Avila secures spot in 1500m Olympic Trials final
EUGENE – Eric Avila’s aggressive racing tactics worked out again
Friday afternoon on Hayward Field’s soaked track at the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he secured one of 12 spots in
Sunday’s 1,500-meter final with a semifinal performance to remember.
The Southern Oregon University alumnus finished fifth in the faster of two 12-person heats and fifth overall. Coming into the week his qualifying time of 3:38.30 was 19
th of 30 accepted entries.
Less than 24 hours after winning his first-round heat – which he led most of the way and clocked in at 3 minutes 42.27 seconds – Avila jumped out to front of the pack again and was in second place heading into the final lap, eventually finishing in 3:44.68.
Once again his heat included Leonel Manzano, the 2012 Summer Olympics silver medalist in the 1,500, and Matthew Centrowitz, this year’s World Indoor Championships gold medalist and the fourth-place finisher at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Eleven of 12 runners in the heat were faster than the top qualifier in the first heat, and Ben Blakenship’s time of 3:44.24 was tops overall.
Sunday’s final is slated for a
5:20 p.m. start and will be televised live on NBC.
The top five from both heats advanced, along with the next two fastest times.
Avila recorded the 10
th-fastest pre-trial qualifying time among the remaining runners.
The top three finishers in the final will go on to Rio for the Summer Olympics, granted they hit – or have already hit – the Olympic standard time of 3:36.20. The only entrants to have hit the standard to this point are Blankenship, Centrowitz, Manzano, Robby Andrews and Kyle Merber.