University of Arizona volunteer assistant track coach Bernard Lagat earned a spot on his fourth Olympic team in Thursday's action at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore.
Five other athletes with UA ties advanced to the semifinals or finals in Thursday's action, keeping their Olympic hopes alive.
Lagat took second place on Thursday in the 5,000-meter final with a time of 13:22.82. Lagat earned a bronze medal and a silver in 2000 in the 1,500-meter race while competing for his native Kenya and qualified for the U.S. team in 2008. Former UA All-American Robert Cheseret took 12th place in the 5,000 with a time of 13:50.39.
In the women's high jump, UA junior Brigetta Barrett advanced to Saturday's finals with a jump of 6 feet, tying for first place in the preliminaries. Former teammate Liz Patterson did not advance to the finals after tying for 14th place t 5-10.5.
“Today went well,” Barrett said. “I felt really good, I felt really calm and really confident. It was really exciting but also a slap-in-the-face reminder that I have to perform. ... I feel very confident; I have the “A” Standard so all I have to do is compete. The first thing on my mind right now is making the Olympic team and then putting on a little show out there.”
UA junior Georganne Moline advanced to the semifinal of the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.53, second fastest of the day and first in her heat.
“Technically, it wasn’t what I wanted,” Moline said. “The point was just to win so I can’t complain; I have two more rounds to go. (Physically) I felt a little more tired than I usually am going into the turn but I just wanted to make sure I was leading and stayed in first, I accomplished that. I’m really confident; I’ve been in Eugene for over a week so the anticipation has been killing me. I finally got one race under my belt, move on to the next round, conquer there and then move on to the finals.”
UA volunteer assistant coach Jill Camarena-Williams, junior Alyssa Hasslen and sophomore Baillie Gibson all advanced to the final of the shot put competition. Camarena-Williams had the best throw of the day with a mark of 63-4 on her only throw of the day. Hasslen took sixth place, throwing 55-11.75, and Gibson was ninth with a toss of 55-2.
“Today was all about getting read for tomorrow,” Camarena-Williams said. “It only took me one throw, so I get to rest and throw some bombs tomorrow. I’m confident and ready. I’m going to go out there and make sure I make that team, whatever it takes to do that, that’s what I’m going to do. Hopefully, I can come out with the win but at the end of the day, the whole point of this meet is to make that team.”
