Neale, Gil-Echevarria advance to steeple finals; Spano qualifies for semis in 200m at world juniors...

EUGENE--University of Washington redshirt freshman Amy-Eloise Neale (above/photo by Paul Merca) advanced to the finals of the women's 3000 meter steeplechase at the IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

Neale was comfortably in sixth for the first half of the race, then moved up one spot to get the final automatic qualifying spot for Saturday afternoon's final, as she ran 10:17.88.

Weynshet Ansa of Ethiopia won the heat in 9:56.06.

In the other semifinal, Paula Gil-Echevarria set a personal best of 10:17.17 to finish ninth in her heat and also qualify for the finals, as all five of the non-automatic qualifiers came from that heat.

Gil-Echevarria's time is the second fastest time in school history.

Incoming University of Washington freshman Jacopo Spano (below/photo by Paul Merca) finished second in his heat of the 200 meters, and advanced to this evening's semifinals.

Spano ran a personal best of 21.04 to get the automatic qualifying spot

"I't s big PR for me!  Came out of the blocks and kept my composure coming out of the turn . I didn't expect to run that fast!"


Comments