Portland Track Festival 2025: full broadcast transcript & event recap

Full broadcast transcript

Auto-generated and hand-corrected against the official roster and results.

[BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] You may have noticed Trevor Bassett come out behind — right, Benjamin — all dressed in black, the 26-year-old there.

He has a legitimate shot of making this team, he's unsponsored. The unsponsored project is all about supporting athletes to be able to chase their dreams and put them on a pedestal and really, really do something that's right and special for these unsponsored athletes who are trying to make it. There's a ton of conversation about how do you grow the sport, what's good for the sport, and obviously right now, track is trying to grow. There's no system where athletes are getting paid outside of footwear brands for the most part. 2023 and 2024 was another huge pillar of the initiative to keep it hyper

focused on the athletes, but we're still keeping our release clause within every single one of these contracts. Yeah, for 2025, I mean for us, it's really just honing in even more on how we can support athletes at a deeper level. Point Blank will be able to double the amount of support that we were doing. 6:47, CJ Allen, and the ever-present Trevor Bassett making yet another team. New track and field fans. You are joining us right here at the Electric Forest. On screen, you are seeing the middle school mile finishing up here. That race was won by Nisea Booger in a 5:20.88, so a great performance for her.

We will have racing all afternoon here coming from Portland, Oregon. The 2025 Portland Track Festival, this is a free live stream that you are viewing. You could view it anywhere around the world, so if you were tuning in right now , send it to a friend in the most far off country you can think of and tune in together. Text back and forth about the action going on. You can see happening on the track right now, but lining up currently on the opposite side of the track, we have the high school boys 1500 meter race. This is the first of a few sections of the high school boys 1500 meter race. We will have the championship high school 1500 meter races later on in the

afternoon. We will move from the high school races to the open races, our open block schedule, and then into the high performance block of the day this afternoon, and then that will take us through to the hot window, which will start at 8 p.m . Pacific time. It is a full day of racing here as the boys come to the line. Here they go. First heat of the high school boys 1500 meters. On the couch we saw David Ribich there interviewing the winner of one of the middle school miles, but out here is the high school boys 1500 meters first heat, and starting off at a good pace around the curve. A great bunch of local athletes in here.

It switched up on screen. It looks like it says the girls one mile junior race that is not the correct information right now. It is the boys 1500 meter race. So Henry Snodgrass in this. James Colbert-Nusser, Landon Jourstan, Caden Loftus of Crater. We've got a lot of athletes from North Spokane here, and some athletes from Crater, some local athletes from Portland, so it’s a dust-up across the region, and about 1:13 or so through 400 meters. The wave lights on their inside you can see setting the pace. And for this particular section, the wave lights are set for 4:35 goal pace for 1500. So a good early pace for these boys.

I'll be bringing you information all afternoon across the track meet here, helping narrate these races. My co-partner Will Lear will join me at 4:15 for the high performance sections and will take you through into the opening ceremonies in the Portland versus Seattle versus San Francisco 3000 meter scored competition and then into the top sections of the high performance races and then into the hot window with the very top sections of the meet and the bronze level prize purse on the line. Right now high school boys are on the track still led by Alex Duggan of North Spokane. Looks like North Spokane is in the red and blue uniforms there.

Just under five-minute mile pace, about 2:29 through 800 meters. So right on five minute mile pace. But there's a pack of about five guys up there led by Alex Duggan. Emoryn Steele, another North Spokane athlete, Henry Snodgrass, another North Spokane athlete in there. And then a Franklin athlete, Franklin the high school here on the east side of Portland. James Colbert-Nusser up there. Looks like we've got a move being made on the outside as they come up to the bell lap. Fans are filing into the stands here getting ready for a full afternoon of racing. It's a great day here in the electric forest.

And there’s the bell, 3:23 on the clock. 3:22.87 for Emoryn Steele at the front. That was a 73 second lap. And coming through 1200 meters here in about 3:41. So we'll see who could take this thing as they roll down the back straight. Trying to get that coveted win here at the Portland Track Festival. Maybe grab themselves a seat on the couch, talk to David Ribich, 3:35 1500-meter runner who's doing our in-stadium announcing today. Ribich, a storied history at the Portland Track Festival. Ran here as a western Oregon University athlete. And then most famously in the hot window where he placed second to Lopez Lomong

in the 5000 meters. But right now, channeling that energy, this is Emoryn Steele storming down the stretch. And he’ll get to the line in about 4:32. So beating those wave lights that were set at 4:35 pace. That was a 69 second close for Steele. Caden Loftus coming in second, 4:34.5. Alex Duggan of North Spokane, 4:35.6. Colbert-Nusser, 4:36, Snodgrass, 4:36. William Merg, 4:42. Coleman Bauer of Franklin, 4:50. Nathan Wanless, 4:58. North Spokane always brings a huge contingent here to the Portland Track Festival. Making that six hour trek from Spokane. Gonzaga land out there. Some great high schools in the Spokane region.

And of course, Gonzaga coached by the legendary Pat Tyson. University of Oregon athlete and Steve Prefontaine's roommate. Here we go. Here's Emoryn Steele coming down the stretch. Great form from the young man there. Driving the knees swinging the arms. Not giving up over the line. Running through it. And he’ll take that win, like we said, 4:32. That was the first heat of four sections of the high school boys 1500. They'll get progressively faster as we've got heat three lining up across the track right now. [ Pause ] Heat three of the boys 1500 meters. Later on in the afternoon after the opening ceremonies,

we will see the championship heats of the high school 1500 meters. This is Stumptown Boys 1500 and the Wildwood Running Girls 1500. [ Pause ] And there we go. Around the bend. [ Pause ] Finding their footing there as they swing onto the home stretch. This great wooden grandstand here at Griswold Stadium Lewis and Clark College. [ Pause ] The historic home of the Portland Track Festival. [ Pause ] And filing into place here. Ryan Baum up front. And I believe we might have seen him race last night in the 5000 meters. Having a good race there. Somewhere around 15:20 to 15:30 range, if I remember correctly.

But Baum leading the boys right now. [ Pause ] Wyatt Nischke of Whisper Running in there as well. Hudson Boaz in the field. Lucas White from Sheldon. Finn Miller. Kyle Peterson. Bowerman Track Club athlete. [ Pause ] And Miles Watson. North Spokane athlete in there too. But yes, this is Ryan Baum out front. Sometimes it's good to get a first race out of the way in the legs. Last night, 12 and a half laps on the track. And now he’s coming back for three and three-quarters. [ Pause ] And he'll lead the boys through here. Coming up with two laps to go. [ Pause ] That was a 67.5, attributed to Baum.

1:57.6 with two laps to go. And they'll come up to 800 meters here. At the cone we see about 2:14. Ryan Baum. So about 4:28 1600-meter pace. But the wave light set here, which they are right on. Wave light set for 4:12 pace. So right on pace, as we can see, the green light to their inside. And Baum is sticking to it. Some shuffling behind him. Boaz, Nischke. Lucas White. Finn Miller. And cruising down the straightaway. Baum getting some competition as we get a lead change with a lap to go. There's the bell. And that was another 67.5. And that’s Wyatt Nischke up front from Whisper Running. Vancouver area.

And getting to 1200 meters, 3:21, as we get another burst down the back stretch. And that is Hudson Boaz getting to the front. And everyone giving chase, Boaz gets it. Gets to the lead with under 200 meters to go. And this boy's 1500 meters. Wanted to get a seat on that couch next to David Ribich. But the audience know how this race went for him. Swinging wide on the outside. That's Finn Miller as we get a glimpse of the final straight away from afar. And here we go. This is Baum back to the front. Ryan Baum. And that’s a 4:08 for Baum. 4:08 with a 62.8 close for Ryan Baum. Finn Miller coming up for second and a 62.6 close.

4:09. So well under that 4:12 prescribed pace from the wave light. And here we go. We see Ryan Baum again coming down the home straight away. Arms up, a 4:08. That's a PR. It looks like his seed time coming in, 4:12.82. And if all of this is correct, we see the top 6 competitors all with personal best. A round of applause for the gentleman there. Patrick Keating in 6th place with the Bowerman Track Club, 4:12.41. He came in with a 4:23 best. Lucas White in 5th. 4:11. Taking a chunk off his 4:17 best. And then down from there. So that is a cracking race because we've got, that was Heat 3 and we've got

Heat 2 and Heat 1 left. And then still the championship boys 1500 meters to take place later in the day . And also a treat as Josiah Tostenson and Owen Powell will race in the top sections of our 1500 meters later today. The pro sections. But this is Heat 2 here stepping to the line. And off they go. Boys are off and running right now. We'll check what the wave light is set for. A 4:04 pace set here. The wave light on their inside. And making their way around the turn. So 3 laps remaining in the 1500 meters. And we're rolling around, everybody is in touch here. And we'll see what the first lap split is for all the boys here in the 15 as it

is about 63 high. So a very fast pace being set up front in this boys 1500 meters. Hip number 8 taking the lead there. And we'll get the names of these guys once the timing system catches up with the races that we're seeing on screen. But that is Thomas Williams of Grizzly Endurance up front. Connell divine behind him the Stark Street Athletics Club. Central Catholic’s — Sudanim there. Stark Street Athletics being on Stark Street on the east side of Portland. And still Thomas Williams in the front leading this race. And that was a 65.12 from finish line to finish line. Coming through 800 meters in 2:09, attributed to Thomas Williams.

Connell Divine behind him, Lance Mason, and Philo Saunders. Dominic Robles of the Peninsula Distance Club in here. But Williams still rolling along looking smooth. Lance Mason sitting in second position. And Connell Divine in third. So once again the wave light set for 4:04 here. And they're coming up to a lap to go, here's the bell. 2:58 at the bell. And we know these kids can close these days as a pack of three separates. Williams, Divine, and Mason. Coming through 1200 meters here in 3:14. So they're still just under 65 second pace. And now a burst down the back stretch. That's Lance Mason taking the lead.

Getting to the 200 mark first. Mason, Williams, Divine. And here we get a move again from Williams moving into second position. But this is Lance Mason in the front. And it's Mason and Williams fighting down the straightaway. Who's going to take it? Mason and Williams. And it's very close to a four minute 1500 diving at the line there. That will go to Thomas Williams. Thomas Williams takes the win over Lance Mason, 4:00.46. A 61 second close for that heat of the high school boys 1500. Some sportsmanship there as they help each other off the track. But let's get a look at this again. So inside we've got Mason and on the outside Williams.

And Williams dives at the line and he'll get the win by about five one hundred ths of a second. So fastest time of the day so far, 4:00.46, for the 15 — 61.8 on the close. 61.5 for Lance Mason, as we move to heat one of the boys high school 1500 meters. And a great race put together here. Fastest section of this early block of racing. And off they go, this wave light is set for four-flat 1500-meter pace. And every heat has exceeded their pacing requirement thus far. And off and running they are. Four-flat 1500-meter pace, the prescribed wave light pace. And we've got Lucas Franken here Benjamin Carine, J.D. Arthur, Andrew Burr,

Jack Denton of the Forest Park Track Club. Out of Lincoln High School on the west side of the city, Eli Torrey. And pulling the boys through Noah Zeitzer from the Terwilliger Track Club on the west side of the city. And coming through the first 400 meters here. We see about 64 second pace. So we've got Zeitzer, Meyer, Torrey, Donnelly, Arthur, Frank. Hadashi moving around the track getting some separation. The light set for four minute pace. We've seen these guys close very fast in the previous heat. And that's a theme here from year to year at this meet Portland Track Festival. And its 17th edition. First time held in 2008.

And two laps to go here. That was a 65.8 for Zeitzer of the Terwilliger Track Club. Out front as you see the splits populate on the screen. And about 2:10 through 800 meters. As there's a fight on the outside from, I believe that could be Evan Hadashi in the white singlet. And I think that is Lucas Franken actually, Lucas Franken in the lead, followed by Hadashi in second place. Franken, Hadashi, Jack Butterfield in there as well. And coming up to the bell, three of them. Zeitzer, Hadashi, Butterfield, 2:57 on the clock. So that was a quick lap. As Franken pulls them through in a 63.0, and they come up to 1200 meters in 3:12.

Pulling down the back straight here. Franken, Hadashi, and Butterfield, and in fourth Eli Torrey giving chase. But that's Butterfield making a move into second behind Hadashi now. Hadashi at the front and then Butterfield. And now Hadashi making a move. Leading down the home straight and we'll see what he can do pumping his fists. As Eli Torrey gives chase now. And it’s going to be all Evan Hadashi into the finish in a sub-four 1500 meter effort. Excuse me, that was Jack Butterfield taking the win there. My apologies. 3:58.02, closing get this — 59.99, and it’s always a good day when you can close in under 60

seconds in any race. And Butterfield does that to take this victory in 3:58.02. We're going to see some very fast racing throughout the day here in the electric forest. That's what this track is known for, protected in this grove of trees here in the hills in Portland, Oregon. And we see the high school girls lining up there for their 1500 meter race. And there will be one heat of the high school girls 1500 before we get to the championship section of the 1500 later this afternoon. We see some North Spokane athletes in there again in the red and blue singlets. Pacer Project athletes, Sherwood athletes, Crater, Lake Oswego High School.

Osborn Park. Park Rose right here on the east side of Portland. Diana Dobre of Park Rose in the field. Many North Spokane athletes, as the list has 24 athletes on the line. It's a big field. Grace Houlahan. Sig Reid. Breakin' to Haim. From the Pacer project. Sonoya Booger. From Sherwood. Wendell and Van Wart of Crater. And half of this field must be from North Spokane. Official Pete Castro giving them their instructions. So the wave light for this race set for 4:53 1500-meter pace. So roughly a 5:15 mile thereabouts. But we're off and running here. The high school girls 1500. Section 1. And out front Grace Houlahan takes the lead of the Pacer project.

Her teammate Sig Reid, Breakin' to Haim. Behind her in the blue shorts. And Raquel Pilsstrom in the white top on the inside wearing number 9. From Lake Oswego High School. And Sonoya Booger of Sherwood on the outside in the white top in second position. Number 8 coming up, Gwendolyn Van Wart from Crater. But out front. This is Grace Houlahan setting the pace. And a pack of 4 up there. Booger, Breakin' to Haim. Van Wart, Pilsstrom. And Amelia Carlson, Sabrina Davis. Eden Rosenstall. And about 76 roughly for their first 400 meters. So faster than the wave light pace. As now this is Amelia Carlson taking the lead.

Or excuse me, Sonoya Booger. And she's running away from it in this second lap right now. The race is far from over. So we'll see what the competitors can summon. And that's Sonoya making her bid. Leading Houlahan and Breakin to Haim right now. Sonoya Booger up to 2 laps to go. With a good gap on the field. And the gap continues to grow for Booger as she gets to 200 meters. In 2:34. So about 5:08 1600-meter pace. This is a 1500 though. That was a 78 second lap from finish line to finish line. And this is all Sonoya Booger right now. And it seems like this is Sig Reid — Breakin to Haim — in second.

Certainly is. Gwendolyn Van Wart behind her. Sonoya Booger up front. Down the home straight away. When she gets to the bell she will have a lap to go. As we see her pass the couch right now. And the grandstand, the lights right on her left. There's the bell, one lap remaining. Booger up front. That was an 81 second lap. 3:36.6 with a lap to go. And Van Wart in second. With an 83 second effort. Breakin to Haim with an 84-second effort there in third place. And pass 1200 meters now. Sonoya Booger of Sherwood. Just outside of Portland Oregon. Sherwood home to the great Ashton Eaton now. Lives locally here in Portland.

We'll probably see him in attendance later today at the Portland Track Festival . Of course the Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. And this is all Sonoya Booger here. She's led this thing from the early goings. And Gwendolyn Van Wart behind her trying to come into the picture. But Booger driving down the straight. She's got the blades out. And she’ll cross in 4:57 — 4:57.26. An 82-second close. And Van Wart in second. 4:58. Breakin to Haim. 4:58 for third. Grace Houlahan. 5:03. Sabrina Davis. 5:05. Alexandra Aiden of North Spokane. 5:06. Raquel Pilsstrom. 5:07. Lake Oswego High School. Also a local.

And athletes rolling in now to the finish. As we get a good glimpse of the grove around the track here in the background. Trees protecting us from breeze. And a beautiful day here today in Portland. Couldn't be more perfect. Currently 69 degrees. We'll get up to 72 today. About 5 p.m. And then when the hot window starts, it'll be 69 degrees once again. So maybe you want to wear a light sweatshirt if you're coming out this evening to watch the races. The North Spokane athlete coming into the finish there. Faith Wanless. Coming to the line here. Wanless will finish in 6:35 in the 1500. That rounds out the field.

Race won by Sonoya Booger in a great effort. 4:57. And she’s down on the couch right now talking to David Ribich. Letting the fans know how that race felt. What it feels like to grab a victory in the electric forest. But moving on now from the high school girls 1500. We move our way into the open sections of the men's 1500 meters. So these will be fast races. And this is before we get to the high performance men's 1500 meters. Which we'll see heats of later in the day. There are five heats of high performance men's 1500 meters. And that does not include the hot window heat that'll cap off the evening.

Hot window heat takes 3:36 in the 1500 to make it into that race in 1500 meters. On the men's side has a storied history here at the Portland track festival. The meet record held by Evan Jager from 2015, 3:32.97. But the race has been won by legends like Craig Engels, who’s won it twice. And Clayton Murphy, who's also won it twice. Andrew Wheating taking the win in 2014. Yared Nuguse winning this race in 2022. And last year, of course, the champion Cooper Teare for the 1500 meters. But that'll be later this evening when we get to the hot window. Right now we're checking out the first heat of the open men's 1500 meters.

The first heat of four, yesterday we had the open men's 800 meters, which was the top section of the open 800 meters, won in 1:49. So that isn't even the high performance section. Some incredible racing happening here throughout all of the heats that step to the track. And Bruce Davis giving the instructions here, the official for the Portland track festival. Long time official in the area. The wave light for this first heat of the open section of the men's 1500 set for 4:05. We saw 3:58, the fastest time of the day so far in the high school 1500 meters. Here we go final shake out before they step to the line.

