Here’s are the highlights involving Flagstaff pros at Saturday night’s Sound Running Track Fest at Occidental College in Los Angeles:
— NAZ Elite’s Krissy Gear, making her track debut this season, showed the same closing kick she employs in her signature event, the steeplechase, to win the 1,500 meters in 4:03.65.
To do so, Gear, wearing the new black Hoka speedsuit, had to run down Canadian Lucia Stafford, who looked to be running away with the victory. Gear was fourth at 800 meters, actually fell back to fifth entering the final lap before blazing to the win.
— Nikki Hiltz, prepping for the 1,500 meters against Elle St. Pierre and Jessica Hull at the Prefontaine Meet two weeks hence, took command of the 800 meters after the first lap and held off Emily McKay to win in 2:00.46.
— Dark Sky’s Lalo Herrera, coming down in distance from the 5,000 meters, won the 1,500 meters in 3:36.31, just off his personal best. He took the lead on the final turn, passing Justine Kipkoech, who finished second in 3:37.29.
— Luis Grijalva doubled on Saturday night, winning the 1,500 early in the night in 3:38.20 and then cruising to a victory in the 5,000 in 13:16.53. He held back until the final two laps, then dominated.
Grijalva went down in distance and won the early edition of the 1,500 meters in 3:38.20, with his former NAU teammate, Theo Quax (now pro, though unattached) finishing a strong second in 3:38.69. Grijalva, wearing the same black Hoka speedsuit as Gear, closed the last 400 meters in 55 seconds, Quax 55.3. Dark Sky’s Matt Wilkinson made it a Flagstaff sweep by finishing third in 3:39.18. In an earlier section of the 1,500, Dark Sky’s Ben Veatch finished second in 3:40.59.
— NAU’s Alyson Churchill, redshirting this spring, finished seventh in her first 10,000 meters in 32:20.70, competing against the pros.
— In the men’s 10,000, NAZ Elite marathoner Futsum Zienasellassie lurked in the chase pack most of the race, but came on to finish fifth.
— Abe Alvarado, a new addition to Dark Sky, won an early section of the 800 meters in 1:46.38, closing with a 53.7 last lap.
— In the early women’s 5,000, McKirdy Trained’s Dani Polerecky led about midway through and wound up fifth in 15:34.79. Flagstaff-trained Makenna Myler, coming down in distance from the marathon, was 10th in 15:54.50, ahead of McKirdy’s Angie Nickerson in 16:04.72.
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