Three To Compete At USATF Championships
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State track and field team will be represented at the 2015 USATF Outdoor Championships, which will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene this weekend.
Director of Operations Geena Gall-Lara will compete in the 800 meters, and rising sophomores Sam McKinnon and Nicole Goecke will participate in the 3000 meter junior steeplechase. The first round of the 800 meters is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. on Thursday, while the semis are 8:27 p.m. on Friday and the finals will take place at 1:48 p.m. on Sunday. The 3000 meter steeplechase is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The top three finishers in the 800 meters with an A standard will represent the United States at this summer’s World Championships in China. Gall-Lara won NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800 meters in 2008 (2:03.91) and 2009 (2:00.80), and represented Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany.
She secured her spot in the 2012 Olympics with a second-place finish in the 800-meter race at the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene. She made a late charge on the home stretch to qualify with a time of 1:59.24.
The top two finishers in the 3000 meter steeplechase will qualify for the Junior Pan American Games in Edmonton, Canada, which will be held the last week of July and first week of August.
McKinnon, who is the No. 2 seed in Saturday’s race, set the Oregon State record at the Pac-12 Championships, stopping the clock in 10:25.77 to finish in fourth place and qualify for NCAA Regionals. The 10:25.77 was the eighth-fastest time by a true freshman in the country this past season.
Goecke, the No. 7 seed for Saturday, finished 14th in the 3000 meter steeplechase at the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships in Los Angeles, Calif., with a time of 10:55.77, the fifth best in school history.
