July 4, 2016
EUGENE, Ore. - Bridget Franek advanced through to the finals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase while Isaiah Harris and Casimir Loxsom recorded strong finishes in the finals of the men's 800-meters Monday night at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
Franek of Brooks Running, a 2012 Olympian and Penn State school record holder in the event, started the action for the Nittany Lions winning the opening heat of the 3K steeplechase in a season best time of 9:39.93 to earn her an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday's final set to run at 10:48 p.m. ET.
A Hiram, Ohio native, Franek entered the trials ranked No. 20 in the U.S. having recorded a season best time of 9:49.37 prior to the trials on June 17th.
Next up for Penn State was the duo of Harris and Loxsom in the men's 800-meters.
Loxsom (1:45.93) and Harris (1:45.95) entered the finals with the third and fourth fastest times from semi-finals, respectively, and entered the race with only two laps between them and Rio.
Through the first 400-meters Harris, a true freshman from Lewiston, Maine, found himself in a good spot with one lap to go as the Frosh was holding steady in third-place and moved up to second-place after 500-meters. With 100-meters to go Harris was in qualifying position; he would take a sixth-place finish in his Olympic Trials debut in a time of 1:46.47 followed by former Penn Stater Casimir Loxsom of Brooks in a time of 1:49.18 to take ninth-place.
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