SALT LAKE CITY — There will be no runners with local ties in the 2020 Olympic Marathon.
The favorite to make the team during the Olympic Marathon Trials on Saturday was 2016 Olympian Jared Ward, but he struggled, finishing 27th on a cool, windy day in Atlanta. Ward finished just behind his training partner and former American Fork and BYU standout, Connor McMillan. They were both given a time of 2:15:55, but McMillan was listed as 26th and Ward was listed as 27th.
“Tough one today,” Ward posted on his Facebook page. “But you know, there are worse things in this world than bad races. I finished the race for my family, and for the fans of Atlanta. I felt like it was about more than me today.”
He congratulated those who made the 2020 Olympic Team — Galen Rupp, who won the race with a time of 2:09:20; Jacob Riley, who was second with a time of 2:10:02; and Abdi Abdirahman, who placed third by a fraction of a second at 2:10:03.
“Tough one today. But you know, there are worse things in this world than bad races. I finished the race for my family, and for the fans of Atlanta. I felt like it was about more than me today.” — Jared Ward
“(I’m) very happy for my friends Galen, Jake, and Abdi,” he wrote. “They ran an amazing race. My heart goes out to Lenny (Korir) finishing a close, tough 4th.”
The top male finisher with Utah ties was BYU alum Nico Montanez, who was 20th with a time of 2:15:02.
Former Weber State runner Sarah Sellers enjoyed the best race for locals with a personal best — by one second — as she ran the course in 2:31:48, to finish 11th.
“I didn’t have a time goal going in because the course was really hilly and had a lot of turns, and it was really windy,” she said. “I didn’t have a hard-set place goal, although top three would have been amazing.”
Ranked 35th among the women competing, Sellers said she knew making the podium was a long shot, but still, she felt good about her chances.
“I knew, yeah, it could happen, so I just put myself in a position where it was a possibility,” she said. “I didn’t make that the goal because I didn’t want to feel like a failure if that didn’t happen. ... I was happy overall with it.”
She said the course was tough with hills and sharp u-turns, and it was made more challenging with consistent strong winds. Still, she said the experience of running with the country’s best female marathoners was something she’d relish regardless of his finish.
“It was really fun, really cool,” she said. “I do most of my training by myself, so it was really cool to have a whole massive group of women to run with. And the crowds were amazing. ... It was pretty incredible to have those kind of crowds come out.”
The women who made the U.S. Olympic team are Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won with a time of 2:27:23; Molly Seidel, who finished in 2:27:31; and Sally Kipyego, who clocked a time of 2:28:52. Des Linden was fourth with a time of 2:29:03, and the popular 2016 Olympian will be an alternate to the 2020 team.
There were 390 women and 175 men who competed in Saturday’s trials.
Results for other male participants with Utah ties: Jerrell Mock dropped from the race at
mile 16; Anthony Costales was 92nd with a time of 2:24:21; Luke Puskedra dropped at mile 13; Patrick Smyth dropped at mile 16; Conner Peloquin dropped at mile 20; Aaron Fletcher dropped at mile 16; Jason Lynch finished 65th with a time of 2:21:03; Jason Witt dropped at mile 18; Bryant Jensen finished with a time of 2:34:56 in 158th place; Clayton Young finished in 2:29:46 for 136th place.
On the women’s side, Taylor Ward finished 29th with a time of 2:38:11; Lindsey Anderson finished in 2:39:17 for 38th place; Ashley Jensen Paulson from St. George ran a 2:44.07 and was 44th place; Rena (Chesser) Elmer was 53rd with a time of 2:41:22; Jocelyn Todd dropped at mile 16; Sylvia Bedford finished in 2:47:52 in 172nd place; Phebe Ko crossed the finish line in 2:44:23 in 112th place; Amber Green was 341st with a time of 2:58:07; Merrilee Blackham finished in 2:58:46 in 344th place; Emily Barrett finished in 242nd place with a time of 2:51:04; Savannah Berry finished in 2:50:36 in 233rd place.