EUGENE, Ore. — Lewiston High graduate Isaiah Harris earned a spot in the men’s 800 meter final at the U.S. track and field Olympic trials Saturday, running the fourth-fastest time in the semifinals.
Harris, who recently finished his freshman season at Penn State, finished fourth in the first heat with a time of 1 minute, 45.95 seconds. Boris Berian won the heat in 1:45.72, followed by Erik Sowinski in 1:45.82 and Casimir Loxsom in 1:45.93.
The top three runners in both semifinal heats and the next fastest two times qualified for the final.
Harun Abda finished fifth in the first semifinal heat, behind Harris, and earned the other time qualifier. Clayton Murphy, who won the second heat, had the seventh-fastest time in the semifinals in 1:46.97.
The final is scheduled for 8:51 p.m. Monday. The race will be televised on NBCSN.
Harris advanced to the semifinals on Friday by winning his heat in a time of 1:47.6.
During his senior year at Lewiston, Harris won the 200, 800 and 1,600 at the Class A state championship meet. He went on to win the New England title in the 800 and finished third in that event at the New Balance high school national championships.
As a freshman at Penn State, Harris won the Big Ten title in the 800 and finished fourth at the NCAA championships.
Also Saturday, former Lake Region High star Kate Hall finished 10th in the long jump final and failed to earn a spot in the Olympics. Hall’s best jump Saturday was 20 feet, 93/4 inches.
Brittney Reese (23-113/4), Tianna Bartoletta (23-01/2) and Janay DeLoach (22-9) took the top three spots in the trials to earn berths on the Olympic team.
Hall advanced to the finals with a jump of 21-71/2 to finish eighth in qualifying Friday.
Meanwhile, Ben True missed his first opportunity to earn a spot on the Olympic team Friday night, finishing 11th in the 10,000 meters.
This was not the race that True most covets.
Now the North Yarmouth native and Greely High graduate is hoping that the energy he expended on a hot Friday night won’t impact his preparation for the 5,000 meter trials.
“It was terrible. The heat, something, I was drained. Right from the start I wasn’t feeling good,” True told LetsRun.com after Friday’s race, which was dominated by Galen Rupp, who won in a time of 27:55.04.
Three spots on the Olympic team were awarded: The other two went to Shadrack Kipchirchir (28:01.52) and Leonard Kirir (28:16.97).
True is hoping for a solid recovery before the 5,000, his signature event.
“I really don’t like the 10K. It wasn’t something I wanted to run even if I qualified,” True said. “My goal has always been the 5K and now I have to go into the 5K with a disadvantage because I’ll be tired.
“Hopefully my legs will come back.”
True will renew his quest for an Olympic berth in the 5,000 qualifying round Monday. True has a personal best of 13:02.74 on the track in the 5K and set the American road 5K record of 13:22 at the BAA 5K in 2015.
In Friday’s race there were seven runners who dropped out. True said the thought crossed his mind.
“To be honest I didn’t know the rules for dropping out, whether or not I could come back, so I decided I might as well finish. But the last 10 laps were rough,” True said. “That’s how I usually feel when it gets really hot when I’m just not able to cool myself down.”
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