Women’s 1,500 (prelim)
It’s safe to say that the women from Heat 2 of the 1,500m dominated the event Thursday afternoon as the top nine finishers ran faster than the rest of the heats overall. Morgan Uceny finished first with a time of 4:14.07. Second and third place of the event were Gabriele Anderson and Katherine Mackey with times of 4:14.23 and 4:14.28, respectively. University of Oregon star Jordan Hasay placed fourth in her heat and thirteenth overall by posting a 4:16.06. Luckily she had previously met the “A” standard, and would move on to the semifinals. Hasay praised the support that she received from Duck fans.
“It’s exciting to have the whole town behind me,” she said. “It’s an honor to be out there representing Oregon.”
Men’s steeplechase (final)
First-place finisher Evan Jager, a crowd favorite and member of Oregon Track Club Elite, won with a time of 8:17.40. Donald Cabral and Kyle Alcorn, both of whom are also sponsored by Nike, finished in second and third place with times of 8:19.81 and 8:22.17, respectively.
Men’s discus throw (final)
Lance Brooks, Jarred Rome and Jason Young will represent the USA in London in the men’s discus throw later this summer. All three qualifiers made their best throw of the day during the final round. Brooks, who converted four of his six throws without fouling, posted the top four distances of the day. His top throw went a distance of 65.15m. Rome’s best throw was 63.35m and Young’s 62.15m.
Men’s pole vault
Despite his first-place finish and his qualification for the Summer Games, Brad Walker wasn’t happy with his performance.
“I’m not happy with the height, but I’m happy with the win, and the win is more important than the height,” he said.
Walker cleared a height of 5.67m. He will be joined in London by Jeremy Scott and Derek Miles. Scott Ruth took third place, but couldn’t qualify because he never met the Olympic “A” standard. Scott and Miles both cleared 5.60m.
