The Kansas City Qualifier was designed specifically to qualify as many athletes as possible to the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene at the end of June. But only three athletes qualified.
The midwest wind proved to be the biggest obstacle of the day. Many races began on pace to achieve the qualifiers and ultimately came up just short. The meet featured mostly distance races, and over the longer distances, the wind may not be a serious challenge until the end of the race. Today that was true: Athletes routinely faded toward the finish line.
There were a handful of other athletes who couldn’t be stopped by the wind, though.
Tonatiu Lopez won the men’s 800 in a time much faster than what was anticipated. In a race that aimed for the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time of 1:46.50, Lopez crossed the line in 1:44.39, nearly a full second under the Olympic standard.
Lopez is from Mexico and will now represent his country at the Olympics, unless three other Mexican athletes run faster in the next two months. But that won’t be likely. Today, Lopez broke his own Mexican national record, lowering it by .70 seconds.
In the same race, Michael Rhoads also ran a personal best of nearly 2 seconds, running 1:45.22 and missing the Olympic standard by just .02. In his first year as a post-collegiate, the U.S. Air Force athlete secured the qualifier for his first U.S. Olympic Trials.
The other most impressive race of the night came in the women’s 5,000 meters where Laura Galvan, also of Mexico, ran 15:11.35 to claim first place, less than 2 seconds away from the Olympic standard.
In the wind, Galvan nearly secured her trip to Tokyo. She said she’ll run some 1,500-meter races and maybe even a 10,000-meter race to prepare for the 5,000 before she makes another attempt at cracking the 15:10 barrier.
The two 3,000-meter steeplechase races at the end of the night were focused on achieving Olympic standard, but they didn’t meet their goal. The women’s race qualified two people to the trials, though: Marisa Howard, who won the race in 9:32.75, and Katy Kunc, who was fourth in 9:44.59.
The men’s Olympic section didn’t meet any standards. Eastern Kentucky University’s Ahmed Jaziri ended up winning the men’s race in 8:32.92, less than a second slower than the trials qualifier.
Most of the pacers took the fields out slower than the prescribed paces. The runners in the men’s 1,500 were searching for 3:37.50. Instead, the winning time was 3:40 after an unambitious 2-minute first 800 of the race. Eric Holt, the recent Binghamton graduate and Empire Elite athlete, won the race.
Other event winners included Jordan Cross in the men’s OTQ 3,000 steeplechase, Kayley Delay in the women’s OTQ 3,000 steeplechase and Zouhair Talbi in the men’s 5,000.
In the only non-distance events of the night, there were competitive fields in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and the women’s 100-meter hurdles, but the wind index was too high for any qualifiers to be secured.
Michael Dickson won the men’s 110 hurdles in 13.38. Christina Clemons and Ebony Morrison took the first two spots in the women’s 100 hurdles in 12.64 and 12.84, respectively. Despite all three athletes being under the trials qualifying standards, none will count.
Some athletes handled the wind better than others. Molly Sughroue won the first elite distance race of the night, claiming gold in the women’s 800 in 2:04.33, roughly 2 seconds short of the trials qualifier. She grew up in Nebraska and then competed at Oklahoma State, so the brutal wind is certainly routine for her.
“I’m from the midwest,” she said. “I’m really strong. I get to the last 100, and nobody’s passing me.”
There are other rewards than trials qualifiers. Ayla Granados, the Hoka One One athlete, ran a PR in the wind to win the women’s 1,500 in 4:12.00. The 30-year-old distance runner said years of training are beginning to pay off for her. In the final 50 meters, she passed Villanova legend Angel Piccirillo, and she said this is the first time in her life she’s found herself confidently in the front of an impressive field.
Trials of Miles and Citius Mag also co-sponsored the Texas Qualifier in late February. A lot more high-profile athletes travelled to Austin and successfully secured their Trials qualifiers there. That may be one of the reasons the results weren’t necessarily as intended tonight: There were fewer world-class athletes at the front of races pulling everybody else to fast times.
Trials of Miles, one of the organizations that organized the meet, offered to finance the trip to Eugene for all the athletes who qualified tonight. Ultimately, they won’t face many expenses.