And here we go first heat the open men's 1500 meters. In this free live stream brought to you by Bandit Running. Great running gear made by them. Quality stuff out of Brooklyn New York. Check out all of their gear at banditrunning.com. Get yourself something nice. The men out on the track right now, Federico Lima in here, Rami Deer. We see some names from last night from the open 5000 and open 800's jumping in here. Jesse Todd, familiar name, Cruz Salcido, Ryder White, Daniel Guterres. Cesar Daniel Gomez Ponce in here. And that is Cesar Daniel Gomez Ponce in the front leading this race through.

He's in that neon green kit and they'll get to 400 meters here in about 65 seconds. Mason Pierce behind Ponce and Ryder White. High schooler from Crater in the field too sitting in third but this is Gomez P once out front. And Ryder White in there in the white singlet. Mixing it up with the open men here in this 1500 meters. Seeing what he could do as he tries to make his way into second. Gomez Ponce still getting himself some space out there in the front of this race. As he makes his way by the couch. And looking smooth coming into the line with two laps to go. Gomez Ponce a Mexican athlete. Coming all the way up to Portland to compete.

And that was a 63.9 circuit. As he comes through 800 meters in 2:08. So remember we said that the goal time here was 4:05 pace, but it looks like Gomez Ponce is stepping on the gas. Once he hit that 800 meters in 2:08. So that’s what this meet does. We created these heats to build on themselves. Constructed this meet to have these athletes one-up each other in the fields. And build on that energy so that each race is faster than the previous one. And it's a hot track out there. Gomez Ponce wants to see what he can do with this great opportunity laid out in front of him. As he comes into a lap to go.

And there's the bell. He’ll hit the bell lap in 2:56-high. 2:56.96 with a 64.1 on that lap. Daniel Guterres behind him. It's about six seconds back. So now past 1200 meters. Gomez Ponce a solo and he's got 60 meters on the pack. So far in front of the race. As he's inside 200 meters to go now. And he's keeping it together. Pumping the arms. He's going to shorten up as he comes around the straight here. Comes around the bend onto the straight. Gomez Ponce moving well. And he'll come to the line here. And will he crack four minutes? Let's see just outside. Gomez Ponce taking the win. 4:00.79 with a 63.8 close.

And the race behind him for second. 4:08.06 for William Cox. Caleb Kaiserling. 4:08.84. Team Red Lizard athlete locally here. Tommy Deere from Los Lobos. 4:09.42. Mason Pierce, 4:11. Jesse Todd coming in 6th, 4:11.45. So very well done on the pacing by Gomez Ponce there. 48.9 for the first 300 meters, then 63.9. 64.1. 63.8 for the Mexican athlete. And 4:00.7 the time to beat in the open section so far, as we move on to heat too. The wave light for the second heat here set for 3:58 for the 1500 meters. You can see the start list here. Hoka Aggies athlete coming from Central California coast. Victoria BC represented by Galloway.

Rose City Track Club. Dave Clark in this race. The Masters indoor 1500 world champion. Said a world championships race record in that victory as well. Another Victoria BC athlete in here, Hopkins. Blackwell from Valor Track Club. Calgary Spartans represented by Pearson. Bruce Davis calling them to the line here. As you can see Craig Rice on the infield wearing the black t-shirt. Back turned, he is the founder of this meet that began in 2008. After the ending of the Oregon Track Classic. This meet the rebirth of that professional meet that was on the circuit for decades. Here we go. Heat to off and running second fastest heat in the open category.

And like we said, 3:58 pace, the prescribed 1500-meter pace. For the wave light there to their left the green lights that you can see on the rail. Coming up through 300 meters there. And 46-high, 47-low. As Rojan Warrior of the Valor Track Club leading them out. And he'll round the bend and get to 400 meters in 63 seconds as everybody's in touch. Warrior Lucas Matos. Lars Ede behind him and Russell Pearson. And now going three wide fighting it out. That's Russell Pearson on the inside. And Hector Gomez it looks like. Hector Gomez on the outside. And on the white singlet Matos. Hector Gomez trying to make his way to the front he'll get there.

Some jockeying for position. That's Russell Pearson in second place. And Gomez at the front looking very smooth and relaxed. Two laps to go that was 64 flat for that lap. Gomez Pearson Matos Warrior and Goss. And then Dave Clark of the Rose City Track Club. They come through 800 meters in about 2:08. Gomez and Pearson now separating themselves. As Pearson makes another bid for the front. And Gomez will try to hold him off. Pearson makes his way to the front. Chasing those lights at 3:58 pace. So now Gomez not content to let Pearson take the lead. He wants to retake it. But we'll see if Pearson lets him and it doesn't look like he will easily.

So Pearson and Gomez running side by side now. As they come up to a lap to go. 2:56-high on the clock. 2:57.07. 64.1 for Pearson. And 64.6 for Gomez. Pearson and a lead then Gomez. And down the back straight away. It is Gomez now and then Pearson. Rolling in inside 200 meters to go. Gomez and Pearson out front. And the pack behind them. Now it's Gomez making this race his own. And the form changes a bit. He starts swinging the arms a little wider. But the stride still looking smooth. As he's turning over down the straight away. And he'll pick up some speed too. As he gets to the line in right at 3:58 it looks like.

It’s 3:58.5 for Hector Gomez. 61.3 on the close. Nolan Galloway in second, 4:02.1. Robert Blackwell in third, 4:02.22. All these men closing in 61 seconds. And Dave Clark comes up for fourth place. It’s a 4:03.05 with a 62.5 close. The local Portland athlete representing the Rose City Track Club. Rose City Mile will be held next weekend. So go to rosecitymile.com. If you want to register race an open mile here in Portland. After the Portland Track Festival. There's a lot of racing opportunities in the city. We've got an all-comers meet put on by Portland Track as well. A series that we started this last year with four meets.

Next meet will be coming up this Thursday. Held at Jesuit High School in Beaverton. So you can register for that at PortlandTrack.com. But here on the track now. This is the second fastest section of the open men's 1500 meters. Third open 1500 meters of the day. So we can see some familiar names up there. Leo Donlia of the Timberline Athletic Club. Connell Divine. Stark Street Athletics Club. Central Catholic Track Club. Another Hoka Aggies athlete in there. Brian Hastings. Carlos Villagomez of Timberline AC. Dominic Robles here from the Peninsula Distance Club. Coming up from the Bay Area to compete.

His teammate Abe Alsadi from the Peninsula Distance Club on the line as well. Here we go. Off and running. Watch is being clicked. Leo Donlia getting out there. In a tight pack as this wave light pace is set for 3:55. So getting ever so much faster. The last heat won in 3:58. Everybody wants to remain in touch here. As they're swinging three wide there in the back. Off to a good start. A tad slower than the last heat. We'll see how well they close it down. Coming through 400 meters here. They reach it in about 64-65 seconds. We saw the top three athletes in the last heat closing 61 seconds. Very fast for a final closing circuit.

But that's typical for this meet. You've got a guy in the back in a second. We saw the top three athletes in the last heat closing 61 seconds. We've got a guy in the back in a sleeveless spam T-shirt. An incredible look here. Two laps to go. 1:52 on the clock. That was a 64.0 for Pojne. And then Connell Divine still in second. As they round the bend again. 2:08 thereabouts. It seems like everybody’s been liking hitting that 800 in 2:08. And then the racing really begins. As they're pushing and shoving in the back. Some jostling around jockeying for position. As everybody tries to get their spot with this race unfolding with 600 meters

to go. Connell Divine moves his way to the front. And Lance Mason on the outside and the Red Seattle singlet. Getting into good position and flying up way outside. That's Thomas Williams of the Grizzly Endurance team. We're in the green segment now making his way to the front. And looking very strong here coming into the bell lap. 2:57 on the clock. Thomas Williams, 2:57.3 with a 64.3. And now everybody's strung out. 3:12 through 1200 meters. Lucky Shriner behind Thomas Williams. And it's a two-man race currently. As they make their way down the back stretch. Thomas Williams in Shriner. Thomas Williams up front.

Lucky Shriner on the outside. Williams sporting an excellent mustache with sunglasses. But now Lucky Shriner makes his move down the final straightaway. Spam is rolling two in fourth position. But this is all Lucky Shriner. Looking strong, coming in 3:56 for the win. And Spam comes up for second place. 3:56.5. Ben Hogan wearing the Spam T-shirt. 3:58.07. Both men close in 59 seconds for their final quarter. And Basil Parkins comes in third, 3:58.5, with a 60-second close. Thomas Williams who was up front for a lot of the race. 3:58.7 coming in fourth place. So fastest time of the day in the 1500 in the open sections.

3:56.5. Lucky Shriner with an excellent close. And a 58.83. Ben Hogan wearing that fantastic Spam Cut-Off T-shirt. 59.1 on the close for him. 3:58.07 final time. And now we turn our attention to the final section of the open men's 1500 meters. And this is an international field. We have a couple Mexican athletes in here, Canadian athlete. Some familiar names joining us from doubling back from last night. And the 5000 meter races. And the hat 10 meters lead by the 100 meters ago. We have Maximilian Phileon from Canada. So it's like small things to learn. Osvaldo Bermejo Alonso from Mexico. Eduardo Cortez Delgadillo from Mexico as well.

Daniel Sealand coming up from the Bay Area, the Peninsula Distance Club. And no one wants to take a lead and start picking up on each other. Jack Gray from Club Northwest representing Seattle here. You'll see him in a bright orange kit. Club Northwest colors. Daniel Carr in this race. Mitchell Reese Jones also for Club Northwest. Josh Sealand. We've got the Sealand brothers in here representing the Peninsula Distance Club from the Bay Area. What are the races you should try to get back to? Liam Wild, Sam Franco, Bodhi Thomas in here. And this is the top section of the open men’s 1500 meters set for 3:49 pace

with the wave light. And the wave light merely a suggestion for these athletes to follow. And an instructive tool for the fans just letting everybody know how fast they 're moving. And here we go, the men are off and running as that's a Sealand on the outside. In the Peninsula Distance Club kit. Long striding athlete. So targeting that 3:49 pace. And all these guys looking to take that victory here in the Electric Forest. Maybe earn a seat on the couch. Be able to talk to 3:35 man David Ribich and let them know how it feels. So 44.8 at 300 meters for Josh Sealand up front. And looking extremely smooth loping along out there as he gets to 400 meters in

about 60 seconds. Jeremiah Castellano of the Valor Track Club behind him. And Eric Fickerrood in third position. Liam Wild in fourth and Maximilian Filion the Canadian in fifth right now. Marcus Dixon who's also taken wins here in the Electric Forest before sits in sixth place. So look for him. But this is Josh Sealand out front. His brother Daniel Sealand back in the pack for the Peninsula Distance Club. You can see his brother Daniel back there. Midpack. Josh Sealand though leading on a great pace, still 1:46. With two laps to go, that was a 62.0 on that lap. Because they make their way to 800 meters here.

2:02 on the clock. And everybody looks comfortable right now. Nobody looks too strained through a 2:02 800 as there’s some shuffling in the pack. Up on the outside folks trying to climb the ladder and get up to Josh Sealand. Stay out of the way of that long back kick though. And it is highly possible that Josh Sealand comes back to race in that Portland versus Seattle versus San Francisco 3K championship for the Cascadia Cup later this evening. So we'll keep an eye on that. But here look at this. Everybody's trying to get into position for this final lap as they hit the bell in 2:49. And that’s Filion with a 61.2, climbing the ladder.

So 2:49 for Maximilian Filion at the front, leading Josh Sealand now. And Castellano in third. Down the back stretch. And they're rolling. There's a pack of seven athletes still in touch. Still able to win this race. But Filion turning the screws. And Josh Sealand trying to keep up. Sealand swinging wide on Filion. But look at this. Coming up on the outside. That's Sam Franco number 11. Swinging all the way into lane three. Going by Filion. This is Sam Franco coming out of the shadows. And Franco storming to the front, will get there in 3:47. 3:47.6 for Sam Franco. A 57.4 on the close. Filion with a great effort.

3:48.1 coming up for second and a 58.9 close. All these guys coming in. Down to fifth place. Daniel Sealand under 3:50. And each one of them closing under 60 seconds as well. We’ve got Cortez Delgadillo. 3:50 there in sixth place. So that'll be the open section of the men's 1500. With Sam Franco storming down the straightaway here. Bursting out of the shadows to take that win in 3:47. A look back. And just punching the tape. It'll have the fastest time of the day thus far. And closing the books on the open section. The fastest time in the open 1500 meters this year at the Portland Track Festival.

And now we get a glimpse of the lineup. The women's open section of the 1500 meters. We'll have one heat of this. And later on we'll have many more heats in the high performance section. For the women's 1500 meters. There are around 40 athletes in the high performance section who have run under 4:20 for the 1500. And this year in the hot window it took 4:08 to make it into that bronze level competition. We'll see that take place later this evening. The open section of the women's 1500 off and running right now. And the pace set for 4:25 on the wave lights. And we're hearing that for Sam Franco the winner of the previous heat that was

a 7-second personal best for him, closing in 3:47. But on the track now the open women's 1500 meters. Some peninsula distance club athletes in this race as well. Erin McDonald, Faith Reynolds of the Peninsula Distance Club. Annie Boos in this race. She does a lot of video work for track town USA. And that's Erin McDonald at the front leading the pack. Annie Boos behind her. And coming up at about 70 seconds. For the first 400 meters the 1500 here. Faith Reynolds excuse me at the front. Or that is Erin McDonald and then faith Reynolds the other peninsula distance club athlete. But Annie Boos in the white top in second place.

So lights are set for 4:25 pace but they got out faster than that. Coming down the straightaway here is Faith Reynolds, flying up from the Bay area to compete two laps remaining. And that was a 71 second lap from finish line to finish line. As it is Reynolds and Boos, and about 2:21 through 800 meters. Reynolds and Boos separating themselves. And starting to push here in this third lap of the 1500 meters. This is where it gets tough this is where you got to keep it together. They're inside 600 meters to go. So when they hit this final straightaway there's only one more time that they 'll see it.

But moving around the bend getting on to the final straightaway. Less than 500 meters remaining in this race. And the orders remained unchanged with Reynolds Boos and Erin McDonald. And there's the bell. Faith Reynolds at the front, another 71.6. And coming through 1200 meters here, 3:32. So down the back straightaway Erin McDonald has gained some space for the Peninsula distance club. So a great effort here. This is Erin McDonald at the front. Erin McDonald for the Peninsula distance club on to the home straightaway. Here at the Portland track festival in the open section of the women's 1500 meters.

It looking very strong down the straightaway beating the lights and the competitors. She’ll get to the line in 4:23. 4:23.8. Unofficially for Erin McDonald taking the victory, a 69-second final lap. And Annie Boos, 4:27 in second, 71.4. And Faith Reynolds. McDonald’s Peninsula Distance Club teammate, 4:27, 69.7 on the close for her. Maria Tajipadro, 4:33 in fourth, 73 seconds, as we get a look at the replay. And McDonald all the way, going from gun to tape in this 1500, 4:23.8. There we go arms up for the victory breaking the tape. And she’ll have the fastest time of the day so far, 4:23.8 for the 1500

meters. Taking the open section at the Portland track festival. So that concludes our open sections of the 1500 meters. And there’s Craig Engels on the infield. He's laughing at something he's pacing a lot of races today. I don’t know how many, anywhere between four and 50. But a double champion in the men's 1500 meters here. Won the race in 2019 and he won also in 2021. That epic race in 2021. He won in 3:33.6. Of course that race is the one that Hobbs Kessler came in fourth. Ran 3:34 as a high school athlete, and maybe we’ll see something like that again tonight. From either Owen Powell or Josiah Tostenson in the 1500 meters.

Tavon Kitchen of Crater is also in the men’s 5000 meters, the fast section. Last year we saw Daniel Simmons break the national high school record, run 13:25 . But could we see that go down this year we'll see. So now we are setting out the races for the 400 meters. That was Craig Rice laying out the blocks. Founder of this meet. And here we get another look, Craig Engels. Just chatting it up. It's a light work day for him. No racing going on but a lot of pacing happening. And the stands are starting to fill up here Portland track festival as we're still very early on. We’re going to get to the high performance sections at 4:15.

But the hot window doesn't start until eight p.m. So a lot of action still to be had here today at a great a great day in Portland Oregon 70 degrees currently. And if you get up on top of the roof here you can get a clear shot of Mount Hood. 11,300 foot peak. And we have I'm being told that's Chauncey billups. So blazers basketball coach Chauncey billups has joined us today at the Portland track festival. We get celebrities here to come watch. There are many professional track athletes that live in the Portland area and they'll come out to watch today. But we also get blazers royalty out here as well.

Everybody loves to track me. So we're going to we're preparing for the open sections of the men's and women 's 400 meters. We'll have two men's heats of the 400 meters and one women's heat. And then from there we'll move into the high performance events which will begin at 4:15. With the high performance men's 800 meters going from heat five down to heat two. And then two heats of the women's 800 meters going from heat three to heat two. And then the high performance 1500 meters for the men high performance 1500 meters for the women. And then high performance 5000 races up until the second fastest heat in the

high performance sections. We moved to the opening ceremonies. We have Portland versus Seattle versus San Francisco team race with the Casc adia Axe. And then the championship Wildwood running 1500 for the high school girls. And the championship high school boys stumped town running 1500. And then the very top heats of the high performance sections for the 800s 1500s 5000s. And finally we make our way to 8 p.m. where we get the hot window. So the very very top heats of the 800s 5000s and 1500s. So this — this meet, as I said, was constructed to ratchet up throughout the day making sure that we give you action that builds on itself all the way to 8 p.m.

which is the pro heats of this — of this meet. So we’ll give you a real professional racing competition to cap off this meet. But there's something for everybody beforehand as we see athletes warming up on the infield. That was a good chance to thank our partners once again. Bandit running bringing you this free live stream that you can view anywhere in the world. Check out banditrunning.com for their great gear. Good for any season. Looking stylish as well out there. Doing your jogs or going after a personal best. And shamrock run one of the storied competitions here in Portland where the entire city turns out on St. Patrick's Day to race on the waterfront.

