Oregon Twilight - May 6
Hayward Field - Eugene, OR
The women's 800 features a mixture of college and professional athletes and Oregon's Izzy Thornton-Bott could be one to watch in this race as she races twins Kate and Meghan Hunter of BYU. The men's 800 has Sam Worley traveling from Texas and Matt Wisner and Cole Hocker are listed in the race. Derek Holdsworth of Bell Lap Elite won the Oregon Relays 800 two weeks ago and is listed in the 800.
BYU women's program has developed strong steeplechasers of late and six BYU athletes are listed in the 3000 steeplechase. The top seed times are University of Portland's Veerle Bakker and Oregon's Malia Pivec. A number of college athletes are looking to get the NCAA regional mark in the men's 3000 steeplechase.
The men's field in the 5000 is similar to the men's 3000 steeplechase where athletes are chasing the standard. The women's 1500 has pros like Lizzie Bird, Alexandra Lucki and Anna Connor with college athletes like Aneta Konieczek of Oregon and Lauren Pellicoro of Portland to make for a competitive race. the meet concludes with the McChesney 1500 and an impressive field that includes sub four minute milers like Cooper Teare, Matt Strangio of Portland, Cole Hocker, James West, Crayton Carrozza of Texas and Casey Clinger of BYU.
Sound Running Track Meet - May 6
JSerra High School - San Juan Capistrano, CA
On Running is sponsoring a plethora of distance races ranging from the 800 to the 10,000. Some notable athletes to watch include Anna Camp Bennett of Adidas in the 800 who is in her first season as a pro after a successful college career at BYU. Olivia Baker, who made the US indoor team, is also entered in the women's 800. Katie Camarena, who ran for Portland State for cross country and indoor track this school year, returns home to Orange County in the women's 1500. Raevyn Rogers of Union Athletics Club moves up to the 1500 in this meet after finishing third in last year's Olympic 800 final. Fellow Olympians Gabriel DeBues-Stafford and Alicia Monson will also be racing the 1500. Look for Portland based athletes from Union Athletics Club to be in the mix with Shannon Osika and Sinclaire Johnson. Sage Hurta has broken two minutes in the 800 earlier this season and adds depth to a great field in the 1500. The women's 5000 meter races have notable athletes like Emily Lipari, Ella Donaghu, Fiona O'Keefe, Katie Rainsberger, Elly Henes, Whittni Orton, Carrie Verdon and Courtney Wayment. Weini Kalati is the notable athlete in the women's 10,000.
In the men's races, some notable athletes are Drew Windle in the 800. Newbury Park high school athlete Colin Sahlman is in a heat of the 1500. Olympian Yared Nuguse is also listed in the 1500. The race gaining the most attention is the 5000 in which high school juniors Tyrone Gorze and Lex Young will mix it up with the pros and then forty minutes later another 5000 will be raced in which typing the entire list of athletes would make sense as it is a loaded field. Gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigsten is probably the biggest name in star studded field. Another Tokyo medalist, Josh Kerr, is also racing the 5000. The men's 10,000 concludes what should be an epic night of racing. The whole meet is well worth the $5 view charge.
West Coast High School Update
Washington and Oregon are winding down their seasons and competing in their last dual meet of the season before running to qualify for their state meet's. Most of California are having their league championships this week while the southern section concluded their season last week and now are moving into CIF Prelims. Look for more high school updates throughout May.