Juliette Whittaker makes Brooks Beasts debut with second place finish in 800m semis at USAs...
Whittaker, a three time NCAA champion for the Cardinal, was second in the second of three semifinal heats in the 800, running 2:02.22, as her 2024 US Olympic teammate and former Brooks Beast Nia Akins won the heat in 2:01.78 to advance to Sunday's final.
Fellow Brooks Beast Valery Tobias, running in the third heat, did not advance to Sunday's final, as she finished fourth in 2:01.98, as she was a second off of the last of three time qualifying spots for the final.
Teagan Schein-Becker of the Beasts, who was entered in the women's 800, elected to scratch out of the event after qualifying in Thursday's 1500 meter run.
In the men's 800, Brannon Kidder of the Beasts was fourth in his heat, running 1:46.41, .14 off the final time qualifying spot for Sunday's final.
The semifinals of the men's 100 meters saw former Washington State Cougar Mason Lawyer finish sixth in the third of three heats in 10.15.
Central Washington alum E'Lexis Hollis was eighth in heat 2 of the women's 100 meter dash semifinals, running 11.34.
Olympia resident Katie Burnett finished seventh in the women's half marathon race walk, completing the distance in 1:56:41.
Saturday, the big highlight will be the men's 1500, with four Washington Huskies in the final: US indoor national champ Nathan Green, along with world indoor championship teammate Luke Houser, a two-time NCAA indoor mile champ.
Former two time NCAA 1500m champion Joe Waskom, who essentially raced himself into shape this season, is in the finals, as well as current Husky Reuben Reina, Jr. That race gets underway at 2:28 pm Pacific.
Also competing in the the men's 1500 is Gary Martin of the Brooks Beasts, who pressed Green in heat 2 Thursday, before finishing second and earning an automatic qualifier into Saturday's final.
With all of the recent success that Husky runners have had in the men's 1500 and mile at the NCAA level, no University of Washington alum or undergrad has ever won the USA championships in that event, according to noted track statisticians Walt Murphy and Jack Pfeifer.
A Husky has finished second in the 1500 three times, with Joe Waskom the most recent in 2023. The others were Rufus Kiser in 1929, and Izaic Yorks in 2018.
The women's 1500 features Teagan Schein-Becker of the Brooks Beasts, who ran a personal best 4:04.91 in Thursday's first round. That race goes at 2:39 pm Pacific.
After the cancellation of Thursday's semifinal in the women's 3000 steeplechase, all 23 women, including former Seattle Pacific All American Kaylee Mitchell, and Pasco native and Paris Olympian Marisa Howard, will race in a one-section final at 1:05 pm Pacific.
Eighteen minutes later, Parker Stokes of the Brooks Beasts, who ran the fastest time in qualifying Thursday in the men's steeplechase, takes aim at his first US national title, after winning an NCAA title at Georgetown two years ago.
Former Washington State Cougar and Paris Olympian CJ Allen makes his first appearance at this year's national championships, as he goes in the first round of the men's 400 hurdles at 1:40 pm Pacific.
Washington alum Chandler Ault kicks off Saturday's competition in the finals of the men's javelin at 10:10 am Pacific.
The Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships will be streamed and televised on a combination of Peacock ($), USATF.tv ($), NBCSN, and NBC.
NOTE: USA Track & Field, Brooks Running, and the sports information office of Stanford University contributed to this report.
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