Nathan Green advances to Sunday's final in the 1500m at world indoor championships...
TORUN, Poland--Washington alum Nathan Green (photo courtesy USA Track & Field) advanced to the finals in the men's 1500 meter run with a solid third place finish in the first of three qualifying heats Friday night at the World Athletics Indoor Championships at Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń.
Ron Markelj of Slovenia, who didn't want to get into a kicker's race, went solo, going through the first 800 in 1:56.03, while the field went through in high 2:03s.
With only the top three in each of the three heats advancing, the field woke up and decided to make a run at Markelj, with Green leading the charge.
With 300 meters to go, Markelj still had just over a three second lead, but the field was closing on him.
Markelj hung on to the lead before being passed with 150 to go, as Green, Italy's Federico Riva, and Australia's Adam Spencer all passed Markelj.
Riva took the win in 3:40.52, while Green moved all the way out to lane 3 and ceded second place to Spencer, who ran 3:40.79. Green was content to get the final qualifying spot in 3:40.97.
In heat two, Washington alums Luke Houser and Aaron Ahl finished fourth and eighth in the heat.
Houser, the surprise bronze medalist at the world indoors last year, was in the back of the pack with one lap to go, moving quickly on the outside, but could not close fast enough to claim the third and final spot in Sunday's final.
Samuel Pilstrom of Sweden won the heat in 3:43.38, while Carlos Saez was third in 3:43.75, just ahead of Houser's 3:43.87. Ahl, running for Canada, finished in a time of 3:45.11.
Green will run in the finals Sunday morning at 10:38 am Pacific time.
In Friday morning's qualifying, Washington State's Rosemary Longisa, running for Kenya in the same heat as current world champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, showed her inexperience in racing at the international level, finishing fifth in heat 1 in 2:03.48, to Hodgkinson's 2:00.32.
In heat 4 of the 800, Valery Tobias of the Brooks Beasts, who ran in last year's world indoor championships in Nanjing, was disqualified after finishing second in 2:02.99 for stepping inside the lane line.
The fifth heat saw Laura Pellicoro of Italy, who is Tobias' teammate on the Brooks Beasts, finish fourth in a time of 2:01.99, just over a half second and three places out of a time qualifier for Saturday's semifinals.
John Rivera of Puerto Rico and the Brooks Beasts never made it to Poland, as he was forced to withdraw from the meet due to an undisclosed injury in training, according to Beasts coach Danny Mackey.
The only athlete with Washington ties competing Saturday is Josh Kerr of Great Britain and the Brooks Beasts.
Kerr runs in the final of the men's 3000, which is one of the most anticipated races of the world indoor championships. That race gets underway at 11:22 am Pacific time.
The field includes the likes of world steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, and a Northern Arizona alum, Cole Hocker of the USA, the reigning Olympic champion at 1500 meters and the world champion at 5000 formerly from the University of Oregon, and Yared Nuguse of the USA, the Paris Olympic bronze medalist behind Kerr.
Saturday morning's session begins at 2 am Pacific time, while Saturday night's session starts at 10:25 am.
Peacock ($) will live stream all three days of the world indoor championships.
NOTE: World Athletics, Athletics Canada, Athletics Kenya and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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