The 8k competition always one of the fastest races in America. And they're sponsoring or partnering with us to bring you the women's 5000 meters today. Running warehouse. Official partner of the Portland track festival. Head there for all of your running apparel footwear needs. Runningwarehouse.com. And we'll thank them again when we bring you the top heat of the men's 800 meters which will feature Donovan Brazier. In the comeback, we saw him run 1:44.7 in Nashville last week. And in 2021 he won the Portland Track Festival here at 1:45.09. Featuring Jesús Tonatiuh López. 1:43 man and Mexican national record holder.

Lopez is back as well this year. So we'll see them duel it out. And we also thank dream cell our partner. And Dashaing who make sock liners here for your shoes making sure that your feet are feeling comfortable. Sitting in the stands. Or running out there. And thank you to Rose City Physical Therapy to our physical therapy partner. And also Prosper Portland and Portland Events and Film who support this event and bring out the Portland public. And this is an event for the city. It is a track meet. But it's also a cultural event where Portland is really represented on the stage here that we've set out.

We’re going to have the Unipiper out later for the opening ceremonies. The drum line coming out and all of the Portland clubs represented with their flags on the back stretch. It's 10 local Portland running clubs. And they're all part of this tapestry in the city that creates one of the best running communities in the country. And the city filled with athletes and creative people. Most of the top running brands in the world have offices here in Portland. You've got your Nike's, your Adidas, your Hoka, on running. Under Armour has offices here. I'm definitely missing somebody. But a lot of those employees racing here in the earlier sections.

And then athletes from those brands competing in the top sections as well. So we're waiting for the 400 meter races to start and they'll start it. 4 p.m. today in about five, four minutes. And my companion Will Lear will join me at 4:15 for the start of the high performance section. And we'll bring you all the action from there throughout the evening. So racing started today at 2 p.m. with the master's miles and the youth runner at middle school miles. And we've rolled on from there. Last night we had some great performances as well as we had the top sections, the championship sections of the 3,000 meter steeple chases and the 10,000

meter races. So meet record set by Isaac Updike in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, 8:13 . One of the fastest times run by an American this year. And breaking Stanley Kebenei’s meet record that has stood since 2017. But he'll add his name to a list of legends in that event. As last year the race was won by Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks. And also champion in the women's 3,000 meter steeple chase last night, Gracie Hyde running 9:24.7. And claiming that log round she can hoist above her head. But Gracie 9:24.6, excuse me, puts her just above Allie Ostrander on the all-time list. And behind Courtney Frerichs, who’s the meet record holder at 9:21.

Men's 10,000 meters last night won by Chris Maxson of the Union Athletics Club coached by Pete Julian. What a — Pete’s dragons. So Pete on the scene last night, would like to make this place a house of the dragons. We'll see some more of his athletes this evening. But a good start by Chris Maxson laying it down for the fire breathers. And then in the women's race, in the 10,000 meters, Abby Nichols took the victory for the Hoka NAZ Elite. A personal best, 31:52. A great effort from her running with Alessia Zarbo most of the time. And there we go, there's David Ribich there hanging out on the couch.

This is the best place to watch a track meet. We put the living room right next to the track. Incredible. So here now, men for the 400 getting their numbers, the first heat of the men's 400 meters. And three athletes in this field. And we can see in the next heat, athletes shaking out, preparing to step to the track. But tonight, a full slate of action for you. And I can’t express how exciting it is once we get to 4:15 as well. And kick off the high performance sections because we just roll from there. And just action packed race after race after race. And everybody trying to one up each other and throw a mark out there that

leaves the audience in awe. Building on the electricity in this facility. That's how it gained the name the electric forest for the grove surrounding it. And the electricity that emanates within it, built from these athletes. And it's infectious. So we're getting some scenes track side now as the 400 meters is about to commence. We've got Nicholas Tocharchik, Tocharchik in this, Warwick Bushnell, Quinn Gore , three athletes competing in the 400 here on the track. The first heat of the men's 400 meters. That's Tocharchik in the third lane. Bushnell in lane four and Gore in lane five. Last night as well in the women's 10,000 meters we were treated to something

special. Michelle Roar setting an age group world record in the 10,000 meters for 55 to 59. She ran 36:38, taking five seconds off the world record time. So incredible. Here we go. Turning our attention back to the track, the men's first heat of the 400 meters getting into their blocks. And off and running around the bend. Just one lap for this race, shortest event of the day. Tocharchik, Bushnell and Gore in that order. And Bushnell moving well on the inside there. Just to the inside of Gore. He's in lane four. So making their way around the bend. It's Bushnell now. Gritting it out. Coming around the turn, Bushnell in the front and then Gore.

Bushnell pumping his fists, driving down the straight through the shadows of this historic stadium. And coming out on the other side and he'll take the victory here. Unofficially. In 50.18 for Warwick Bushnell. Following him. Quinn Gore, 50.55. And Nicholas Tocharchik, 53.38. And we get a replay here. There's Bushnell and Gore getting after it. Bushnell taking the victory here with a dip at the line and a different angle for you. Front side. Bushnell takes the win. And there we see the names for the top section of the men's 400 meters. The open competition here at the Portland Track Festival. Clay Grattage.

Fuad Omer. TJ. Tom Leonovich. James Millholen. Andre Dorn. And Ethan De Leon. And prepping their blocks right now here at Griswold Stadium. This spring time here in Portland. So there's a great feel in the air. We're out of the rainy season. And it's happened just in time for the Portland Track Festival. Perfect weather here. Couldn't ask for anything better. And we're getting ready here for the 400 meters top section. The men are in their blocks. And often running again top section of the men's 400 meters in the open events. And on the inside that's James Millholen Trackwired. He's in the Nike kit.

And he's making up the stagger. So off to a blazing start here around the bend. And it's all Millholen right now. Millholen on the outside. But he's getting a competition from Fuad Omer on the inside in lane three. But it's Millholen. Millholen looking strong coming down the straightaway. He'll make it here in 46 seconds unofficially. We'll give you the official time. 46.57 for James Millholen. And he'll be the champion here in the open section of the 400 meters. Omer in second 48.5. Clay Grattage in third. 49.3. So an excellent effort. He takes the log round as we get the replay here. Millholen coming down the straightaway.

Holding his form together, looking incredibly strong. Reaching the line 46.57. And there he goes. Making his way to the couch behind the trailer. Going to hair and makeup first before he meets David Ribich. Chat with the fans in the stands. Let them know just how he made it around that curve and finished 46.57. But here we have the women setting up their blocks. The open section of the women's 400 meters. Elizabeth McDowell Mitchell in this race from Victoria. We saw her run the 800 last night. I believe she won the open section of the 800 meters. She's doubling back to run the 400 today. Sonaya Billups.

Howard University. McKenna Spear in this race as well. Racers in lanes 4, 5, 6. And McDowell Mitchell early on led that 800 meters and then came back. Stormed down the straight. Took the victory at the line. She ran 2:09.86 to take that victory. The Canadian from Victoria. Elizabeth McDowell Mitchell. Won by less than a tenth of a second. So a real tight race last night. And trying to carry that energy over here for the 400 meters. One lap race. And it's great to have all of you tuning in from wherever you are around. From wherever you are around the world to watch this Portland Track Festival

today. And we're coming to you live all day from 2 p.m. all the way through the hot window that starts at 8 p.m. But there's incredible energy in the stadium in this meet. Especially when we're in this facility and we're back here for the first time in three years. There's some work being done to the grandstand itself over the last two years. But we're incredibly happy to be back. And Millholen there catching his breath before he talks to David Ribich. As the women get into the blocks for the 400 meters. McDowell Mitchell. Billups and Spear, lanes 4, 5, 6. And they're off and running here. McDowell Mitchell, Billups, and Spear.

And Spear is a DNS so it is just a match race here between McDowell Mitchell and Sonaya Billups. Phillips on the outside. And moving well is Sonaya Billups. And McDowell Mitchell, seeing if she can make that up on this second half of the race. So right now it is all Sonaya Billups, and Billups around the bend. Swinging onto the home straight in front of the fans now who are letting her hear it. And here comes Sonaya Billups down the straightaway through the shadows. And Billups making it to the finish line here in 53 seconds on the clock. McDowell Mitchell follows her. 53.67 unofficially for Sonaya Billups, Howard University.

And Elizabeth McDowell Mitchell doubling back from the 800 last night to run 56 .69. Great work by both of them. And Sonaya Phillips will catch her breath too as she heads over to the couch. And here we get a look at the replay. Sonaya Phillips out fast through the first 200 meters. And then holding her form, staying composed, getting to the finish line before she lets it go. And 53.67, excellent work on the day. As we get a look at the infield and everybody warming up for their races through the high performance sections. And we're going to come right back to you and check out the scene in the high

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On rugged terrain, it keeps you steady, mapping your path even when the trail fades. It moves with you, fluid and effortless. Sinking with your pace through every stride and every lap. Wherever your run takes you, running warehouse has the gear to get you there. And we're back here in the electric forest as we make our way towards the high performance sections. Start out with the network of computers. And we have now moved blocks from the open section into the high performance section of the Portland Track Festival this year. As we see the first heat of the men's 800 meters, first of five in this first

block of the high performance sections. We'll have the very top high performance sections take place later this evening . And then we will have the hot window take place after that starting at 8 p.m. So you want to be tuning in, especially at 8 p.m. Pacific time to watch the very top races. But this is where it starts to get really exciting because we're going to see these races build on each other throughout the afternoon, starting with the men 's 800 meters. And everybody in the building is primed and ready to watch this racing take place. Everyone on the line wants to take a win here in the electric forest.

And hoist that log round. Be able to talk to David Ribich on the couch. And we'll see here what the wave light is set for. This first race, we're going to start out hot because the first race is set for a 1:51 pace, 53 seconds through the quarter. And then we will move it down from there. So meet director Tate Shenbein there on the infield, getting the men prepped. Making sure everybody has their hip number. And beyond Kuzo in this race, Roberts Mogul, Ramirez Feliciano from Puerto Rico , Irvine, Patrick Ballage, Preble and Abade. And they're out and running right now. Here we go. The high performance sections have opened.

And we're rocking here in Portland. George Espino on the outside doing the pacing. A 1:47 man himself. The guys are in good hands out there as he gets to the first 200 in about 26 seconds and it's bunched behind him. Champing at the bit, racers ready to go. And that is Abade behind George Espino there. And Patrick Ballage wearing the OTC kit, repping the green and white and coming through 400 meters. Espino steps off and leaves it to the racing now. So Abade and Ballage making his way to the front. Ballage down the back straight and he's followed by Hudson Irvine. But Ballage, the brother of Ben Ballage out there, the Oregon athlete who has

won races here in the electric forest as well. So the Ballages know what they're doing. And first split was 55.2. So this could very well be a negative split for Ballage as he gets on to Paradise Alley here in the electric forest. The fans let him hear it coming down the straightaway. And he's getting a battle by Hayden Roberts here coming to the front. This is Roberts making his way to the line in 1:51, taking the victory. Hayden Roberts kicks off the high performance sections, 1:51.41, taking the win for the 800 meters in Heat 5. And we're going to get to the next Heat right after this. You may have noticed Trevor Bassett come out behind — right, Benjamin — all dressed

in black, the 26-year-old, there he is. He has a legitimate shot of making this team. He's unsponsored. The unsponsored project is all about supporting athletes to be able to chase their dreams and put them on a pedestal and really, really do something that's right and special for these unsponsored athletes who are trying to make it. There's a ton of conversation about how do you grow the sport, what's good for the sport, and obviously right now, track is trying to grow. There's no system where athletes are getting paid outside of footwear brands for the most part. 2023 and 2024 was another huge pillar of the initiative to keep it hyper

focused on the athletes, but we're still keeping our release clause within every single one of these contracts. Yeah, for 2025, I mean for us, it's really just honing in even more on how we can support athletes at a deeper level. Point blank will be able to double the amount of support that we were doing. And as we turn our attention to the next Heat of the Men's 800 meters, I'm joined now by Will Lear, who will be with us for the rest of the day taking us through the evening. To say that I'm excited, Jeff, is an understatement of epic proportions. We talked about this yesterday. We are just so excited to be back in the electric forest.

It feels good. It feels amazing. And now we're in the high performance sections and the energy is just going to build from here as we saw 1:51 in the first heat. And now the second heat is often running for this men's 800 meters and the pacing is set for 1:49 with the wave lights, looking for a 52 opener. And that is none other than Craig Engels, who is out front pacing this race. Yeah, why not? Why not? The RV is parked outside. He can take a nap between races, fully recover. This guy's got a whole host of pacing to do for us today, but gosh, we just love to see him out front. And the lighting is perfect, too, as he makes the turn around the bend, getting

that first 200 in the bag, as these guys need to get up on his back. Because Craig Engels is setting a good pace, but 1:49, the prescribed pace here. If there was anyone I would trust in this sport to get me to where I need to be in a pacing job, it is Craig Engels. That hair is flowing beautifully. The mustache looks trimmed to perfection, and he's absolutely nailing this. And 52, 53 low. That is Amir Ahmed out front, Craig Engels still on the track. Ahmed behind him, 53.1 for the opening split. So a nice 500 meter pace job for 800 here. And Ahmed, and then Carlos Ortega behind him. And on the outside is Devin Meadows of Canada moving up in the black singlet.

So coming up to 600 meters, they’ll reach it in 1:21 as Meadows takes the front. And making his bid, that's how you do it, charging down the back stretch and getting to the front around the curve. And now the fans will let him hear it in the stadium as this is Meadows, and far on the outside is Maxwell Miracle trying to get up to the front, but this is Meadows. Meadows getting to the line in just 1:50 there. So a hard charge for 1:50.58. And it looked like that was actually Ryan Eddington, excuse me. No one's perfect, Jeff. We'll try to be as we continue throughout the day. We do our best, perfection is a state of mind, and for those who were with us

yesterday, again, the pace lights, they're a suggestion. We prefer just to see great racing, which is exactly what we saw there with athletes getting out hard behind Craig Engels. Behind that excellent pace making through the first 500, and here you got the last 50 meters. And that's Eddington making his way to the line, and winning this thing going away in 1:50.5. So we had a 1:51 for the first section, then a 1:50, and we’ll make our way further down from there. As we get into these top, or these higher heats of the high performance sections, we’ll want to keep in mind the U.S. standard, which is 1:45.6.

Let's make it to the U.S. Championships in Eugene, six weeks time. Heard of the event, heard of the city. It's a great place just down the road. For a couple months a year, it's delightful. Small town, they love track. They just can't get enough of it. I don't know what it is, there's something in the water down there, and that might even have it. And we could put it in the water up here, because it rolls through Portland, too, and then heads down Eugene water. You don't know, they take everything out in Eugene, all the good stuff. Everything after that is, you don't have to touch that water. Actually, it rolls the opposite direction, so they put it in the water down

there, and then it comes up this way. So, that's where we get our love from track. Absolutely. And here we go. Next event on the track, heat three of the men's 800 meters as we roll on throughout the day. Jade Kitching of Australia in here. Kaelyn House from Canada. Osaze de Mundt. And Alex Jensen from Seattle University. Kayne Evans, an Oregon athlete in the field. You can see the O, and the green singlet down there. And the men being called to the line now, Seku Sanders, Spencer Hardy, Zane Hum dani. And they’re off and running as this pace is set for 1:48. Paced again by George Espino, who’s tag-teaming this pacing with Craig Engels.

He paced the first section, and moving well down the back stretch. Got to think that's a great workout for an 800 meter athlete doing two, four to five hundred meter paces of fairly quick 800 meters here. The pace lights again set exactly what they were in the previous heat of 52 seconds. Espino doing a fantastic job out front. Got there quickly. Established this pace. He's a little bit ahead of those blue lights, but they don't think the competitors are going to mind too much. de Mundt in second, the first competitor there wearing the white top. In about 53 seconds through the quarter. de Mundt, 53.2, and then Kitching from Australia, sitting in second place.

And Kayne Evans wearing that green and yellow of Oregon. The Big Ten powerhouse, Oregon. This is Big Ten country out here. Big Ten championships at Hayward Field this year. And coming in, that's Jade Kitching of Australia taking the front in the black top. And he’ll get to 600 meters in 1:22. So we'll see what can be done here as it's Kitching and Evans. Evans the Oregon athlete. Around the bend they go. Onto the straightaway. And it’s Kitching, Evans, and de Mundt. And then Spencer Hardy behind them. Kitching and Evans out front. Kitching still holding a narrow lead. And he'll take it. In 1:50.15, just outside.

That magical barrier of 1:50. Magical. I don't know. There's no other word to describe it. Electric? More magic than electric. The forest is electric. The barrier is magical. Okay. Great run there from Jade Kitching. Buying his time well. Making a strong move down the back stretch. Taking the lead. Holding his form extremely well. Despite the charge from Kayne Evans on his outside shoulder. He knew that challenge was going to be there. Kayne Evans running out of gas a little bit over the final 10 meters. Throwing himself over the line but just wasn't going to be enough. 1:50.1. We're just getting faster and faster out here, Jeff.

We're working it down. We’re going to credit Shenbein on the seeding here for this competition and the high performance. Give credit where credit’s due. Yeah, absolutely. This wasn't just a machine. We might have some suggestions for the suggestion box later but this is... Yeah, we'll give them some kudos right now. As we move into heat two. The second to fastest heat of this block of the high performance section. We'll have the top heat coming right after this but then the high performance top heat and then the hot window heat so fast sections all around. Let me give you one guess. Who do you think is pacing this heat of the 800?

