Longisa advances to Commonwealth Games mile final, while Jami Schlueter stands 4th in decathlon...

GLASGOW, Scotland--Former Washington State standout Rosemary Longisa (Paul Merca file photo) of Kenya advanced to the finals in the women's mile at the Commonwealth Games Thursday morning.

The Kenyan finished fifth in her heat, running 4:32.02, as one of the top six finishers.  

Claudia Hollingsworth of Australia won the heat in 4:31.17, in what turned out to be the fastest of the two qualifying heats.

She'll race in the finals on Saturday at 1:45 pm Pacific/9:45 pm local time.

Washington alum Jami Schlueter, representing Nigeria for the first time in international competition after having competed for Great Britain, stands fourth in the decathlon after the first of two days.

Schlueter, who is now training out of Fort Worth, Texas, started his day by running 10.70 in the 100, then long jumping 23-6 (7.16m).

In the shot put, he threw 50-4.5 (15.35m), then cleared 6-5.5 (1.97m) in the high jump.

The former Washington NCAA competitor and conference scorer finished day one by running 49.71 in the 400.

Canada's Damian Warner, the Tokyo Olympic decathlon champion, leads the field at the break with 4353 points.

Friday, Schlueter resumes competition in the decathlon with the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 starting at 2:05 am Pacific/10:05 am local time. 

Results from Thursday's competition at the Commonwealth Games are available here.

NEWS AND NOTES...

Ex WSU sprinter Louie Hinchliffe, who ran on the Great Britain team at the London Diamond League meet, withdrew from England's team for the Commonwealth Games earlier this week. 

Hinchliffe is still slated to run for Great Britain at the European Championships in the 100 and sprint relay.

Washington alum Cass Elliott (photos courtesy Austrian Athletics Federation) last week finished second in the 800 meters at the Austrian national championships in Innsbruck last week. Elliott ran 1:49.29, as Niklas Kainrath won in 1:49.11.

The former Husky All-American in the 400 hurdles and distance medley relay and West Seattle HS grad became eligible to represent Austria on July 14th, according to his profile on the World Athletics site.

In a post on the Austrian Athletics website, Elliott's grandfather, from Haag am Hausruck in Upper Austria, met his grandmother, an American music student studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, about six decades ago. After their wedding, the couple emigrated to the USA in 1964. Elliott's mother, Sonya, was born shortly afterward in Olympia.

After competing as a post collegian for the Under Armour group in Baltimore, Elliott moved to Europe to train with the M11 Track Club, under Trevor Painter in Manchester, England with the same training group as Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson.

Another Washington alum, Amina Maatoug, was formally named to the Dutch squad for the European Championships in Birmingham, UK according to the federation's Instagram page. 

Maatoug will represent the Dutch in the women's 5000 meter run.

NOTE: The Commonwealth Games, World Athletics, BBC, Austrian Athletics Federation (ÖLV), and the Dutch Athletics Federation contributed to this report.

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