Lagat runs down 5,000 title again
It’s his 4th outdoor title in the event
DES MOINES, Iowa – Former Washington State distance star Bernard Lagat won the 5,000 meters at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the fourth time on Friday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
Lagat, who has seven outdoor distance titles, took the lead two-thirds of way into race run in severe heat for a distance race and won in 13 minutes, 54.08 seconds. Lagat, 35, held off Tim Nelson, who finished second in a time of 13:54.80. Lagat broke the American record three weeks ago in Norway with a time of 12:54.12.
Former Idaho Vandal Russ Winger finished fourth in 192 feet, 1 inch, and former Cougar All-American Ian Waltz (Post Falls HS) finished sixth in the men’s discus, throwing 191-1. Waltz and his wife, former world record-holder pole vaulter Stacy Dragila, celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter, this week.
WSU’s Jeshua Anderson qualified for the finals in the 400 hurdles semifinals. Anderson, a junior from Woodland Hills, Calif., finished second in the second heat with a time of 49.96 seconds which was the fourth-best time in the two heats. The final is today.
Other results involving athletes with area ties:
•Lewis and Clark HS graduate Joe Zimmerman (University of Washington) won the junior men’s javelin (Story, C1).
•David Paul (ex-Eastern Washington) was 14th in the hammer at 221-3.
•Drew Ulrick (ex-WSU/Mead) threw the discus a distance of 176-4 for 15th place.
•Rich Nelson (Shadle Park) of BYU finished the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:18.02, 21st place, and did not advance from prelims.
•In a juniors event, Shaquana Logan, a WSU freshman, did not advance out of the 400 hurdles prelims, finishing in 1:00.95.
In other events, Walter Dix and Allyson Felix captured the 100-meter titles.
Dix, who won bronze medals in the 100 and 200 in Beijing two years ago, dominated a thin men’s field at Drake Stadium, winning in 10.04 for his first national outdoor title in the 100.
Felix, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200, fought through the heat and a strong headwind and finished in 11.27 – the slowest at this meet since 1977.
Lauren Fleshman was the surprise winner of the women’s 5,000, crossing in 15:28.70.
Kara Patterson shattered the American record in the javelin with a toss of 218-9. Patterson made the record-setting throw on her final attempt, breaking Kim Kreiner’s 3-year-old mark of 210-7.