I think it’s Craig Engels again. You're dang right at this. Clayton Van Dyke in here. Chase Loverschak. Portland State. Former athlete. AJ Green. Charles Shimakawa. Fernando Salinas, Braxton Brewer. Tato Bryan and Riley McGowan of Australia. We've got a lot of Aussies up here for this meet this year. Craig Engels getting out once again. Making sure he has the space to cut inside as this wave light will be set. For 1:47 — 51.5 through the quarter. We’re turning the screw a little bit here, was 52 flat on the first pacing job for Craig. But he's getting some pressure from the backside here of an athlete trying to

egg him to go a little faster. That's AJ Green. AJ Green kind of tells Craig get on your horse big guy. Let's get moving. And Loverschak on the outside in the glasses and mustache as well. So taking a page out of Craig Engels’ book. As they come through in about 52 seconds through the first quarter. So fastest yet of these heats. And Craig Engels once again going 500 meters it looks like. But there’s no space between him and AJ Green coming through in 52.3. And now it is Green and Riley McGowan of Australia. The two separating themselves down the back stretch. But race isn't over yet. It's climbing into third position.

Well through 600 meters in 1:20. That's moving. That’s setting yourself up for our first sub-1:50 of the day. They're right in the middle of those green wave lights. AJ Green off front. Riley McGowan that has gone unchanged. We’re looking at hip five there for Fernando Salinas from Mexico. I mean a strong move to get into the third. Let's see what he has in the last 100. And can AJ Green hold them off down the straightaway? It looks like he's found an extra gear as he pushes even further and gets to the line in 1:47. AJ Green taking the win there. And that heat of the 800 meters, high performance section, 1:47.9.

A 55.6 on the close. And he looks pleased with that finish. Salinas in second, 1:48.5. And again, as we get to this next section, we want to point out the 1:45.6 U.S. standard because any unsponsored athlete who gets under that mark bandit will have the opportunity to sign with them and have them pay their way to Eugene for the U.S. championships. That's not cheap. Getting to Eugene is not cheap. I know that. Traveled there a lot. It is not. Very generous offer from Bandit in their support of the Portland track fest. Jeff, another thing I want to talk about because we're seeing a lot of athletes

and we saw that with Kayne in the previous heat of the 800. A lot of these athletes were down in Eugene for the NCAA championships. If they didn't make the final or maybe they're a local athlete who didn't quite make it into that meet. This is a great opportunity to say like, you know, harness that disappointment and come up here and run it out on the track. Absolutely. So we are going to wait to get to that top heat of the high performance section until later in the evening. Before we get to the hot window and now we're going to turn our attention. This is great. It's structured to get faster throughout the evening.

So now we are looking to the high performance section of women's 800 meter race . First section of that which is section three as we move to section one. So we'll have two sections now. The first heat is called section three. That's right. Okay. And we're going to see two sections right now. I'm not sure I fully grasped that last night. So we'll just keep refreshing that for the fans at home watching us. We're not in stadium tonight, which I would offer is a bit disappointing. But Mr. Ribich is doing a fantastic job, heard him when I was walking in from the car. Just pumping these fans up. Yeah, absolutely.

And his energy will no doubt climb throughout the evening as well. As I believe he just had AJ Green on the couch down there. Fans gave him an applause. But stand starting to fill up more now as we make our way into the hot window. Look, if you're in the greater Portland area or anywhere within a two hour drive, get in your car. Get here. Look at this beautiful facility. One of the most fantastic track and field facilities in all of the United States and all of the world. The electric forest here is no other way to describe it than electric. These seats are going to be filling up throughout the rest of the afternoon.

As Jeff was just alluding to, basically every proceeding race just gets faster and faster and faster. Theoretically throughout the entire evening. I mean, there's always room for a hero to step out there and heat five. Just hit one out into the cheap seats. There goes my hero. Watching him as he burns down the back stretch. But yeah, we love being back here in the electric forest and this beautiful stadium at Lewis and Clark here in the Grandstand. One of the old style wooden grandstands that you see in the Pacific Northwest. And like we said last night talking with Pat Tyson, coach Gonzaga. He loves this stadium because it reminds him of old Hayward Field.

And just to see in the wooden rafters up above his head and how Bowerman used to paint snakes and owls up there to chase the sparrows away. So that they didn't put droppings on people's heads who were sitting there watching the track meet. Can you imagine any coach at the University of Oregon themselves painting something on a stand just to like get the birds out of there? Yeah, I think I've heard that Jerry Schumacher is a fantastic painter. He's got a very steady hand. Yeah. They just call him George Bush. George Bush will come in and paint it for him. That's right. He'll paint your likeness on the wall.

That's how all of those photos of Oregon greats were put on -- the new Hayward Field I think. It was George Bush. Yeah. Yeah, wow. That's great. Speaking of birds, we have one right outside our window right now. That's right. It's a very noisy bird. It's like the worst-sounding mocking bird where they -- It's a buzzing sound. It's a bubble bee. Yeah, it's a buzzard. Or a wasp. Yeah, we've got the drone right outside our window who will be bringing you the action all evening. Ivan Valdez, our drone operator, and you're seeing us in the booth where we'll be until about 9:15 this evening. We're never going to leave.

We live here now. That's right. Yeah. Got all our snacks. And we're ready to watch this high performance section. First one of the women's 800 meters. We've got high schooler in this field, Sophie Schulmeister. So keep an eye on her. She’s got a 2:09 best, Oregon state champ. Sophie wearing hip seven. That's third from the outside. Daughter of Brett and Kendall Schulmeister and niece of Kara Goucher out there on the track. It's part of running royalty. But these athletes here are targeting a pace on the pace lights, 2:06, in this top section, or this particular section of the 800 meters. They get to 200 meters in just under 30 seconds, so they're out on a hot pace

already. And Cameron Webber in this race as well is a Bowerman track club athlete. You can see her in that third position. And Georgia Generate wearing the Brooks uniform is in that second spot behind eight. Carly Cleefeld, former Oregon runner. And they're going to reach the bell in 60 seconds for the first lap. So a very hot pace set here. Again, pace that the wave light suggestion. The ladies say thanks for no thanks. We'll take this into our own hands. I just love the aggressive racing that these athletes are doing this entire weekend. Just grabbing these races by the horns, wrangling them into submission.

And you have six women who have committed to a very, very fast opening first 400 meters. Sixties is flying. In contention here. So everyone in the field came through and 63 seconds are under as they pass 600 meters now in under 1:35. About 1:33. And Carly Cleefeld still at the front being chased by Georgia Generate. And Cleefeld and Generate. And Ireland Robinson in third place there. Sophia Malinowski, but this is still Carly Cleefeld. Cleefeld keeping her spot at the front. And getting to the line in 2:06. She’ll take the victory, 2:06.1. And she's running for the SRA elite. Sacramento running association who puts on the amazing CIM California

international marathon every year. We’ve got Ireland Robinson — Robertson coming in second. Sophia Malinowski, another high schooler. Forest Park Track Club, 2:07.07. Generate, 2:07.5. And Cleefeld there taking the victory. And here she is. She led this from gun to tape going out in 60, closing in 66. Coach is probably going to have a couple words about that. Maybe the excitement got the best of her over that first 400. But what are you going to do? It's a tough way to run. When the adrenaline's pumping, you've got to take, yes, yes. Just say yes to the adrenaline. She took her shot here and was able to come away with a victory.

That's all you can ask for at this point in the season. And all you ever want, all you ever want is to win, Will. And all she did was win, win, win no matter what. And here we've got heat two of the real traffic section coming to the line. And they're off and running right now. And around the bend they go. And we've got Harper, Lomeli, Burley, Hill. And McKenna Ramsey in this field as well as Megan Wagoner, both Bowerman Track Club athletes. And getting to the first 200 meters in under 30 seconds as well, as the pace here is set for 2:04. First heat was set for 2:06 exactly, and that’s what they got.

But up front here is Alex Lomeli. I had the pleasure of meeting Alex Lomeli. She trains at Santa Monica City College under Jeffrey Fisher. Doing a workout there with an underarmer athlete just after the track fest in LA about a month ago. Alex Lomeli with her sights set on trying to get that U.S. qualifying time. Getting a little help here from some of her competitors as she took it out through the first 400 in 62.7 by Nicole Burley. Yeah, and that U.S. standard time, 2:00.5. Time to remember here. So a 62.5 opener would be a tall task for this heat. We'll see what they can do as Burley's out front.

And behind her Lauren Harper, Alex Lomeli, McKenna Ramsey, Jennifer Swartz. If we've learned anything about 800 meter running this year, especially watching the Grand Slam mates as there's a lot of different ways to get it done. You can negative split, you can positive split, you can even split. And these ladies are attacking this pace and they're clawing back distance on these green pace lights. And that’s Schwartz up front. Jennifer Swartz and Lauren Harper behind her. Harper making a bid in the neon, but Schwartz holding on. Schwartz gaining the lead. Lomeli looking for some fight there, but it will be Schwartz coming to the line

in 2:05. Taking the victory here. Another very well-seeded race here by Tate. With all of those women finishing within about a second of each other, a second and a half, very close finish. Fantastic running from Geneca Schwartz. The Edmonton Columbians. Edmonton, another Canadian coming down here to compete in Portland. Canada, hey? Oh, and we, dare I mention, that's a personal best. Sure is. Looks like it. And here we get a replay. Geneca Schwartz coming down the straightaway. And here we go. Turning our attention to Heat 5 of the men's 1500 meters. As we made our way through the first block of High Performance 800s.

2:05 taking that win there for Geneca Schwartz. And High Performance 1500 meters here. We had 34 athletes this year seeded in under 3:40 for the 1500. That's wild. So we'll make our way through these High Performance sections. And it took 3:36 to make it into the Hot Window 1500 this year. With some special adds, too, to the field. Owen Powell being one of them. Look, meet directors, they have to take their gratuities sometimes. Which is fine. Well, we could see something special happen there with what Owen Powell's been up to lately. Absolutely. Don't place any barriers in a high school kid. They don't know how good they are yet.

And then the Crater boys too, Josiah Tostenson, Tavon Kitchen in the 5000. And here the first Heat of the High Performance men's 1500 meters off and running. The wave light here is set for 3:45. So 60 second quarters on the nose. And the pace are here. Ben Garner out front. Coming back from racing yesterday. Ben Garner lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado. I see them frequently out at an Iowa high school. Getting their early workouts in before they head to the office. But now today, working on the weekend at the Oval Office. And taking them through. Ben Garner setting a nice pace out front as the men are strung out behind him.

Getting to 400 meters in 60 seconds on the nose for Garner. So a tad slower than that for the rest. Medrano, Moore, Kellen Williams of the Stumptown track club. Zach Munson of Northern Arizona in the field too. And now there's a little space. Garner out front setting a nice pace. And some movement behind him. As the racers jockey for position. And Kellen Williams, Stumptown track club. And Kellen Williams, Stumptown track club. And that neon singlet moving into third position. If you include the rabbit. And also the Alabama suit. That's Ahmed Ibrahim again who won a heat in the 5,000 last night.

Stepping back to the track tonight. Yeah, why not? I'm here. Might as well race again. I ought to be young and not have a 5,000 of your legs completely throttle you the next day. I believe he ran 15:27 for that 5,000. And now getting to 800 meters in about 2:02, 2:03 as Garner steps off the track. And Medrano is at the front. Medrano, Kellen Williams. And now Ibrahim to the front. In the white speed suit of the Crimson Tide. Ahmed and Abdi Ibrahim both going to the front now. It does look like the pace has slipped ever so slightly away. The field is bunching back up together with runners going too abreast here.

A blockade of Crimson Tide in the front of them. Wow, this is a pack up here. This last lap is going to have fireworks in it because any of these men could still win it. There’s seven of them as they come to the line with 400 meters to go, and 2:50. So they want 3:45, and that’s not out of the question if somebody steps on the gas right now. It went from time trial to tactical. We'll see what these guys have in the legs the last 400. We'll see who could take it. It appears to be Zach Munson in the sort of red color Adidas kit on the outside . The case Medrano trying to make a move on the inside.

Ibrahim brothers still running 1-2. Medrano on the inside and on the outside Zach Munson wearing the red. But Ibrahim's still at the front. And that is Kellen Williams in the neon green. Local athlete, Stumptown running club. And he's bringing the fight to Ibrahim down the stretch. And so is Medrano. So Ibrahim Williams, Medrano. Who's it going to be? It's anybody's race right now. They're running three wide. Medrano looks strong and he'll get there first. 3:50. 3:50.02. Barakas Medrano. And that’s a 58.7 on the close. Ahmed Ibrahim, 3:50.1. 59.3 on the close. Kellen Williams, 3:50.1. And so all these guys break in 60 seconds in their final lap too.

And here, there's another shot of Chauncey Billups here. His daughter winning the 400 meters earlier today. And getting some swag. Alright, from Meet Director Tate. And we love to see it. We're all part of the same sporting family in the city here. Sports fans are sports fans. The Blazers and Portland track of the athletes racing here. So a great running by her. 53.6 on the win of the 400 meters. And they're being treated some amazing racing here. As Craig Engels steps to the line again and paces for this men’s 1500 meters. Heat 4. Alright, so we're knocking on the door of that sub four minute barrier.

3:42.18 is the official. I believe the official sub four equivalent. This one’s set for 3:42 flat. See how far Craig decides to take them, Craig, again. To come back and pace another couple of heats here. Why not? Again, we're just... The guys are freewheeling Renaissance man out there. That's right. It cannot be stopped. He's going to be shaking a lot of hands today. He's going to be owed a lot of beverages after this as well. So Craig Engels getting out on the outside. And this is another international field. There's at least three Australians in this race. Callum Burns, Angus Hinksman, and Reese Langdon.

And then local athletes as well. Brendan McEwen representing Franklin High School in this race. So high school athlete. Nathan Stark, Cascadia elite in the field. These guys are looking for a 3:42, but also the victory. We’ve got Langdon in the ASICS kit, mid-pack on the outside with those aqua half-tights. Is that right? We're going to say awkward. No, of course not. I would never. Got a Portland Pilot in second position right behind Craig Engels. Not to be mistaken with the Portland poets. That's your name for the Portland state athletes. That's Juliano Scasso, Portland pilot. And he's come through in about 60 seconds to the first 400 meters.

The pace work being done by Craig Engels. Ian Johnson of the Dayton track club behind him. His athlete starting to get strung out a little bit down the back stretch. Craig leans into the pace. Obviously, Juliano Scasso, Craig can feel him on his back there. Again, not too dissimilar from the first heat. Some of those 800 you saw earlier where athletes egging their pacemakers on just go a little bit faster, a little bit faster. See what they got in the lights. The legs are feeling good. Clearly, if you are that close on your pace center and you are smack dab in the middle of those blue lights. Scasso looking good, and Ian Johnson as well.

Coming through, rounding the bend, the pace lights right to their left. They're right on pace. And that was a 59.0 from finish to finish there. We’ll see what 800 meters is as they get there in about 1:58. And now Engels — Scasso trying to stay in touch because he’s got a gap back to Ian Johnson. So he knows when Engels steps off, he’ll be alone. And Engels does here at 900 meters. Craig looked annoyingly good doing that. That just looked too easy. Very smooth, especially after two 500 meter pacing jobs at around 52 second pace. He's got a little bit longer break now between this pacing job and his next.

But let's focus on the task at hand here. Juliano Scasso coming up on one lap to go. And the pack is bunched behind him. We'll see if anybody can jump out of that and challenge Scasso as he gets to the bell here at about 2:44. What you’d love to see is Juliano Scasso — on paper, this says a 3:47 personal best. The pace lights here are set at 3:42. That would be a monstrous chunk to take out of your best time at a distance like the 1500 meters. But again, an athlete who is just absolutely going for it and throwing caution to the wind. The pace maker giving him some cheers down the back stretch.

But Juliano Scasso's got about 25 meters on this field and he looks fantastic going into the final 200. Scasso swinging his arms and he didn't look this good about a lap to go. But he does now and he's chasing those lights. So Scasso climbing onto Paradise Alley here in this section of the 1500 meters. And he's running in front of his home crowd, no doubt he's got his teammates and friends. Room mates out there in the crowd cheering him on. And coming in trying to stay attached to those lights. Juliano Scasso will come to the line here taking the victory in about 3:44-low. It looks like 3:44.17.

So that was a 60-second flat close for Scasso, who was hanging on for dear life. I'd look at that a little bit differently. I don't know if holding on for dear life is what I would have said. I think that he ran exactly as he needed to. I mean one of the things that you try and do, my thesis as a math major, my senior year of college was to develop a strategy for running the optimal strategy for running your fastest time. And he basically just nailed that. When you’re looking at splits of 59.0, 60.0, 60.0, he pretty much plateaued out there at what his maximum velocity was and rode this thing through the line.

I mean you're you're talking about the goal being to run out of gas with about two strides left so you fall across the finish line. And I think he did pretty much that. You always struck me as a language arts guy, I will. Okay, but glad to know that you got a big brain on you. You, it's just gotten moldy over the last few years. But here we go, next section of the men's 1500 meters. So the penultimate one in this block. And we saw that — the previous one being won in 3:44 by Scasso. And now off and running a big heat here, 16 athletes on the line in another international field with Mexican athletes Fernando Salinas and Israel Tina Har

row in here. Tina Harrow yesterday won the open 800 in 1:49. So he's stepping back into the race. And this one. Ben Garner again is our pacemaker for the what we're calling heat two. And Garner looking at 3:40 pace, that’s what the wave lights are set for. So we got some Wisconsin Badgers in the field here, at least one of them. Scotty boys, two, see them in the field. We also got an Oregon track club singlet represented there. Does your track club still exist? It does. There are, there are Oregon track club athletes out there. Down the back stretch, all these men still in contention here. Adam Swanson in this race, Minnesota distance elite.

Tina Harrow, as we said. Arrow Dose from the Peninsula distance club. Leon Newhart Wisconsin athlete, along with Christian Deval, the other Wisconsin athlete in the field. One thing to take note of as you're watching from home is that as these heats, as we get faster and faster in these heats, you're going to have athletes who really tried to push on Tate to get them on a start line, which is why, as the heats get faster, as the paces ratchet up, you're looking at more and more athletes crowd in the start lines. And it does get more challenging as a racer to find your position because you know where everyone wants to be, right in the shoulder of the pacemaker.

