Gianna Woodruff finishes fifth in final regular season Diamond League 400 hurdles race...
ZÜRICH, Switzerland--Washington alum Gianna Woodruff (Paul Merca file photo) of Panama, who entering the day, had already clinched a spot for next week's Wanda Diamond League finals in Brussels, finished fifth in the 400 hurdles at the Zürich Weltklasse meet at the Stadion Letzigrund Thursday evening.
Woodruff, who has a season best of 53.58 set at the Rome Diamond League meet in June, ran 53.79, as her training partner Anna Cockrell of the USA won the race in a world leading time of 52.13.
More significantly, Emma Zapletalová of Slovakia, who has dominated the Diamond League 400 hurdles, suffered her first loss in six regular season Diamond League meets and second loss in the event in 2026, as she finished fifth in 54.07 after hitting the ninth hurdle.
Woodruff, who ran all six Diamond League meets and entered the day in third place in the Diamond League standings, finished the regular season in fourth place with 27 points.
In the only other event involving an athlete with Washington ties, UW alum Sophie O'Sullivan of Ireland finished twelfth in the women's 1500.
O'Sullivan, who was in decent position through 800 meters, saw the pace slow significantly after the pacesetter dropped off the track. and found herself unable to find room to run.
Last year's NCAA 1500 meter champion finished with a time of 4:12.25 in the non Diamond League scoring event, as Ludovica Cavalli of Italy won in 4:03.27.
The meet was highlighted by two world records. In the men's 400 meter hurdles, Alison dos Santos of Brazil ran 45.80 to break Karsten Warholm of Norway's world record of 45.94 set in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Warholm finished second in the race, running 46.69.
American Masai Russell set the other world record, running 12.09 in the women's 100 hurdles, breaking the old world record of 12.12 set by Nigeria's Tobi Amusan in 2022 at the world championships in Eugene.
Like the 400 hurdles earlier in the meet, Amusan, the former world record holder, was second in the race, running 12.23.
KIERAN LUMB AND MAX DAVIES BOTH NAMED TO CANADIAN WORLD ROAD CHAMPS TEAM...
Washington alum Kieran Lumb (Athletics Canada photo) and Max Davies of the Brooks Beasts were both named by Athletics Canada to its team for the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark September 19-21st.
Lumb, who is the reigning Canadian champion on the track at 5000 meters, is entered in the 5k race.
At the last world road running championships, Lumb was the top Canadian finisher, finishing fifth in the men's mile.
“At these championships in Copenhagen, I am aiming for a top 10 finish in the 5km, as well as to break the Canadian Record in the 5km," said Lumb.
Max Davies, who is one of the newest members of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts, is entered in the men's mile.
WASHINGTON'S STEPHANIE BOHANNON FEATURED ON GILL CONNECTIONS PODCAST...
If you've ever wondered what goes into the position of director of operations at a top tier Division I track and field program, now's your opportunity to find out.
The University of Washington's Stephanie Bohannon, in her role as the team's director of operations, is also the meet director for Washington's uber-successful series of indoor track meets at the Dempsey Indoor, which attracts national and international fields, explains to Gill Athletics host Mike Cunningham on the Gill Connections podcast, what all the job entails.
Bohannon, who describes herself as "having trust issues", particularly in the area of transporting the team and its equipment, launches into some interesting stories, including placing an AirTag in the cupholder of a team bus to track its location.
The full podcast is available wherever platform you get your podcasts from, or you can watch it below.
NOTE: The Wanda Diamond League, Athletics Canada, and Gill Athletics contributed to this report.
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