This Weekend in Track: May 13 -1 5
Updated: Jun 14, 2022
End of season racing is ramping up on the west coast - here is who to watch out for this weekend!
Pac 12 Championships - May 13 - 15
Hayward Field - Eugene, OR
University of Oregon hosts the Pac 12 Championships that starts on Friday and ends on Sunday and the first distance final is the men and women's 10,000. Many of the entrants are running the 10,000 for the first time this season. The top seeds are Emily Covert and India Johnson of Colorado. Charles Hicks of Stanford enters the 10,000 with a seed time of 27:40 and there are several athletes running the 10,000 for the first time this season.
The women's 3000 steeplechase final could be a rematch from the Oregon Relays between Aneta Konieczek of Oregon and Grace Fetherstonhaugh of Oregon State. Madison Boreman from steeplechase power Colorado and Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State will also contend for the Pac 12 title. Sam Affolder of Washington has the top seed in the men's 3000 steeplechase and the field is deep with contenders who have run 8:50 or faster.
If all plays out based on seed times in the prelims, the 800 and 1500 could have some interesting races. Alisa Lyesina of Arizona, Micaela Degenero of Colorado, Carley Thomas of Washington and Anna Gibson of Washington all come into the Pac 12s with times of 2:04. Julia Heymach of Stanford is listed with NT, but finished second last year at the Pac 12s with a time of 2:02. Sam Van Dorpe of USC, Dayton Carlson of Arizona State, John Lester of Stanford, Matthew Erickson of Oregon, Elliott Cook of Oregon and Bobby Poynter of USC all share the 1:48 seed time in the 800.
The women's 1500 is particularly deep with twelve athletes who have run under 4:20 this season. Christina Aragon of Stanford enters the meet with the top seed time of 4:12. Hometown favorite Izzy Thornton-Bott follows with a 4:13 seed time. Reed Brown of Oregon has the fastest time in the Pac 12s with a 3:36 time and ranks him third in the NCAA. Luke Houser is close with a 3:37 time.
The final distance race is the 5000. Abby Nichols of Colorado has the top seed time of 15:15 and the top time in the NCAA. Julia Heymach is listed as NT for the season and is the defending Pac 12 5000 meter champion. Brian Fay of Washington is the NCAA leader in the 5000 with a time of 13:16 and Eduardo "Lalo" Herrera of Colorado is another athlete to watch in the 5000 (and the 1500 too).
High School on the West Coast
Oregon and Washington have their league meets this week with Oregon's meets determine who qualifies for next week's state meet. Washington has a regional meet before their state meet in two weeks. Most of California are in their first round of post season meets this weekend with the large CIF SS moving into the second round of post season. Look for meet updates on our Instagram account.