Recent UW grad Justin O'Toole gets world championships standard in Germany...
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In Pfungstadt, Germany, new Washington grad Justin O'Toole (Paul Merca photo) surprised everyone in the field in the men's 800 at the Internationales Abendsportfest meeting Wednesday night, ducking under the world championships qualifying standard.
Going into the meet, O'Toole, whose previous best and Washington school record was 1:45.51 set at the Canadian championships three weeks ago, was chasing the world championships standard of 1:44.50.
O'Toole was second at the national championships behind defending world champion Marco Arop, but was ranked outside the Road to Tokyo quota of 56 athletes in the 800 with a five race average score of 1198 points, 31 points behind the last person inside the quota (top 56 athletes go).
With four days to go before the end of the Tokyo qualifying period, O'Toole had to either boost his world ranking point totals to get inside the top 56, or go under 1:44.50 to get the fourth spot on the Canadian team in the 800, as Abdullahi Hassan and the University of Oregon's Matti Erickson already had the standard.
In his heat, O'Toole won in 1:44.42, just ahead of Great Britain's Tiarnan Crorken, who ran 1:44.48.
Isaiah Harris of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts was fifth in 1:44.75.
In a separate heat, Brannon Kidder of the Beasts was third in 1:45.17.
As a side note, this was the fourth time the Washington school record in the 800 was broken since April.
Kyle Reinheimer broke the previous UW record of 1:46.23 set by Nathan Green when he ran 1:46.09 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. He then lowered it to 1:45.73 in June at the Portland Track Festival.
O'Toole then broke Reinheimer's mark at the Canadian championships in Ottawa on August 2nd when he ran 1:45.51 before breaking it again in Pfungstadt with the 1:44.42 clocking.
Other highlights of the meet:
--The men's 1500 saw former Husky Sam Tanner finish eighth in the top section, running 3:34.04, while UW alum Kieran Lumb was 13th in 3:34.95. Lumb's training partner, Narve Gilje Nordås from Norway, won in 3:30.26.
--In the women's 1500, Washington alum Kayley DeLay of the Brooks Beasts was fourth in a personal best of 4:04.99, as Australia's Lauren Ryan won in 4:03.79.
Fellow Husky alum Eleanor Fulton was fifth in 4:05.16.
--In the women's 800, Washington alum Carley Thomas was second in her heat and tenth overall, running 2:02.50. Ajee Wilson was the overall winner in 1:57.98.
In London, Parker Stokes of the Brooks Beasts was second in the steeplechase at the British Milers Club MarketAxess Tooting Bec meet Wednesday night.
Stokes, who was listed on the start list in the 1500 in Pfungstadt, finished in a time of 8:20.72, as Great Britain's Phil Norman won in 8:20.15.
Washington alum India Weir was fifth in the top section of the women's 1500, running 4:12.53. Berenice Cleyet-Merle of France was the winner in 4:09.63.
On a rainy night in Lausanne, Switzerland, Woodinville native Olivia Markezich earned her highest placing in a Wanda Diamond League meeting, finishing third in the women's 3000 steeplechase at the Athletissima Meeting, the penultimate regular season meet of the Diamond League circuit.
Markezich ran 9:20.73, as NCAA champion Doris Lemngole of Alabama and Kenya won in 9:16.36.
Washington's Brian Fay did not have a good outing in the men's 5000, finishing 18th in 13:36.61.
Isaac Kimeli of Belgium was the upset winner, running 13:07.67.
NOTE: The Internationales Abendsportfest meeting, the British Milers Club MarketAxess Tooting Bec, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.
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