And only one person can do that. And right now that's Adam Swanson of the Minnesota distance elite who has taken this race and controlled it from the gun behind the pacer. I do think he’s beginning to falter just a little bit. And as we saw yesterday, Israel Tina Harrow running that fantastic 800. The only person to go sub-1:50 yesterday is really trying to go after it here. We've got. Arrow Dose challenging him, getting to the front. And also in this field, West Gypsy making his move up. Central Catholic boy now at Wake Forest, and he's wearing the green of the Oregon track club. But Arrow Dose in front, and Israel Tina Harrow.

And this is a fantastic pack behind them because this could be anybody's race right now. As Tina Harrow still at the front wearing the neon and the badgers making a move now in tandem. As we get to one lap to go and 2:43 on the clock. Tina Harrow really going full send here from about 400 meters out. A 59.0 on that lap for Tina Harrow. And it looks like he’s starting to rig a little bit, reaching 1200 in 2:57. But he's got space as the badgers are chasing him. Newhart and Devolve. His stride is very reaching, but I tell you what, he's still covering ground. He’s not losing anything to those pace lights.

But the boys, the badgers from Wisconsin are closing that gap right now. And they smell blood in the water and here they go. So this is Liam Newhart making a move around Tina Harrow and onto the home straight away. Newhart and, on the outside, That's Adam Swanson making a move again for the Minnesota distance elite. But Liam Newhart going away, winning this thing, and he’ll get to the line in 3:40 . That is Newhart, the Badger. 3:40.5 with a 57.2 close. And Swanson of the Minnesota distance elite. That is an enormous personal best right there. He just took almost three full seconds as a freshman.

That's what you get here. That's what will happen at a meet like this. The energy builds and you want to deliver one? I can't say with full surety that this is correct. But sophomore Christian Devolve from Wisconsin has a PR listed at 3:55. And he just ran 3:42.3. I don’t know if I’d put too much stock in that, because he wouldn’t be seeded here. You know what, I'm gonna. I'm gonna. It was a favor and guess what, it paid off. Let's celebrate it. But top three all Midwestern boys there. As Swanson is part of the Minnesota distance elite sandwich between the two bad gers. Newhart and Devolve. Corn fed, we call them.

And guess who's back? Back again. It’s Craig Engels. Pacing this heat. Pacing men. Pacing this next heat. This block of the men's high performance 1500. So we saw 3:40 on that one. And this, and that was exactly what the pace lights were set for. And this one, pace lights are set for 3:38. Now, if you are a Craig Engels fan, like I know all of us are. Please turn your eyes to the screen because while this is the fourth. Nay, yes, fourth time Craig has been on the track today. It does appear as though this is the last time that we'll see him. So. Possibly. We don't know. We don't know for sure.

Who's to say, who's to say, but from the digital paper I have in front of me. This is what I'm seeing. This is what I'm seeing. The eyes are telling me. So I'm going to drink this up for every meter that it's worth. And 3:35 flat, US standard. Something to keep in mind here. Because anybody who cracks that and is unsponsored athlete. have the opportunity for Bandit to send them. And also on the line. Who won the 5000 meter open race yesterday. Jared Clifford, Paralympian, visually impaired athlete. And you posted on Instagram recently or after his race last night. It was his first time racing unguided in a long time.

Miss counted laps. And thought that the last lap was a penultimate lap. He ran 63. But was still able to close in 69 and take that win in the last lap for 14:16. Unbelievable. If that doesn't just get you jacked up and want to run through a brick wall. I don't know what does. Seeing his elation turn to disappointment, turn to surprise, turn to fear of having to run another 400 was absolutely fantastic. And then joy once again as he threw a fist to the crowd winning that race. How do you not? You get to celebrate twice. Everyone should kick a lap early. You can celebrate twice. That's good advice.

We see him lined up here and we'll see what he can do in this 1500 meters. He's an Australian athlete. And we've got a couple of pilots on the line. Mark Milner and Jonas Price. And then an Oregon Duck. Evan Doran Camp in here. Leo Dashbach. A Husky in the field as well. And Caleb Easton. And Corey Gorgas. NAU athletes. Billy Atkinson. Virginia Cavalier. And the Cavaliers have had a good history here with West Porter winning the second fastest heat last year in 3:35. Gary Martin doing extremely well last year in the hot window 1500. Here we go. 3:38 section. Craig egging these other athletes on.

Craig knows he's right on pace. He's trying to bring these guys with him. But we are not. It looks like that’s Brian Mussell sitting right there as the first finisher. Second place currently. But Brian is not willing to be the person who's right on Craig's heels. Craig's trying to do his very best to give these guys an opportunity to run fast. But guess what guys? If you're not going to go with the pace or you're not going to get the job done . Craig continuing to look behind him. Trying to just coax these guys along. Come on boys. Let's go. What are you doing? Why am I out here? If you're not going to come with me.

About 59 seconds through the 400 meters here. And they're all bunched up. So somebody's got to make a move and string it out. And here we go. We have a taker. We have a taker and we're off to the task here. There he is, in that light neon green singlet. Corey Gorgas from NAU. Taking the bait up front. And it helps to run behind a pacer who looks as smooth as Engels, too. Because it helps. I find that it helps you relax out there. Absolutely. And Craig doing a heck of a job looking as relaxed as possible. As Gorgas is behind him and the pack strung out behind them. 58.6. So bringing the pace down slightly as they get to 800 here in 1:58.

Yeah. No one wanted to run the first 400. Of course you're going to run a little bit of a negative split there. Now one of the things I will say technologically wise with the new footwear. I don't want to talk about how fast the times have gotten. One of the things I have noticed as a trend is that the final 400 that these guys are able to put down in these new shoes. And it might be new training tactics or whatever. Is unbelievable. There are things that we never saw back when you and I were running Jeff. And so I have full confidence that there are people on the track right now that are capable.

Craig Bravo to you taking them through a full kilometer. These guys only have but a straight away and a lap to go. And about 2:26 to 2:27 through the — the 1000. Gorgas out at front. And the Nathan Neal behind Gorgas in that second position. So there’s the bell at 2:41. And it's Gorgas from NAU. And Nathan Neal giving chase, a 57.6 as they roll around the bend. The 1200, 300 meters to go, in 2:56. And we'll see who can slingshot themselves with 300 to go. Jonas Price in that third position. Portland Pilot. But it's still Gorgas at the front. And then Nathan Neal. Billy Atkinson looking to make some moves with 200 meters to go.

The Vin Lananna and Trevor Dunbar-trained Virginia athlete. But right now Corey Gorgas still leads this race. And onto his outside shoulder goes Nathan Neal. Outside to the land of high hopes. We'll see what he's got. Gorgas in 100. It's Gorgas and Neal. On to Paradise Alley here. And now Jonas Price swinging wide too. And now everybody's getting involved. It's coming up far on the outside. Closing out the race. And it looks like he'll take the victory. Points to the crowd. Did it for you dad. Happy Father's Day. I'm sorry that was Bobby Pointer and I should have known. He's a pointer. 800 meter athlete.

He ran 1:46 recently. And he comes down here and runs 3:40.6. And gives a high five to his buddy Eric Vila down there. 1500 meter man himself. But yeah Bobby Pointer showing some speed. You know someone that we didn't talk about that entire race and I'm not sure how we didn't recognize this was Abdi Nur. Abdi Nur jumping back after injury. Sure. He's in that race as well. Finishing well. 3:43 for his first race back. First race of 2025. I believe I don't recall seeing him in much indoors this year. This is his opener. Yes. That's a good crack. Good sign. Good sign seeing Abdi Nur coming back. One of US great hopes in 5000 meters.

But US is a tough scene right now. Yeah it turns out. Tough time to be a US 5k guy. Either a great time or a tough time. I don't like to look at that however you want. And here we go. Abdi Nur also one of the most fantastic human beings on the circuit. Always smiling. Always good for a high five and a hug. Love that young man. And as we get a glimpse above the stadium here. We turn our attention to the women's high performance. 1500 meters and we'll have heats three and two before we move on from there. And we're moving our way through the afternoon quickly now. These races are clicking off. Things are ramping up.

And the track is hot right now. You're telling me. It's a perfect day out here. You couldn't ask for better weather. Mount Hood can be seen perfectly crystal clear from our box right now. From my seat. Absolutely. My vantage point a little bit more advantageous towards Mount Hood. Thank you for giving me the seat by the way. Yeah absolutely. Anything for you will. And Bruce Davis giving the women their instructions here on the line for this first high performance. This first high performance section of the 1500 meters. Delaney Griffith or Griffin in the field. Timberline Athletic Club. Megan Lowe.

Erin Owens. And Marisha Thompson. Both from Victoria BC. Emily Bryce is a DNS in this. So out here. And the wave lights are set for 4:22 for this first section. High performance 1500 meters. Got a Portland pilot on the inside there. And that's Teresa Perez. But we saw in the open 800 last night as well. Coming in second. Sarah Van Dyke getting out hot. And Sarah Van Dyke racing last night in the steeple chase. Yes. Victorias in the steeple chase. Heat too I believe. Heat too that's right. Coming back to do some pacing work. Get a workout in afterwards. Heat too but it was the first contested heat.

That's how we do things here. Yeah yeah. I think I'm getting it now. That's the Portland way. Keeping Portland weird. Van Dyke coming through here with Teresa Perez behind her. And Erin Owens. Victoria athlete in the white singlet in third position. And Sarah McGillivray. Another Canadian representing the Vancouver Thunderbirds. And they always bring a big contingent down here to the electric forest. You know we often say coming up here because we're talking about the United States. But a lot of people come down here from Canada too. I hope they don't overstay their visa. Alright back to the track.

Well just so they don't get in trouble I don't know. Yeah we're looking out for them. Erin Owens out front. Canadian athlete from Victoria. And then McGillivray. The other Canadian athlete in the field. In second position too. So right now it's a battle with the Northern athletes. And then the pack strung out behind them. As Sarah Van Dyke doing a great job here. Yeah, Erin Owens really trying to find her way into the slipstream of Van Dy- ke. But I'd say a little bit far back from my liking as to how you can maximize the wind blocking potential of a pacer. But no wind today, as we said, perfect, perfect weather.

But Sarah Van Dyke doing an absolutely incredible job. Went about 70 seconds to the first 400. Bang on 2:20 through 800. And now Owens has got all the work to do. 700 meters remaining but she strides out effortlessly down the back stretch. She’s just tiptoeing — galloping down the back stretch right now. A great 800 for her. 2:21 through 800 meters for Owens. And McGillivray behind her. And Claire Solomon the Australian moving her way up into third position. But right now it's all Erin Owens out front. Unless McGillivray can make her way up to her. And close that gap. McGillivray seemingly was asking the question of how hard do I want to go today

. Do I have enough to press from here through the finish? And I think the answer she came up with was yes. As she's rapidly closing the gap between herself and Erin Owens who leads this race at the moment. Erin Owens out front and McGillivray and getting to the bell here. One lap remaining for Erin Owens and McGillivray. And Joanna Gretchel makes her way into third position. Bat City in Austin. Coming out to Portland. Keep Austin weird. Keep Portland weird. Sister City. And 3:33 at 1200, 300 meters to go. Owens and McGillivray. McGillivray has worked her way up to Erin Owens now and we're going to be

treated to a battle it seems in the final 200 meters. Unless Erin Owens has something in the back pocket it is so much easier to follow than it is to lead. Easier to stalk than it is to charge away from a hunter. But McGillivray then makes a decisive pass with 200 meters to go. A quick burst of speed and she's found herself in the front by about 3 meters. So McGillivray out front now, she was biding her time as Erin Owens was leading for most of the race. And now McGillivray coming down the straight away. The fans lining the track as she runs through the shadows of this grandstand above her. And Sarah McGillivray, the Vancouver Thunderbird, will take the victory at 4:25.

For the first section the high performance 1500. A win for Canada. 4:25.5, 69.9 on the close. Or Sarah McGillivray. Erin Owens holds on for second. 4:26. Do we need to start keeping a tally on Canada versus US wins here? We could. I mean, in the past we’ve tallied team wins as well, so we’d be tallying a lot of victories. Can we get the Talley person on? Let's get the intern doing that. Someone find an unpaid intern for us. McGillivray here storming down the straight away taking that victory looking strong. Shout out to Erin Owens though for really making that race and setting it up for a fast finish.

McGillivray there finishing extremely well and being awarded with a new lifetime personal best. And now down on the track we're looking at heat two of the women's 1500 meters high performance section. And this one is targeting 4:15 on the wave lights. Some familiar names in the field as well. We have Maddie Dixon, who has won races here at the Portland Track Festival previously. And we can see Shannon Gaiden here, Purple Dragon Track Club. Gillian Brown, Oregon State athlete, on the line, coming up from Corvegas. I heard that one before like that. I'm going to steal it and say it's mine. Yeah you can.

No one will remember. MAG on the — on the line as well. I see Emma out there listed on the start list wearing hip 14 but lined up in position one. And here we go, 4:15 is the slated pace for this race. So out on the inside that's Caitlin Larson the Minnesota distance elite. We're in the blacktop and orange shorts. And our pace are out quick early. So Maddie Dixon is sitting in the second position behind Caitlin Larson. And number three on the outside is Olivia Cooper. But that is Eurya Sawada wearing the LSU singlet, Japanese athlete. And pace work being done nicely here as Caitlin Larson is the first athlete

behind the pacer comes through 400 meters in about 66 seconds. And Maddie Dixon behind her and Maddie Dixon has sat on the couch before taking victories. So she definitely aims to do that again. Shannon Gaiden on the outside in the whitetop in that third position moving up on the outside of Maddie Dixon. But they're swinging too wide here. Our Google sheet is to be believed this is Nicole Burley doing the pace work up front. But these athletes are going to bunch behind her even though they are very much well within the prescribed pace of this heat. But the athletes are getting hungry. I have MAG on the outside.

MAG making a move in the blue top, coming up onto the outside shoulder of Shannon G- aiden. And now everybody here trying to get into position with two laps to go. As Maddie Dixon is in the top spot behind the pacer they're right on the white still. Yeah, I'll offer Nicole Burley doing a fantastic job. Always giving kudos when they are earned and deserved by pacemakers because more often than not especially in women's races I don't know why. The pace usually seems to be a little wonky but we don't have those excuses anymore with the wave light technology. And these women are now off to the races as Burley steps off the track

fantastic job. 2:16 through 800 meters, Dixon at the front, then Shannon Gaiden and MAG swinging wide, three wide on the track and moving to the front. And she'll take the lead now. MAG, better known for her chops as a steeplechaser, really looking like she's enjoying the challenge of a fifteen hundred. No barriers in her way. No obstacles in front of MAG as she moves around the turn, the lights to her left side lighting up the forest like a Christmas tree right now. And Gaiden on the outside of MAG, everybody still in contention, Maddie Dixon there. And also Olivia Cooper of Grizzly Endurance the fourth athlete on your screen.

But MAG coming to the line in 3:07 with one lap remaining — that was a 68.1 for MAG. and Gaiden on the outside Maddie Dixon Olivia Cooper the foursome reaching 1200 meters in 3:24, MAG still at the front. Shannon Gaiden has been wanting to go for a little bit it looked like. Gaiden looking at a personal best and season's best of 4:18.83, she is setting herself up right now to smash that absolutely. These four are clear of the rest of the field but there is a little argy-bargy going on right now as another athlete goes onto the shoulder of Gaiden, I think that's Maddie Dixon. On the shoulder is Olivia Cooper, excuse me, so Cooper now to the front, over-

taking Gaiden, and now Cooper to the outside, but not quite, because Gaiden still has some fight. So we'll see if Cooper can hold on here she's in lane two and Olivia Cooper to the front now ahead of the lights. So looking very smooth there and getting a gap on the field Olivia Cooper will take the win, slowing down in about 4:14. Olivia Cooper from the Grizzly Endurance Collective, 4:14.63 for the win with a 66.3 close, and Gaiden 4:15.5, Maddie Dixon 4:15.93. If you have those workouts with Ronnie where you tell you to kick at the end and you ultimately slow down this is a masterclass in how to stay relaxed in

the later stages of a fifteen hundred meters. It does not look like she is pressing at all and yet is pulling away effortlessly from Shannon Gaiden who also runs a fantastic race three second personal best of her name almost a full four second personal best for Olivia Cooper that was phenomenal. Do you think Ron takes some notes? Yes. You think Ronnie ever relaxed in the final stretch of a race? Relax, damn it. Oh man. But yeah amazing work being done by the women out there and super relaxed. Olivia Cooper for that 4:14 victory, so that is the top time of the day so far in the women's fifteen hundred meters as we have another high

performance section of that race coming up shortly and then from there we will have the hot window fifteen hundred meters to cap off the evening but now as we turn our attention down to the track we see the first section of the high performance five thousand meters on the men's side. I'd like to call out one particular athlete who is racing in this heat, Lucas Fl- -orsheim, a former Pomona-Pitzer Sagehen. A Sagehen, multiple-time All-American at Pomona College, at the University of Pom- ona College. Let's go Sagehens. I'm pretty sure they're in the Big Ten now. This is Big Ten country, baby. And Julian Henninger on the line too.

Bowerman Track Club athlete and he is the captain of the Portland team for the 3000 meter championship race, Portland versus Seattle versus San Francisco. I don't think he's racing that I think he's focusing on this. Hey look sometimes the captain doesn't need to race. Captain made way more motivational way more inspirational with maybe a performance that they laid on the track earlier in the day. That's a great point Will so we'll see we'll see a heroic effort from him here. We'll look for that. Former high school standout wearing bib number seventeen, areas reading, a Niwot graduate, high school All-American.

