Sophie O'Sullivan moves on to the semifinals of the 1500m at the world championships...
TOKYO--Washington's women's 1500 meter champion Sophie O'Sullivan (Paul Merca photo) used a late charge over the last 50 meters to claim the sixth and final spot in Sunday's semifinals on the first day of the World Athletics Championships--Tokyo 2025 Saturday night at Japan National Stadium.
Competing in the third of four preliminary heats in the 1500, O'Sullivan, who came off a disappointing performance in Germany on September 3rd, kept herself in contention despite the lack of race fitness after not racing in Ireland's national championship.
The field went through 400 in 65.14 through 400, and 2:13.62.
Business picked up when Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia dropped a 63 second 400 in an effort to shake off the field. Hailu finished the race with 61 final 400 to secure the win in 4:01.23.
O'Sullivan also ran a sub 61-second and lunged at the tape to run a season best of 4:02.12.
In the mixed zone after the race, O'Sullivan told reporters that the reason why she didn't race much in the buildup to the world was because she developed a stress fracture in her tibia, and the challenge was to maintain the fitness she gained in the USA by cross training while letting it heal.
In the first heat of the 1500, fellow Husky Amina Maatoug of the Netherlands finished eleventh in 4:09.25.
It was not a good night for Walla Walla native and College Place HS grad Kenneth Rooks and Washington alum Ed Trippas in the heats of the men's 3000 steeplechase.
In heat one, Trippas finished twelfth in 8:46.51, while in the next heat, Rooks, last year's Olympic silver medalist, was never in contention for one of the five spots in the finals.
Rooks finished eleventh in 8:45.57.
In the women's 10000 meter final, Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle of Australia finished 17th in 31:53.41, while Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe was one place behind in 32:12.19.
Beatrice Chebet of Kenya won the world title in a time of 30:37.61.
Sunday's morning session will see former Brooks Beast Jessica McClain compete in the marathon at 7:30 am local time (3:30 pm Saturday Pacific time).
Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts and Great Britain begins his world championship title defense, as he runs in the first heat of the men's 1500 at 9 am local time (5 pm Saturday Pacific time).
Eighteen minutes later, former Husky Sam Tanner of New Zealand runs in heat 3, while Washington alum Kieran Lumb from Canada goes in the fourth and final heat, where the top 6 advance to the semifinals.
Former WSU Cougar Charisma Taylor of the Bahamas runs in heat 4 of the women's 100 hurdles first round at 11:26 pm local time (7:26 pm Saturday evening Pacific time), where she'll try to advance to Monday evening's semifinals.
Sunday night's session climaxes with the finals of both the men's and women's 100 meter dash finals.
CNBC and Peacock ($) will have live coverage of the Tokyo world championships.
WESTERN AND SEATTLE PACIFIC OPEN THEIR CROSS COUNTRY SEASON SATURDAY MORNING...
With Central Washington having competed twice already this season, and Saint Martin's running last week, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific will open their 2025 campaign at the Green River Gator Cross Saturday at Fort Steilacoom State Park, hosted by Green River Community College starting at 10 am with the women's 4k followed by the men's 6k/
Western Washington goes into the season as the overwhelming favorite to win both the GNAC men's and women's cross country titles on October 25th at Amend Park in Billings, Montana.
The Vikings have won each of the last three GNAC cross country team titles on both the women’s and men’s sides. WWU will look to match Alaska Anchorage as the only school in GNAC history to win four consecutive team titles across both genders in the same four seasons. UAA achieved that feat when both its women and men swept each GNAC team title from 2010-13.
NOTE: World Athletics and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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