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Melissa Bishop-Nriagu wins Sunset Tour 800m

The 2016 Olympian ran a season's best 1:58.36

Melissa Bishop

A few of Canada’s top middle-distance runners toed the line in Sacramento, California on Saturday, and it was Melissa Bishop-Nriagu who stole the show yet again. The 2016 Olympian took the win in the women’s 800m in a season’s best time of 1:58.36, a performance that bodes well for her as she heads to the Olympic Games in just a couple of weeks’ time.

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There were several strong performers on the line with Bishop-Nriagu, including Canadian 800m champion Lindsey Butterworth (who will also be on the Canadian squad in the 800m) and Natalia Hawthorn (who will race the 1,500m in Tokyo). The race was tightly packed, and the second and third-place finishers, Americans Sadi Henderson and Sabrina Southerland (who failed to make the final of the U.S. Olympic trials). crossed the line close behind Bishop-Nriagu in 1:58.62 and 1:58.77, respectively.

Butterworth also ran a strong race, finishing under two minutes for the second time in her career, in 1:59.86, for fourth place. Hawthorn was a couple of seconds back, crossing the line in seventh place in 2:02.35.

Toronto’s Sasha Gollish was the only other Canadian competing in Sacramento and placed ninth in the women’s 1,500m, in 4:19.39. American runner Sara Vaughn won the race in 4:07.81, followed by Emily Infeld in 4:08.06 and Laura Galvan in 4:08.10.

RELATED: Natalia Hawthorn ties Olympic standard at Stumptown Twilight

This was the first meet in the Sunset Tour. Next in the series is the s So Cal at Trabucco Hills High School on July 18, followed by the third and final installment at Mt. Sac on July 21.

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