I'll never forget seeing him show up back to campus head to toe. New Balance backpack, warm-up, t-shirts. Guy had it all. And Leo Donlea listed again here at Timberline Athletic Club. He was listed earlier racing in the 1500 meters. Pick your poison. Dom RC there looks like he'll be pacing this thing. He's on the inside, in lane five, wearing a t-shirt. A 2:14 marathoner, recently won the Vancouver Marathon. I think I'm wearing the same shirt as him. That's embarrassing. Who wore a better. We'll put that up to the fans later. Now they're starting in alleys. This is a big field for five thousand

meters here. It's a perfectly sized field for a 5K. We got NAU athletes out there. Coming down you can see Julian Henninger wearing that long-hair Bowerman sing- let. Black and white on the left and right chest. The computers have a lot of work to do to sort out the splits for that first two hundred. But they're going to do a great job anyways. And getting out hot in about 31 seconds for Dom RC, making sure that everybody could string out behind him. So 12 and a half laps on the track. The pace lights set for 14-flat pace for this. So if anybody ends with a 13 in front, that'll be a success. And RC reaches a quarter in about 65 seconds.

Settling into pace. And behind him. The rest of the field. But also in the pink top wearing number nine. He's Caden Swanson in that first position. So 600 meters in. I appreciate that in this heat the athletes are not being too fussed that they 're going out a bit quick. Right they have a great opportunity competitive field. A lot of guys here knocking on the door of 14 minutes. Just follow the rabbit. Just trust that he's going to get you to where you need to be. And even if you got out a bit quick that first 200. They've really settled into the pace nicely here. So there are a couple of ticks on the clock on the old Dom RC, ahead of where

they need to be. But they're building a little bit of a buffer for later in the race. And we don't know where you're watching anywhere in the world right now. But like temperature it looks warm out there. It looks to be actually. Athanas Kioko on the outside. So that man has run well faster than 14 minutes. He has run 27:23 for 10K, we know that, and he is the meet record holder in the 10K. At the Portland Track Festival, running 27:29. A 2:10 marathoner, and he's making his way to the front. Looks a little bit disappointed to have been put in this heat. Does Athanas, but also maybe it's just a great opportunity to get another

workout in. He ran the 10,000 meters last night. Ran 10K last night, and we could probably guess that he wasn't completely over- joyed with that performance. And so today is another opportunity to get better. That race last night won by Chris Maxson, a surprise winner. From the Union Athletics Club, one of Pete's dragons. So Kioko taking this race into his own hands now. And maybe giving a little bit of surprise to all these other athletes in the field. See if he could get on the couch somehow. His first attempt last night. He enjoyed it so much. He's enjoyed it so much on the couch in years past that, you know, just really

looking for another great opportunity. Talk to the fans. Put some butt on some velvet. And RC is moving his way back up to him too. So we don't know if Kioko is pacing or racing at this point. We have no idea. Your humble announcers have no idea. And we're excited to learn. Edge of our seats. Splits are being populated as we speak. And as we round the bend and come up to the start line for this next time we'll see what the 1600 meter split is. As 14-flat is the targeted pace for this 5000 meters. And we'll have two more races of 5000 meters that are faster sections than this in the evening. The top section will be a special one.

But we get to the 1600 meters in about 4:28. So that is attributed to Kioko there. And Dom RC, a 2:14 marathoner, behind him. Sporting Will's t-shirt. Well, let's not attribute the T-shirt to me. This is Tate's T. This is designed by Zach Lidoff. Zach's Z. And he's done a great job on the shirts this year and in years past. So you want to get your hands on one. They're selling them here in the stadium. And they're selling like hotcakes from what I hear. People are telling me. So Kioko up front, Dom RC. Kioko pacing the pacemaker right now. It appears. How generous. Yeah. Very, very courteous of him to do that as we get some movement behind.

And Caden Swanson in the pink slipping back into fourth. As that is Andrew Davies of the Vancouver Thunderbirds. And the white top moving up into the position behind Dom RC. So the 5000 meters tonight in the Hot Window will feature a great field, set up . We've got Drew Hunter jumping in just a night. We'll be in there. Sean McGorty is in the field. Say it ain't so. We're looking at 13-ohs potentially out there. That is the goal. The talent is there. Absolutely. Sam Parsons jumping in. Parsoni? Yes. It's an international race once again. Parsoni. German, Parsoni now, of Tracksmith fame. Yep. But Kioko gapping once again as RC still paces that second pack behind Ki-

-oko. He doesn't have a giant lead yet. Kioko apparently doing a little bit of a fartlek out here. Taking off early as he passed the pacemaker. And then slowing down letting the group pass catch up with him. Which is very kind. Pulling the field along for a couple of laps. But now seems to just pick the pace up again. We know that he's in marathon training right now. Having run 2:10 recently in LA. Good for second place there. And now RC gets double-passed. So Andrew Davies moves up in front of RC as well. Behind Kioko. If they were betting odds on where the pacemaker would be at roughly 3k into

this race. I'm not sure that is what I would have guessed. This is 2600 meters, they'll reach in about 7:16. Six laps to go. And Kioko still driving the train. RC's still out there. And we've got about six men in contention with more trying to work their way up . With the lights set to their left. Target pace is 14-flat and they're right on it. Maybe a tiny bit in front. For the top two athletes at least. Clicking off 66-second laps. And now RC moves up going around Kioko. Keep the pace rolling. At the back of that lead pack is the athlete I mentioned early on. And the broadcast here, the key to this 5000 meters — Florsheim.

And the fans putting their hands together in the stands. It's really recognizing a fellow Division 3 athlete. That's obviously what the fans are excited about. At 8:24 they're about through 3000 meters as RC steps off. His job done for the day. And now leaving Kioko at the front. Followed by Andrew Davies the Canadian. And Edward Mulder, Central Park Track Club athlete. No relation to Tyler Mulder. Currently the Portland Track Festival 800 meter record holder. And we'll see how long that stands as well. We've got a special race coming up this evening. And that 800 meters on the men's side. So one thing I want to talk about Jeff is.

For the last couple of years Division 3 running. Seen a bit of a renaissance in terms of. The talent of athletes that have been. Turned out of the Division 3 process. I don't call it a process. The machine of Division 3. Lucas Florsheim is a product of that. Did his time at Pomona College, graduating in four years. Then a fifth year. And then on to the University of Minnesota. Big 10 powerhouse. Yeah, Big Ten. University of Minnesota. U of M as we in Minnesota call it. Not U of M as they call that. Mitten shaped state. Hold your fire. You know we have an actual mascot. Not a color. That's Goldy, the Golden Gopher.

Alright let's keep the attention back on Lucas. Lucas had a great. I think he had a great experience at University of Minnesota. Truly seeing what it was to train around. A group of unbelievable athletes. Falling off this lead pack of six just a little bit. But again. One of the things I love about Division 3. And still in the love of sport. In the athletes. And a lot of Division 3 runners. Go on to continue to compete and continue to race. Well beyond their collegiate days. And it takes a long time to build too. Certainly for the distance events. So setting that foundation early bodes well for the next.

10 plus years of a career. In running. And still out on the track competing here. It's good to see as we see. Andrew Davies at the front. Setting a gap on the field in front of Kioko. Now if you thought some of those drone shots. Watching Grand Slam Track were good. Let me tell you this is a master class. This is how you operate a drone. And. Please don't steal Ivan from us. Yeah. Ivan's going to love hearing that, for sure. So 67 up here. And that's Andrew Davies at the front. Davies working right now. And he's moving. He senses, senses blood in the water. And he's trying to extend that gap. Back to Athanas Kioko.

Coming up on one kilometer remaining in this race. If he wants a shot at going under 14 minutes. He's going to need about a 2:51. Which would be knocking on the door of the fastest kilometer of the race. But they did go out in about 2:48. So think obviously well within his capabilities. If he keeps running this 67-ish effort. That would do it for him. And he's cruising. He's got the turnover going right now. He's got the high arm carriage. Yeah. Don't look at his face. His face is telling a much different story than the rest of his body. His body is saying that I got a lot of running left in me.

The face is showing the effort clearly. But this is all Andrew Davies. Andrew Davies taking two laps to go there. Inside 800 meters left here. Getting closer with every step for the Canadian Andrew Davies. The Vancouver Thunderbirds. And Davies down the back stretch. Kioko starting to stretch it out behind him. Unsure if this is going to be a little too late. But obviously we know the pedigree of Athanas Kioko. A low 13 minute, low 27 minute man. A very fast marathoner. Maybe his legs have finally woken up if he's deep in marathon training. But Andrew Davies steals about 20 meters on the pursuers at this moment in

time. Very little having changed from the shoulders down. The face reading the effort to us. He's not afraid to show it. That's for sure Andrew Davies looking back. Hoping that he has enough in the tank. Running a little scared at this point. Looking for that log round and maybe a seat on the couch. Given that Craig angles look over the shoulder on the round that bend. And he's got one lap to go here as he hits the bell. He's going to need about a 72 to break 14. I think that's well within his capabilities at this point. But the gap beginning to shrink between himself and Athanas Kioko. Pulling also Ethan Godsey along with him right there.

It does appear by those hip numbers. Kioko stretching it out well down the backstretch. Looking beautiful. But Andrew Davies is putting up a fight of epic proportions. These Aussies are tough as nails. Davies, but don't count out Athanas Kioko down the back straight. Commonwealth. He's Canadian. He's not an Aussie. Excuse me. Running like an Aussie. He's tough. He's tough. But here we go. We're about to see Kioko on the screen. And there he comes into picture. So we know the talent that he has. And now he swings wide around Davies. Nothing against Kioko. But I can't help but root for Davies. Kioko really lifted it up the last 100 meters here.

Davies holding on for dear life. Kioko looking for a spot on the couch. And it looks like that's what he'll get as he comes to the line here. At 13:53 taking the victory. Coming up for second. It looks like that was Ethan Godsey at Northern Arizona. It was sitting there on that train. Kioko was pulling for most of that race. And here comes Julian Henninger down the straightaway too. Bowerman Track Club athlete. He'll cross at about 14:15. So Kioko winning 13:53. Disregard that time at the top of the list there. Godsey from Northern Arizona, 13:55. Then Davies holding on for 13:55. Ollie from the Peninsula Distance Club in the Bay.

13:56 flat. So Kioko closing in a 61.8. Still got the leg speed during marathon training. This is why we love to watch the races. Jeff, you know, we thought there for a second that Andrew Davies was just going to absolutely run away with this race. But then with about 600 meters remaining, I think Athanas Kioko just remembered how good he actually is. I was like, "Yeah, you know what? I do want a log round. I do want to sit on the couch. Let me go get this guy." And he was fartlek-ing early on, like you said. So he had maybe a workout going on. But look at that. Finger pointed to the crowd. And this is still important to him.

Whether it's a training section or not. I thought there was this agent, how he could Flesky. Everybody loves to win here in the electric forest. And a legend. He is the 10,000 meter record holder in this event. Or in this meet. Now we turn our attention down on track for the women's section. High performance 5000 meters, section two. So we'll have this section here. Before we move on. And following that, we will move to the opening ceremonies here at the Portland Track Festival. What Jeff is telling you is that we haven't even gotten started yet. That's right. This is a mere preamble. We're heating up.

We're heating up, baby. This is foreplay, if you will. All right. We're on delay here. Get some people going. Yeah. And this is section two. High performance section here. So we will have the top section. High performance. Women's 5000 meters. After the opening ceremonies. And then later on, we will have the Hot Window section two. Which is slated to be a 14:50 race. We have a pacer coming in on the outside. And this race slated to be 16-flat. So just as the men, 14-flat. We've got a barrier here that we're looking at. Yeah, Athanas Kioko giving an interview down on the couch. David Ribich for the fans in the stands.

As we get this women's 5000 meters started. 16-flat race. So last race was supposed to be 14-flat. They ended up 13:55. Lots of guys walking away happy from that. So we'll see if we can dip into the 15s here. As we work our way further into the high performance sections. Josephine Wellen in this race. Teresa Olshansky, Bat City Track Club. Out of Austin, Texas. Olivia Morgante. Kelly Stroop. Phoenix Run Club. She's got to be freezing right now. Yeah, it's 71 degrees here in Portland. I was having coffee with Jess McLean a little earlier. And she's just saying how unbelievably hot it's gotten at Phoenix already.

Great training for Tokyo. Yeah, Phoenix is a tough spot. For Portland there, that's for sure. For humans. Yes. I think everyone that lives in Phoenix has part lizard. I love Scottsdale for sure. Part lizard. SPF be damned. So that's Josephine Wellen behind the pacer. So we have the pacer wearing the black top orange shorts. And then moving into second here. That's Jasmine Donahue, excuse me. Donahue first position behind the pacer. And then Wellen. And Olshansky. So getting this pace started in the early goings of the 5000 meters. As we'll have two faster heats of this throughout the evening. And we'll start to look at that US standard a bit more.

Are you a sunglasses guy? When you run? No. Never. Never. Nothing between you and the ground that your face will inevitably come in contact with. I don't fall on my face that much when I run. That much? Well, you know, sometimes. Yeah. In Colorado, we get very bright sun. And I feel like one thing that we're seeing at the start of this heat two of the women's 5000. A lot of athletes like shielding their eyes. So the sun is clearly at a bit of an angle here. I like to see the athletes in the field who have chosen to wear protective eyew ear. Because it keeps your face relaxed. It is also difficult in this stadium because we have this beautiful grandstand

here. Beautiful. The shadows. Beautiful onto the track. No. The towering trees. Yeah, towering trees. So you have part of the track covered with shade. And then the other half in the sun. So it can be jarring when you jump out of the sunlight. They need the transition lenses. Yeah. Something to think about when you come run here. Currently, we're sitting right on pace here. 16-flat pace. And you can see the wave lights right to their left. Pacer sitting on the blues. And the athlete in third position sitting on the front of the green lights . So that's where you want to be. To be on 16-flat pace.

They come up to 1200 meters into the race. And that's about 3:50 there. Swinging around the bend. This historic site. Do you know the NCAA regulation on whether or not you can race in your kit? I don't know the rules officially. We have athletes out here racing in their NCAA kit. And some choosing not to. And now we're in the NIL era where some NCAA athletes are also sponsored athletes. So they wear their branded kits. They're supported athletes. Oh, sorry. They're supported athletes. So the times are changing. Not being paid for performance, but being paid for their name, image and likeness. It would be very clear about that.

Nothing in those NIL contracts predicts performance or rewards performance. It's merely for just you being you. You being you. And we hope that everybody's doing that out here on the track. As we get to 1600 meters shortly and the pacer steps to the outside. So getting them going for four laps of this 12 and a half lap race. And we'll get there in about 5:07. That was great pace making. Bang on the entire way. So good job. And now it's only racers left out on the track as Jasmine Donahue is at the front. And then Josephine Wellen, Washington athlete sitting in second position. And Caitlyn Giron, an SMU athlete sitting in third.

Jasmine Donahue's got a very swaggy running form. A little bit like that shoulder lean. It's really nice. Nice smooth. She covers ground well. Rollin' the shoulders looking relaxed out there on the track. As she's leading Josephine Wellen and clicking off 76's here. 76's high. Which is what we saw in that 10,000 meter race last night. A lot of high-76s from Alessia Zarbo. In the latter half of the race before she was overtaken by Abby Nichols who took the victory at 31:52. If you want to get pumped up sometimes, just go back and rewatch that women's 10 K from last night. Because Abby tried to go inside and outside and pass Alessia Zarbo on a number

of different occasions. And Zarbo just continued to fight her off, wanted to be in the front. And that's such a baller way to run. It's so tough. Just holding that pole position, protecting your spot on the rail. Sort of what Donahue's doing right now. Like look, I got a field of women behind me who are enjoying going for a ride. Hitching their trailer to my wagon. And she's just driving this pace right now. Yep, so that is Jasmine Donahue, been out front since the pacer stepped off. She was sitting in that armchair spot behind the pacer for the first four laps of this race. And rolling through another, that was a 77.6.

So pace slipped slightly from the 76's that we were seeing. But nobody wanting to take the lead from her right now. Caitlyn Giron not wanting to lose contact with Jasmine Donahue who is up front, running a very consistent pace. Just Wellen there, starting to slip a little bit. Caitlyn Giron took notice of that and did pass. Wellen about 150 meters ago, so now the roles have shifted ever so slightly. But you can start to see, again, we look at the foreheads and brows of some of these athletes are starting to focus. The pain of the 5k pace is starting to really show itself on the faces of some of these athletes.

Donahue getting some daylight now. Back to Caitlyn Giron. You mentioned Jess McLean earlier, she will be jumping into the Hot Window 5000 meters tonight. So the marathoner jumping onto the track. And a 10,000 meter athlete I should say too because she was fourth last year in the Olympic trials. So you could definitely call her that. She'll be racing against the cellar field. On the women's side Courtney Frerichs will be in that race, Ella Donahue, and many others. Jasmine Donahue leading this race, another 78.6 now. But although she's slowing, she is gaining a bigger lead. Giron 79 on that last lap.

One thing that we saw in that men's race was that the guys sort of very much were beyond what the pace lights were suggesting, in their abilities. Or maybe they just all performed so incredibly well. But the pace light here in these races is really expected to be about what the upper limit of the athletes are capable of. And we've seen that a little bit here as the lights start to drift away from Jasmine Donahue. She's still obviously running incredibly well, incredibly strong. She has not blown up by any stretch of the imagination. But the goals of these athletes, the aspirations of those pace lights may be

being a little bit tall for the task today. And they're a guide for the athletes of the track. So it's fun for us to see as spectators to what the pace is on the track because it gives you an idea of the effort being put out there. Because I'm a big believer in racing as well that the splits help illustrate how the race has unfolded. And each split is attributed to the athlete that makes that move to create that split. So if the pace lags, then that's attributed to the athlete at the front who caused that. And if there's a move from the back to the front and the pace jolts forward, that's because that athlete made that move.

So it's almost musical in a way too, the way that it's tied to time. And the story is tied to that timing. But this is all Jasmine Donahue's music right now as she's leading this thing. Yeah, Jasmine Donahue is sort of having a solo dance party up front there with about seven girls who have decided to get in the 5K club, if you will, behind her. Everyone's just having a bit of a party. But something we've also seen here is a little bit off picture, but there are a group of athletes, two of them in particular, who have sort of methodically moved their way up over the past two laps. We'll get a name and a number on these athletes here just a second.

