Weekend recap: Ceili McCabe takes third in NCAA steeple final
Concurrently, at the Portland Track Festival, Vancouver's John Gay won the men's steeplechase, then jumped into the 1,500 the next day
Oregon was host to a weekend of track and field excitement, with the NCAA championship finals on Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene, and the Portland Track Festival taking place from June 10-11. Some notable performances took place at both events despite the intermittent downpours throughout the weekend.
NCAA finals
While the Florida Gators came out on top of both the men’s and women’s divisions, several Canadians achieved personal bests. West Virginia University sophomore Ceili McCabe of Vancouver ran a PB, finishing third with 9:31.14, just short of the world standard. McCabe’s race was dominated by BYU’s Courtney Wayment, who won her first steeplechase title in a remarkable 9:16.00, both a meet and collegiate record.
Ryan Smeeton of Calgary, competing for Oklahoma State University, also ran a PB with 8:20.06 and achieved the world standard in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. In a highly competitive field led by Ahmed Jaziri, Smeeton finished in fourth place.
Collegiate record for Courtney Wayment! 9:16.00. She wins her first NCAA steeplechase title in her final collegiate race. Yale's Kayley DeLay has a huge race, runs a 15+ second PB, and is 2nd in 9:25.08. Ceili McCabe (3rd, 9:31.14) runs great, just misses world champs standard. pic.twitter.com/gQsuRQtMa4
— Fast Women (@fast_women) June 11, 2022
Gracelyn Larkin of Rosseau, Ont., competing for the University of New Mexico, made the final of the 5,000m in her NCAA debut. Larkin finished seventh in 15:33.10. Katelyn Tuohy, the former high school phenom now at North Carolina State University, won the event in 15:17.70.
THREE First Team All-Americans were earned on the final day of the NCAA Championships! ???#GoLobos | #WeAreNM pic.twitter.com/9bjORytrlU
— New Mexico XC/T&F (@UNMLoboXCTF) June 12, 2022
Portland Track Festival
The Electric Forest event was kicked off with an unofficial world record as former Olympian turned Youtuber Nick Symmonds (and his wife, Tiana Baur) ran a 100 meter dash in 17 seconds.
Canadian Olympian John Gay, from Kelowna, B.C., won the men’s 3,000m steeplechase in 8:22.9, just shy of world standard. Jean-Simon Desgagnes finished fourth, with a time of 8:31.14.
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The women’s 3,000 metre steeplechase featured Quebec athletes Jessy Lacourse, who finished sixth, running in 10:00.79, and Catherine Beauchemin in 11th, with 10:06.62. American athlete Colleen Quigley was competing in her first steeple since 2019, finishing third in 9:39.27, which qualfied her for US nationals later this month.
In the women’s 5,000m race, Canadian-based Sarah Inglis finished third in 15:05.52, easily meeting the world standard in a race that was dominated by Weini Kelati.
SARAH LAND WORLDS STANDARD #SALtogether
— scottishathletics (@scotathletics) June 12, 2022
Hearing from America, 15:05 PB run over 5000m @SarahInglis5 to land World Champs qualifying standard
Wow! Well done@SALChiefExec @OvensDavid @Team_Scotland
Rob Heppenstall won section two of the men’s 1,500m on Saturday evening in 3:37.51, placing him twelfth in the compiled results. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot was fourth overall in 3:35.80, followed by Cameron Proceviat in seventh with 3:36.09 and John Gay with 3:41.13 (after his win in the steeplechase the previous evening).
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In the women’s 1,500m, Lucia Stafford placed fourth in 4:05.12, with Natalia Hawthorn in 10th in 4:06.62 followed by Regan Yee in 16th with 4:08.92.
Canadian 800m record holder Brandon McBride won the men’s 800m in 1:45.22; fellow Canadian Olivier Desmeules was 10th in 1:47.55.
Madeleine Kelly placed third and scored a PB in the women’s 800m at 1:59.71, just a hair off the world standard. Victoria Tachinski was 10th, with 2:04.28 and Julianne Labach 11th in 2:04.75.
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