Leaving no room for doubt, and not content to cruise in the qualifying round, Flagstaff’s Nikki Hiltz used a kick and a lean on Friday to notch a victory at 4:04.34, a personal best, over Great Britain’s Georgia Bell. Hiltz will race in the finals on Sunday.
Qualifying heats can be tricky, especially in the World Indoors format in which the top three of each heat advance, regardless of time. This tends to lead to tactical, sit-and-kick races, not exactly a “thrilling” spectacle according to some critics. That’s what happened in the first heat, won by Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu in a glacial 4:12.38.
But Heat 2, Hiltz’s heat, went out much faster. In the early laps, Hiltz settled into third place on the inside, and they stayed there for the next few laps. At the halfway point, Hiltz found theirself in fourth on the inside, looking a tad boxed in. With slightly more than 300 meters to go, Hiltz made their move. They did a little stutter-step to the outside, went well into lane two and surged into the top three.
At the bell lap, Hiltz was second, on Bell’s shoulder. Biding their time, almost stalking Bell, Hiltz made a decisive move around the last turn on the outside and went to her arms to outlean Bell. Harvard’s Maia Ramsden, representing New Zealand, advanced in third in a national record of 4:06.51. In the third heat, American Emily Mackay placed third to advcance.
All told, Hiltz had the fastest time in the heats. They will square off against the top three Ethiopian runners on Sunday afternoon in the finals – -the final race of the meet — on NBC.
Hiltz, interviewed after the heat by the Peacock network, was blunt: “My intention is always to win, even if it’s a preliminary.”
UPDATE: Men’s 1,500 qualifying: Former NAU star George Beamish placed third in his heat and advanced. And American Hobbs Kessler, who can be seen every now and then around Flag, finished second in the same heat. The two clipped each other slightly in the final lap, but both recovered.
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