Anna Fensky, that's someone we have not mentioned yet in this broadcast of this race. Kyla Becker moving her way into second position and she is a local Rose City Track Club athlete. Locally world famous. In the first all-comers meet of the year here in Portland, she won the 3000 meter race. And that was the time trial to make the Portland versus Seattle team, but she volunteered out of her position to race that, to jump into this 5000 here tonight. And potentially get under 16 minutes, she could still do that. But 9:42 at 3000 meters a while back for Jasmine Donahue, but now Kyla Becker and Anna Fensky have moved their way up to Donahue, and will they sit or will

they go? No, I love to see this move from Anna Fensky on the back stretch, you know, they had so much momentum, like just moving past, gliding past all these competitors over the past few laps. Why stop now? Don't put yourself, yes Jasmine Donahue, she's a tall figure, she 's a great wind block out there for you, especially by the looks of Kyla Becker, who sits about 6 inches beneath Jasmine Donahue in height, but these ladies are running so well, they have so much wind in their sails. Don't let that be thwarted by the thought of just chilling behind somebody, and they have not, Anna Fensky, now, who has moved to the front running very well,

obvious eyes set on something far superior to what they were just a couple laps before. In Fensky and Becker, Becker donning the Rose City Track Club kit, and the banner of the Rose City Track Club is hung up on the back fence of this facility , along with nine other clubs representing the Portland community. So no doubt she has fans in the stands cheering her on right now. We said this yesterday, and at least I said this yesterday, I'll say it again today, if your banner is not on the back stretch here, what type of club are you? Do you even care? Ten clubs is quite a bit, that's quite a bit.

But here Fensky and Kyla Becker, working their way down the back stretch, behind them, Theresa Olshansky of the Bat City Track Club, wearing the number six on her kit, and Kelly Stroop, Phoenix Run Club behind her. So Fensky and Becker, and now Becker is moving up onto Fensky's shoulder, and is there a pass being made right now? Trying to keep the pace hot as they've been running 80-second laps for the past three laps. And now Becker making a move. Becker to the front, overtaking Anna Fensky. So two laps remaining. Becker looking full of run here, and maybe the stadium announcer needs to remind her, like last night, that there are two laps remaining, but she's gone

into another gear, really downshifted and moved past Anna Fensky. Potentially not wanting to put this race into question in the last lap, making a move in the second to last lap, maybe having watched Jared Clifford's race last night and thinking, I could do that, I've got something left in the tank, if I kick one early. A lot of what these athletes are showing us is, but wait, there's more. Yep, and that's amazing to see, as we've got 600 meters to go now for Kyla Becker in this race. Kyla Becker's definitely gone to a more exaggerated arm motion here over the last 300 meters, but her face is just relaxed.

She's not showing any effort up on top, but she is absolutely flying entering the homestretch here for the penultimate time. And Kyla Becker at the front and Anna Fensky behind her. The early race was dominated by Jasmine Donahue, but this is Kyla Becker coming up with a lap to go, and as she hits the bell, time on the clock will be 15:02, and we'll see what she could do over this final circuit. And can she protect her spot at the front, as that was a 76.6 for that last lap and an 81 for Fensky? Kyla Becker obviously took the idea that racing is more important than time to heart as she very, very well strategically bided her time until making a very

decisive move with two laps remaining in this race, and she has not looked back once. She is not running scared. She is running with a head full of steam and a heart full of confidence. This is what I'd love to see. And now she is not letting it go that she is very far ahead of the field. She is pouring it all out there on the track. As the sun shines off of the rail, Kyla Becker storms down the straightaway in the shadows of the grandstand. And the local fans let her hear it as you can see them putting their hands together. As she flies down the stretch, this is all Kyla Becker of the Rose City Track

Club wearing that golden rod singlet bursting into the sunshine and crossing the line in 16:16, taking the win here in the high performance section. And Theresa Olshansky coming in second there, 16:21 with the Bat City Track Club, Becker closing in 73, Olshansky closing in 72. To come up for that second place position, Fensky placing third, 16:25, able to summon a 77 for that final lap. And here we can see the replay down the final stretch. As you can see the fans crowding the track on the railing there. It's a good thing we have a barrier because these fans are trying to get close. Impressive win there from Kyla Becker.

I think, again, we're seeing these athletes who have foregone their opportunity to race in these three team events later on this afternoon to be inspirational in their own way. And how do you inspire most? Well, by laying it all on the line. Coming away with a log round. Yep, and finishing up here athletes in the field in the women's 5000 meters. We are putting a ribbon on that race and we are going to turn our attention to the opening ceremonies when we come back. But don't go anywhere. We're here at the Portland Track Festival, Portland, Oregon right here in the electric forest. And we'll see you soon.

Every runner's journey is different. No matter where you start or how far you go, you need gear you can rely on. It can turn a quiet road into your escape where every step clears your mind. On rugged terrain, it keeps you steady, mapping your path, even when the trail fades. It moves with you, fluid, and effortless, sinking with your pace through every stride and every lap. Wherever your run takes you. Running Warehouse has the gear to get you there. You may have noticed Trevor Bassett come out behind right Benjamin all dressed in black, the 26-year-old there he is. He has a legitimate shot of making this team. He's unsponsored.

The unsponsored project is all about supporting athletes to be able to chase their dreams and put them on a pedestal and really, really do something that's right and special for these unsponsored athletes who are trying to make it. There's a ton of conversation about how do you grow the sport, what's good for the sport, and obviously right now. Track is trying to grow. There's no system where athletes are getting paid outside of footwear brands for the most part. 2023 and 2024 was another huge pillar of the initiative to keep it hyper- focused on the athletes, but we're still keeping our release clause within every single one of these

contracts. Yeah, for 2025, I mean for us, it's really just honing in even more on how we can support athletes at a deeper level. Point blank, we'll be able to double the amount of support that we were doing. 647, CJ Allen, and the ever-present Trevor Bassett making yet another team. [Music] Oh, look at this, Will. Look at this amazing view we have here. We are so back. We are, you could see the Columbia River just cutting through the landscape down there. We are on the slopes of the West Hills, high above on the Palatine Hill, and then out that way, you could see Powell Butte, and then the far distance, of course.

Named after Owen Powell. That's right, who we will see later on in the Hot Window 1500 meters, the high school athlete. But yeah, you can see Mount Hood, the 11,300 foot peak. Now, Jeff, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. 2025 edition of the Portland Track Fest has something truly exceptional lined up for us in that we have a team competition here. And it used to be a border clash, a single border clash. And then, you know what, like all great things, California decided to join late . And now we've got California jumping into the fray, so we've got Portland versus Seattle in a tale as old as time.

But now, who's inserting themselves into this, none other than San Francisco. San Francisco, that's right, the 49ers are coming up to compete here right in the electric forest. And we're going to see that. We're going to see that take place. But there we can see the drum line assembling because the opening ceremonies are about to start. And that's what happens before the famous, the world famous Portland versus Seattle. Now versus San Francisco. 3K competition for the Cascadia Axe. And this year we've gotten the axe laser etched with the years of the winners for each of the previous champions.

So as we take a look there, I believe Seattle has won two years and Portland has won the rest for the history of this competition. I actually have conveniently blacked out the years that Seattle wins. Well, there was controversy two years ago when Seattle won, if you remember, because the win was initially given to Portland. Did I stutter Jeff? I did say I blacked out. I don't remember anything. But upon further inspection, when we look back at the tape, one of the Seattle runners was obscured by their teammate in the finishing photo. That's no one's fault but their own teammates. So well, we had to go back and recount and the win was given to Seattle.

So we don't play favorites up in the announcer's booth. Let me just say that. Let me start there. No, we don't. We have to be neutral parties here. I'm neither from Portland nor from Seattle nor am I from the Bay Area. But all that being said, at the Portland Track Festival, such an event, such a glorious event does not exist at the Seattle Track Festival. Or at the San Francisco Track Festival. That's right. They must come here. The battleground. You have to come here to compete. You can see the Seattle team assembling there . And they're getting their cues. So what happens here, this is also a pursuit race.

So there will be 42 athletes on the track at one time. But it will be split in half because the women start before the men. And then 70 seconds after the women start, we have the men start. And the finish is just a frenzy of whoever can get to the line first. And each athlete in this race is scored cross-country style now between three teams. So if you needed to go to the bathroom or go get a new cold drink or refill your popcorn or your chips and salsa or get your candy, do it now. Because once this race starts, you are not going to want to get out of your seat. Unless it's unless we have an obvious champion, it's likely going to take a

while to score this thing too. Yeah, maybe until next year. So there's going to be a lot of like walking around on the track. Like a 100 meter finish afterwards that was close, just like, "Hey, did you win ? Did you win? Did I win? I don't know." And then all of a sudden you see it pop up on the board and you can just eat maybe fisticuffs. No, we hope not. Who knows? We certainly hope not. But with these Californians in the fray, you have no idea. Bitter rivals. Especially Seattle and Portland. Bitter rivalry. And now San Francisco, we know that they're not jumping into the mix because they love everybody.

No, they're like, "Hey, we're from the hate. We're great. We do love everybody. We're just here for a good time." But we're from the hate. But we're from the hate. We're not full of it. It's just where we're from. I think the Portland team has individual drones dropping them off like Amazon packages. So right now, yeah, we could see everybody getting their orders. Portland, a seven-time champion here in the Portland versus Seattle race. Seattle. Seattle has won 2017 and 2022. Portland has won 2015, 2016, '18, '19, '21, '23, and 24. That's fairly dominant. So we'll see if they can keep going. But, I hear something. I hear out in the distance.

Do my ears deceive me? The opening ceremonies are beginning. And here at the top curve, we can see the Unipiper coming around, playing his bagpipes, flames coming out the top. Everybody in the stadium, of course, removing their hats for the Portland anthem being played right now as the opening ceremonies begin. Yeah, standing solemnly. Maybe a few tears in the crowd now because people love this city. Of joy. But there he is. The Unipiper reminds us of a simpler time. The dream of the '90s is still alive in Portland because the Unipiper is very much a '90s, '90s thing. There he is. He has flames blowing out of the top of the bagpipes because it is

hot here in the electric forest. Hotter now. His wheels adorned with roses. One for every bagpipe that he has burned. And this is what it's all about right here. And you know what? Like an agent told me, "Hey, I don't know if one of our athletes is going to run." And I said, "Hey, that's okay. That's why we have the unipiper because it brings fans into the stands." And then when athletes do show up, they're excited to see them race, too. And you know what I'll also say to agents? One athlete does not make a track meet. So we got plenty of other great athletes and entertainment out here. It's about the racing out there and everybody is welcome to jump in here.

But here we go. He's letting the fans hear it. Getting everybody revved up for this team competition that will then lead into the championship high school 1500s, then the top high performance heats, and then we move to the Hot Window after that. So we've had the Star Wars theme. We have had Chariots of Fire. Chariots of Fire out of bagpipes blowing literal flames. I don't know. It doesn't get much better than that. Yeah, well, it's about to. So once the Unipiper is finished. To a boisterous round of applause from all of those getting ready for this team challenge. Fired up. I'm fired up. I feel fired up!

And there's the Portland team and you can see their beautiful singlets brought to you by Bandit, Bandit Running. And here we go. To a hero's welcome. Yep, here comes the drum line welcoming the teams onto the track. Watch out for the rail. And this gets the people fired up. They're just missing Nick Cannon is all. That's right. A little bit more challenging to determine which song the drum line is playing. Versus the Unipiper, but I'm sure this is a banger. Yeah, this is kind of like the America, the beautiful for Portland. Almost the National Anthem. David Ribich doesn't exactly know what to do with his hands, but he's doing a

great job nonetheless. He's intimidated down there. Who isn't? A roar from the crowd. And here comes the Portland team. Down the home straightaway. In front of the drums. And then following them, here comes Seattle. 14 athletes per team. And then following them, here comes San Francisco. Down the straightaway, making their way to the 3000 meter start line on the opposite side of the track. This is what it's all about here. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Honestly challenging to tell if any of those drummers enjoyed doing that. Completely emotionless, purely emotionless. I want to play poker with that drum line.

I think everybody's intimidated right now, especially Seattle and San Francisco . Portland is definitely fired up. You don't mess with Portland in Portland. And that goes out to everybody out there. You heard it here first. We're going to get a good look here at the starting line. And the women are assembling on the line first because they're going to be the first ones to start. And this is a pursuit competition. But now we can officially say after the opening ceremonies, the Portland Track Festival, high performance, top heats, as well as the Hot Window, are open. So everybody is getting into stands.

And you can see San Francisco there. I can't see them. San Francisco is the white sash. Nope, still don't see them. Alright. Seattle is the white singlet. Oh, yes, Seattle, clearly. And then we have the beautiful Bandit singlets, too, for the Portland team, designed by Julian Henninger there. Yeah, as the Portland team has been introduced, a round of applause from the stands because... There they are. Because Portland is representing them on the track. And this is what we want to gain, too, here in Portland. And what we'll see later on is Sinclair Johnson jumps into the Hot Window 1500. She lives and trains in Portland.

So we've got the city behind her. And that kind of belonging to the sport and the athletes who are representing the places that they compete for. That develops fan bases. That's something that we're about here in Portland. Absolutely. Why would you not want to race in front of your fans? Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Give the people what. The Portlanders want to watch Portlanders run. Pretty simple. So we have teams assembled here. Lauren Ross on the line, member of the Portland Track Board. And Carrie Dimoff out there, too, racing for Portland. Melissa Barrett for the Jacuzzi Boys.

And this is where a lot of the Portland clubs that you'll see on the banners on the back stretch. All year long, they race against each other and scored competitions in the Red Lizard cross-country series. The all-comers meets. But here, this is the one time of the year that everybody eschews their team singlet and puts on the Portland colors to represent Portland together. Sometimes it's more powerful to run as a collective than as an individual. See that team sports all the time. Amazing, we just saw that at the NCAA, where you saw some truly unbelievable performances because why? It's not about individual glory.

It's about scoring points for the team. That's right. And that's what this event's all about. And we know that Seattle, the same. San Francisco, the same. They're members of different clubs. Quite a few of these athletes we saw on races yesterday. So, you know, hopefully their legs have tucked them in some NormaTec boots or elevated them in the hotel room. Got some of that lactate out of there. Or not. Yeah, and this is about to get interesting here. As the women are going first and they're out, women are off and competing. We've got the drum line started up once again. And you can see Carrie Dimoff on the outside in the alley coming through first.

And she's going to jump out to an early lead here. Remember the Bowerman Track Club today running for Portland and Portland alone. Olympic trial qualifier Carrie Dimoff. World Championships Marathon. World Championship Marathon competitor. In Doha. And what must have been one of the most miserable marathons in history? Yeah, absolutely. Because it was hot. Now that was hot. If we thought this track was hot. That's an understatement. That was en fuego, as they might say. So here we see the women getting out. And they have reached the top of the straight. And the men are going to go at 70 seconds.

So we've got 60 seconds on the clock right now. This is going to be troubling. It's going to be a tight one. But they'll start on the outside. Nothing these athletes aren't prepared for. I'm sorry, they're going to start 80 seconds after. They're going to start 80 seconds after. Two, one, bang. Oh, oh no! Oh no! Don't call them back! No, you can't call them back here. That's the one time where that's okay here at the Portland Track Festival. Look, when you make the rules, you can break them. I don't know if that's ever happened before. And I don't know what would happen in a false start for this type of event.

But here we could see the men overtaking the women. The women lap ahead of the men still. This is pure madness, Jeff. It is crazy out there. As everybody's trying to file into position. And so now at the front, we have a split screen for you. The women's pack on the left side and the men's pack on the right side. And it's tough to follow along here. Carrie Dimoff still in front leading the way. Oh, nope, there's been a lead change. Two Seattle athletes have jumped out to the lead in front of Carrie. And then we have San Francisco behind Carrie. Maddie Myers, Portland, coming up on Carrie's outside.

We've got two Seattle, two Portland, and then our first San Francisco runner, excuse me. And on the men's side, we have two Portland athletes it looks like once we can get a clear shot. But they're coming down the straightaway right now. That's Cole Hoff and Alex Slenning out in front for Portland. And then two San Francisco athletes and then a Portland athlete. So right now it's a mix up here. So where things seem to be a little bit more equal on the women's side in terms of where the athletes are currently running right now. Portland and San Francisco on the men's side way out front. On the women's front, the women have come by here.

This is now them entering into two kilometers to go, I believe. 3:14 on the clock for them. So running just about 9:45 3K pace. We've got two Seattle runners followed by a San Francisco, followed by a couple of Portland athletes. That's tightly bunched. This men's race though is pretty strong out. Slenning's taken the front here over Cole Hoff. But it's still Slenning and Cole Hoff of Portland and then two San Francisco athletes. So tough to tell on the men's side. Who's out there? That might be Arrow Dose, who we saw race earlier today. And Dominic Robles for San Francisco. And you can see Seattle tucked in there as well.

So that top four on the men's side. And now we have two Seattle athletes and that front pack for the women. So this is an even competition here, two San Francisco athletes on the women's side. Maddie Myers hanging tough in that front pack for Portland. And then Carrie Dimoff. And as a reminder, this is not, time is basically irrelevant in this. The only things that are important is where you finish. Now right now the women are about 250 odd, 260 maybe meters in front of the guys race. But the men are running at an incredible clip right now at the front end. Yeah and we can get you a split of that just to tell you how fast they're going

. 64.8 I saw on the last. Yeah, so 64-highs for the men. And then you can see the women splits up on the screen. They're running about 76-77s. So Slenning now on the men's side he's got a gap back to his teammate Cole Hoff . And then Arrow Dose and Robles for San Francisco. And then a gap back to the Seattle athlete in fifth. And we've got two Portland athletes and another Seattle back there too on the men's side. So we'll see when this men's pack can catch the women's pack if that's even possible this year. Seattle definitely has a cluster of guys in the five to nine placings. More representation there than any of the other cities.

