BYU’s Conner Mantz placed fifth Friday evening in the 10,000-meter run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., missing a berth on the Olympic team by two places.
The race was won by Woody Kincaid in 27:53.62, followed by Grant Fisher in 27:54.29 and Joe Klecker in 27:54.90. Mantz’s time was 27:59.37. Mantz, having finished second in last week’s NCAA championships after being outkicked, led several laps during the race in an attempt to thin the competition, but eventually the pack overtook him.
Meanwhile, BYU teammates Anna Camp and Whittni Orton advanced to Saturday’s semifinals in the 1,500-meter run. Camp, the newly crowned NCAA champion, had the day’s 13th fastest time, 4:12.63, and Orton the 19th fastest time, 4:13.74. Orton placed fifth in the second heat. Camp was only seventh in the third heat, but qualified on the basis of time. Jenny Simpson, the 2011 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, had the fastest time of the quarterfinals, 4:11.34. Simpson and Elle Purrier are considered to be among the favorites.
Orton also qualified for the Olympic trials 5,000-meter run, but after safely getting through Friday’s quarterfinals of the 1,500 she scratched the longer event, as did several other athletes.
BYU’s Michael Bluth, who set a school record of 45.13 about three weeks ago and placed eighth in the NCAA championships, did not advance out of the quarterfinals of the 400-meter dash. He had the day’s 20th fastest time, 46.05.
Abraham Alvarado, a former BYU athlete, advanced to the semifinals of the 800-meter run. He had the ninth fastest time in Friday’s quarterfinals, 1:48.35. World champion Donavan Brazier had the fastest time, 1:45.00.
Former Utah State star Dillon Maggard was 19th in the 10,000-meter final with a time of 28:52.38.