Eccleston, Sifuentes Advance in 1,500-Meter Trials Races
7/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
July 8, 2016
» At the Canadian Championships and Rio Selection Trials, Nicole Sifuentes (2004-08) and current Wolverine Jaimie Phelan also ran in the same event.
» Eccleston advanced to Sunday's (July 10) 8 p.m. EDT final, to be televised on NBC, and Sifuentes will run again Saturday (July 9) at 9:10 p.m. EDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Four current or former members of the University of Michigan women's track and field program competed Friday (July 8) looking to represent their respective countries in the Olympics.
Recent graduates Shannon Osika (2012-16) and Amanda Eccleston (2013) ran in the 1,500-meter semifinals of the U.S. Olympic Trials at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, while alumna Nicole Sifuentes (2004-08) and rising senior/junior Jaimie Phelan took their own turn competing in semifinal action in the same event at the Canadian Championships and Rio Selection Trials at Foote Field in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
At the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Eccleston and Osika ran in the second heat together. Eccleston quickly worked into second place, and Osika joined her among the top five runners within the first 200 meters of the race.
The run was controlled, timing 67.4 through the first 400 meters, and both Wolverines looked strong, but as the pace quickened, Osika faded slightly and near the 1,000-meter mark she slipped toward the back of the pack, finishing 11th in her heat in 4:19.26.
Eccleston continued to fight and over the last 200 meters passed Morgan Uceny to take second place by .36 seconds, crossing at 4:11.28 to earn a spot in Sunday's (July 10) final.
Meanwhile, in Canada Sifuentes won her heat comfortably to finish with the top time in the field at 4:20.40, with Phelan clocked in at 4:30.65, eighth in the heat and 17th overall. It caps an excellent season for Phelan, who collected two All-America honors as a member of Michigan's third-place distance medley relay team (1,200 meters) and in the 1,500-meter race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (eighth).
The U.S. Olympic Trials continue on Saturday (July 9), but no Americans with U-M ties will compete until Eccleston laces her spikes up again on Sunday (July 10) for a 8 p.m. EDT gun. Sifuentes will run again at 9:10 p.m. EDT in Edmonton, looking to lock up her second Olympics berth.
1500 semis: @AmandaEcc looked GREAT! - 2nd in 4:11.28. She is representing! @UMichTrack
-- Michtrack (@michtrack) July 9, 2016
Communications Contact: Chad Shepard
