hitting the last hurdle, stayed in the middle of the pack for most of the race, but close enough to be in position to respond to any moves from the leaders.
In the final straightaway, it came down to four runners--On Athletics Club teammates and NCAA 1500 champion Maia Ramsden of New Zealand, Sage Hurta-Klecker, Markezich, and former North Carolina State All-American Katelyn Touhy.
Markezich, who was pinned to the inside rail, found a gap when Ramsden drifted to the outside of lane one, which was enough for her to squeeze past Ramsden and take the victory in 4:24.06.
Her On Athletics Club teammates Ramsden and Hurta-Klecker were second and third in 4:24.79. and 4:25.60, while Tuohy finished fourth in 4:26.66.
Former Washington Husky Wilma Nielsen of Sweden was seventh in a personal best 4:28.51.
In the men's mile, Waleed Suliman of the Brooks Beasts finished third after leading for most of the final lap.
Suliman held the lead after pacer Jonah Koech pulled off the track with about 450 meters to go.
With about 250 to go, former Stanford standout Ky Robinson, who is a 5000/10000 specialist, jumped to the lead.
Robinson of Australia held the lead down the homestretch, but Sweden's Samuel Pihlstrom swung wide and took the lead with less than 50 meters to go.
Pihlstrom took the win in a national record 3:52.50, with Robinson second in a personal best 3:52.79. Suliman was third in 3:52.93.
NIA AKINS ENTERED IN 800M AS WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE RESUMES IN LAUSANNE THURSDAY...
Nia Akins, who has been the subject of recent speculation about her return to the Brooks Beasts, is entered in the women's 800 meters Thursday at the Athletissima Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, the eleventh stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour, and the first after the Olympic break.
She'll face a field that includes Diamond League 800 meter points leader Jemma Reekie of Great Britain; Mary Moraa of Kenya, the defending world champion and bronze medalist in Paris; Olympic 1500m bronze medalist and former Cal Bear Georgia Bell of Great Britain; and Olympic finalist Rénelle Lamote of France.
Peacock ($) will stream the meet starting at 11:00 am Pacific time.
The women's 800 is scheduled for 12:19 pm Pacific time.
NEWS AND NOTES...
As had been rumored, former Husky Wilma Nielsen (screenshot via European Athletics) will finish her NCAA eligibility at the University of Oregon as a grad transfer, according to an Instagram post by media partner RunnerSpace.com.
In her short stint with the Huskies, Nielsen qualified for the NCAA indoor championships, where she finished sixth, as well as the outdoor championships at 800 meters.
Nielsen helped the Huskies win a Penn Relays wheel in the 4 x 800 relay.
She finished fourth for the Huskies in the Pac-12 championships, and set her collegiate best of 2:02.26 at the Ken Shannon Last Chance meet in February.
After qualifying for the NCAA outdoor championships at the NCAA First Round West Regionals, Nielsen opted to end her collegiate season at that meet.
She instead went to Stockholm to run in the Diamond League meet, then on to Rome to compete for Sweden at the European Championships, in hopes of picking up more world ranking points and a better shot at obtaining the Olympic qualifying standard, as opposed to the NCAA championships.
That move apparently did not sit well with people within both the Washington program, and other schools who could have filled the twelfth spot out of the West region. Nielsen withdrew from the meet too late for her place to be filled. The women's 800 meters at the NCAA championships had 23 starters instead of 24.
She will join her twin sister Julia at Oregon. Julia comes to Oregon from Bradley.
NOTE: The Folksam Grand Prix Borås, Athletissima Lausanne, and Runnerpace.com contributed to this report.
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