However up front right now it's all Portland. On the men's side on the women's side is a different story as we have one Portland athlete in that front pack of five. Two San Francisco and two Seattle. And then a gap back and we have another San Francisco athlete another Portland athlete as Carrie Dimoff is still back there. So swinging around trying to capture these men out here Alex Slenning. And he's putting forth a heroic effort trying to catch these women out front. Who are coming up on 2k I believe as they reach the 200 meter mark here. And we have the Club Northwest coach on the outside there at the 2K mark

cheering on the Seattle athletes. They want this to be their year because they have taken this win only twice in the nine year history of this specific competition. This is the brainchild of founder Craig Rice. Our current results are not populated with Slenning with any registered time but our eyes are not playing tricks on us. He has started to lap the first of the female athletes participating in this event. He's starting to catch the women in front of him and really opening his stride here because there is not that much running left. There is 800 meters remaining for this lead group of women as Alex Slenning has

about 850 meters to go. So he's about 50 meters back for those of you who weren't able to put that together with what Will just said. I was not clear Jeff I was not clear at all. They're Slenning continuing to lap female athletes. No he's not lapping he's catching he's catching. Sorry he's not lapping them he's catching them exactly. So on the left side of your screen here you see Seattle really making a bid here trying to make a move but we have San Francisco still hanging tough. The two athletes there and then Maddie Myers trying to hang on there. That's Zoe Baker in the back, actually, of that — of that five.

Of Silver Creek High School fame, Zoe Baker, and the Colorado School of Mines Division II standout representing San Francisco right now. So we're not celebrating that we're not celebrating where she's from. So she's fallen off the the front pack and now we have two Seattle athletes San Francisco and Maddie Myers in the front. And now Maddie Myers for Portland taking the lead. And here comes Slenning. And Maddie Myers has one lap to go. And Portland 1-2 here would be fantastic for the team scoring. Slenning with 40 meters to go about now 10 or 15 meters back from Maddie. Slenning is hunting her down right now.

He has worked his way into second place and he's chasing Maddie Myers who has gained a gap. So it's Portland going 1-2 right now as Slenning is chasing his teammate Maddie Myers. Maddie Myers actually moving almost as quickly as Slenning is. She moves into the lead right now. She's trying to stay in touch as Slenning has under 200 meters to go. And Maddie Myers so Portland two athletes having a gap on the field. But then we got two Seattle athletes and San Francisco and a big move being made by a San Francisco athlete here. I believe that might be Arrow Dose coming around the curve. Portland 1-2 Seattle 3-4 San Francisco 5-6 Seattle in 7 San Francisco in 8-9

Portland coming up big with 10-11-12. And here comes Slenning crosses here. And then Maddie Myers — 9:32 for Maddie Myers, in about 8:12. And let's get an eye on the finish line there. And it is just a slew of runners and we don't know what's going on currently. We got Seattle coming through. How many athletes score? I believe it's top seven of each team. Top seven of each team. Oh gosh, that's going to get challenging. So we'll see how it goes. We see Myers popping up on the screen. But we know that Alex Slenning crossed first. So it's Mayhem here. There are athletes writhing on the ground in discomfort.

Melissa Barrett comes across for Portland. Seattle athlete Lauren Ross for Portland. And another Seattle athlete comes across. But I believe scoring is being tabulated currently. So we'll get you the information as soon as we have it handy. That's just old-fashioned fun. That's what it's all about. And then, of course, we will get the winning team on the couch here for an interview with David Ribich. All of them. On the live stream. Yes, everybody will be down there in the ceremonial gifting of the Cascadia Axe . And it's like everyone who gets to, you know, go and put their hand on the Vince Lombardi or whatever.

It's like everyone gets a chance to put their butt on that couch. Yeah, yeah, and hoist the axe as well. Double-headed axe that's engraved with the winners. So clock's still going, but results are being tabulated here. And we don't want to make a mistake again, like we did in 2022. We will not be making early announcements. No proclamations of victory until we are certain. But how about that? How about Alex Slenning running 8:12 for 3000? Maddie Myers running 9:32. It appears as though adjusted time 8:08 for Alex Slenning. 8:08, okay. Maddie Myers, 9:32. Annika Zeisler, 9:36. Grace Fagan. You know what I just love to see is that the women ran so hard that only one

guy really caught up to them. Yeah, and here we have the drums coming back, signaling the end of the race. Coming back down straight away. Still unsure if they're having a fun time or not. They're meant to be intimidating. These are the drums of Warwell, clearly. So results being tabulated here. Amazing efforts here. I mean, we see a lot of great efforts on the track here. But knowing what's at stake here in this competition that everybody's racing in a team competition for their city. It brings out something special in athletes laying it on the line. And for Alex Slenning being able to, being able to run like that in front of his

home crowd as well as Maddie Myers. And the two of them going 1-2. Alex Slenning pointing at the crowd. Just showing so much love to the fans in the stands. Yeah. So we'll reopen our press box window now that the drums are departing. Get some air in here. Here comes Craig Rice. He's probably got the information for Ribich here. He's got the Cascadia axe there. That's going to be handed to the winning team. I wouldn't second guess someone who's carrying an axe. Nope. If it goes on the table. The gauntlet has been laid down. So now we wait. Everybody wants a piece of that. I'll add Donald Tiger.

And this is no slight. Was a final finishing competitor in that event. It's about 9-flat for 3K. That's just the level of athlete that was competing out here today. Yeah. Four San Francisco there. With 72's. It's 4:48 pace for two miles, almost. It's unbelievable. And we don't know, well, it looks like right now against the media backdrop. That's the San Francisco team. Does the media or whether they're just awaiting the announcement? You know, preemptive interviews. You can put them in the can. If it ends up being the winner, you can put it out on social. If it doesn't, you know, you can just bury it.

It's probably someone who's their first ever, the inaugural San Francisco team. Asking about the experience. How unbelievable it was to race in front of a crowd like this. They're having their pictures taken up there. We'll see. We'll see what that means. But we'll definitely be hit with the results very soon. So, yeah. There's the Seattle team. And Ribich is telling the crowd that very soon we'll have the results. So he's got no new information as well. But following that race, we've got the elite high school girls championship 1500. Brought to you by Wildwood Running. Wildwood Running doing a lot of great things in the city.

Bringing information to girls and women. Helping them stay in the sport and compete in running. Participate in running. Whatever they choose to do. Giving them the information and the support that they need in order to make that happen. And the togetherness because that's a big part of it. Community is a huge part of getting out there and being part of this sport. Huge. So waiting on scoring here. All the teams are huddled together down there on the field. I'm not sure where the Portland team is though. I don't see them. That's San Francisco walking across the infield. There are some Portland athletes back by the goal post and it looks like San

Francisco is walking towards the couch. Full of smiles. My goodness. It looks like all the teams are on their way out there. Okay. The good thing about being a three team race is everyone is on the podium. That's right. Getting fist bumps from 3:35 man David Ribich. Silver medalist in the 2021 Portland Track Festival 5000 meters. Do you get a log round for a silver medal here? You don't. Oh, bummer. But you get the admiration of all of your competitors and peers and so forth. And the infamy of being mentioned as a Silver Medalist at the Portland Track Festival forever. So long as you choose to stay involved.

We're getting a note that they're counting right now confirming with the timing team on who the champion is. We see Melissa Barrett on the screen. We see a baby on the screen too. Well, hey, Happy Father's Day. Yeah, Happy Father's Day to everybody. Thank you very much. Yeah, I got to spend some time with my daughter this morning before I made my way to the track. Got a nice little card. But yeah, great place to spend Father's Day here with you in the booth, Will. No, no place I'd rather be. And Craig Rice here. San Francisco gathered on the left, left of screen. Alone, Portland athlete standing behind the couch looking to pounce.

Seattle still past the finish line right now. To me, it seems like Seattle knows they lost. But this could be a tactic. Yeah, we'll see. Heroic efforts by Alex Slenning and Maddie Myers out there, the two Portland athletes who went 1-2. Maddie Myers jumped out to that lead and didn't look back. And Alex Slenning too. Here comes Seattle. And here we have the information now. We know the scores. The scores have been received. The athletes are waving to their fans in the stands. Everyone is a winner. Let's just start with that. One for the history books here. Oh boy. Seattle taking place in the middle.

I don't know what that says. Might say a lot, might say nothing at all. So this is an all-timer in the forest right now. Jeff choosing to have information and hold it from the rest of us. We're sitting waiting on bated breath. So we'll see because... We don't want to give any information out there before the in stadium fans get it. Until they know we won't know. Yep. And David Ribich there. And he's letting the crowd know that Seattle are the champions this year. So here we go. So Portland. Oh, to the chagrin of the fans in the stands. Portland placing third this year. So this is a big shocker to everybody involved.

Even to those of us who just watched that race, that's a shock. Yeah with the two lowest sticks. Going to Maddie Myers and Alex Slenning. San Francisco places second and their inaugural race here. And this year's champion for the third time in the history of this competition. Seattle will take the Cascadia axe back up I-5 to the Emerald City. So just like the devastation that we saw take place in 2022, we see Seattle taking their seat on the couch here. I'm flabbergasted. I really, words are escaping me. Namely because when you have the two low sticks, I didn't see Portland finishing third. I guess if we're going seven deep, there were so many athletes pouring across

the finish line. It was hard to keep track but hats off to Seattle. Yeah well done today. Yep good work Seattle. It's been a long time coming. I know that they've been putting together a lot of training for this day. We've been hearing it from north, north of the city for a long time. You know one thing that I will offer here and I'm not making excuses. We saw a lot of the best Portland athletes, captains, people who had run time trials to qualify and giving up those positions to compete in some other open events here this afternoon. So again not making excuses. And you know what? That doesn't change that result but maybe they'll rethink their decision next

year I would think. The reason for me bringing it up is I hope they do. I hope they do. We don't need any more what ifs in this sport. Okay, so that is it. Seattle takes the Cascadia Axe this year and they're talking all their smack to the crowd right now. Yeah it says. But we're turning our attention to the Wildwood Running girls 1500 meter championship high school girls. And this is a lot of great athletes from around the region not just the city itself. So Sunset High School represented here, Lincoln High School, Sherwood High School, Redmond, Washington, Bozeman — Bozeman, Montana. Bowerman Track Club represented on the line.

Ruby Emails, who won the 2000 meter steeplechase yesterday, is coming back to compete in the 1500 here. She had recovered from the steeple before it even ended. The joys of being under 20 years old. Here we go. Athletes getting their instruction so Sophia Rodriguez in this Ruby emails as we said. Aylo Curtis, Quinn Hanley representing the Bowerman Track Club, Hannah Hiler, Pacer Project. Alyssa Schaeffer Naomi Cesar. Is it Sunset High School, the Apollos? Rory O'Brien Hannah Ward at least Henriksen. Evelie Booger of Sherwood saw her sister race earlier today Abby Spires Tyler Thomas. Kylie Neil and Eden and Spatch.

Put two and two together she's wearing a six spikes. Better believe it. Yep. And Cesar a six sports marketing shout out. And Sophia Rodriguez out there on the outside ran in the Hot Window steeple chase last night. So all these athletes being introduced to the crowd in stadium and they're stepping to the line and they're off and running. In the Wildwood Running high school girls 1500 meter race. 4:25 is the pace set for the wave lights but there will not be a pacer in this race. This is pure championship running here. And a big pack as they're on the lights currently after 100 meters out. You know this is actually one of the most incredible things I've seen in a

while. Usually we don't we're not given the gift of tactical girls and women's racing. Women's races are more often than not. Affairs where the ladies just go out and just hammer the pace but these girls are letting those pace lights go is they're walking around the track for the first 200 meters here until somebody feels that you know I'll let me just grab this lead real quick and start to ratchet the pace down but very content to let this go slow fun to watch. We'll see who decides to make a move Hannah Hiler is on the inside in the lead. And then Ruby Emails, who competed in that 2K steeplechase yesterday.

So Sophia Rodriguez on the outside behind them in that black and white top. And Naomi Cesar on the inside. They're coming around about 78 to 79 seconds for that first 400 meter circuit. So yes this is a tactical pace because it is very much in these girls wheel house to run much faster than this but this is a championship tactical affair. It's all about the W today. You got to feel the symbol of some of the best girls in the entire city. The entire state of Oregon and the region coming from Montana coming from Washington. Not to discredit those other lovely states. So still Hannah Hiler out front and Ruby emails.

And on the inside there. On the outside — or the inside — that's Aylo Curtis, sorry, in third position, and Sophia Rodriguez on the outside in fourth. So coming around once again they're bringing the pace down ever so slightly, 75 seconds from the early 78 to 79 pace. And we'll see what they reach. 800 in about 2:33. So Emails on the outside and Hiler. And coming up far on the outside, that's Alyssa Schaeffer, Sunset Apollo, swinging into that second position on the outside of Hiler. It's a clear shift in pace here Jeff. Strategy now is a long drive for home. And that's all due to Alyssa Schaeffer who's jumped into the lead.

So this injection of speed is all her doing. She's going to stretch this field out and see who goes with her. Sophia Rodriguez on her outside Hiler on her inside and Ruby emails still in the pack. And now coming up with a lap to go. It's Schaeffer as they hear the bell. Schaeffer and Rodriguez. And that was a 70. So bringing the pace way down way down. Turned up the heat folks because we have got a sprint finish on our hands. And here goes Rodriguez, 3:42 on the clock, and she is in full sprint right now. Full stride. Full gas as they say in cycling. There she goes, no brakes. And there goes Sophia Rodriguez.

Aylo Curtis now slides into second. As Schaeffer holds her footing in third position but Sophia Rodriguez trying to hold on to this first spot after she competed in the hot window steeple chase last night. And Rodriguez Curtis. Who's it going to be? Curtis coming on with a full head of steam down the straightaway. Aylo Curtis here. Sprinting to the line. And this is still a great time on the clock. 4:30 for 1500 meters going out the way they did. It's sprinting into the line here. That was so fun to watch. Watching Sophia Rodriguez, I mean that was a decisive move. A big move from her on the back stretch.

And the only person I could cover was Aylo Curtis. Sophia Rodriguez trying to run the sprint out of Aylo but just could not quite do it. Aylo looking fantastic over the final 70 meters. When she went to the front there was no looking back. She knew she had all the explosiveness in those legs. Driving the knees. Enough to really sort of relax it in. Point to the crowd. Show her admiration. And here's the pass on the screen right now for Curtis. Just chin down, grit in her teeth, pumping the arms and getting to the line. 4:30.91. Sophia Rodriguez, 4:32.12. Closed in 65.6. Getting a tongue wag out there.

Throwing the fingers out. Put those number ones in the air. And Portland cooling down on the infield. Talking about how they're going to pull their team together for next year. No, they're saying in about six years we got to recruit these girls to be on our team. Exactly, yeah. So Aylo Curtis probably rocking about a 64 on that last lap. Big move down the home straight away. She'll take the Wildwood running championship this year for the 1500. 4:30.91. That was just exceptionally fun. That was fantastic to see. Like you said, you rarely get to see that kind of championship style racing. And it's all due to, hey, everybody out there wondering who's got the cards,

when they're going to make their move, who's got the firepower to make something happen. And then when you're playing that kind of game where the mind's involved as well. Knowing how Curtis finished, she's got to be on top of the world right now. Because not only did she win a race to be the fastest, she won a chess match as well. Absolutely. Just sat back, biding her time, just waiting patiently, covering moves. We say this all the time, it's probably annoying to our listeners and watchers at home. But it's not who makes the first move, it's who makes the last. And that was a decisive final move by Aylo Curtis.

As she waited, got herself into the right position to make her move. And then when the timing was right, she struck. Yeah, that was awesome. And she's getting an interview on the couch right now. David Ribich, as we're looking at the guys stepping to the line here. In the Stumptown Running boys' 1500 meter high school championship race. And they're coming from all over the place as well. Bozeman athlete in here, Taylor Neal. Will emails in this race? Bjorn Blankenship, Jason Rodriguez. No relationship to Ben. But it's a great name for a 1500 runner. Sure is. Chris Desai, Malekai Schroner, Ty Sereno, Mason Morakal here, Cameron Frank,

Ronan Gantzos, Gustav Blank on the line. Sue K. Shibata, Jeff Levitt, Elliot Hickey in here. So it's a big field. About 18 guys out there. Paul Haredkano. And there we go. Wasted no time. Oh, getting a little lancey. A little excited out there. Lancy in the Patsy. We'll see who steps out here, whether it's going to be a tactical affair or judging by that. I don't think they've got slow in mind. Nope. But the pace lights, again — there are no pacers in this race. Pace lights set to 3:50, which is a sub-4:10 full mile. We've got Chris Desai moving to the front. I believe. Chris ran a fantastic 800 yesterday.

He ran a great 800. I think he was 1:53 if I'm not mistaken. So we know he's got leg speed and he's going to the front right away. And the wave light is set for 3:50 pace here for 1500. My old coach, Frank Giggly, I used to say strength plus speed equals success. So what do you got, kid? You can't argue with that. The logic is infallible. Chris Desai leading everybody through here setting a great pace and not wanting this to be a tactical affair. Yeah, clearly saw that girls race and said, "Nah, I'm good. Let's just keep this honest." And he hits the cone about 61 through 400 meters for Chris Desai.

Matthew Lawrence behind him, then Mason Markow of the Cinder Track Club, Bjorn Blankenship, and the whole pack rolling in. But Desai has got a little gap formed here. And I can't imagine that'll stick around for too long. As Mason Markow is sitting in that second position trying to make his way up to Desai. Desai looking very smooth right now. He looks smooth at his 1:53 800 pace, but a little look back at the field behind him. And they're there. When you're an 800 meter guy, you're probably not expecting to have daylight between you and the rest of the field. Yeah, Markow moving his way up. So now there's a gap.

As he moves his way up to Desai, there's a gap between himself and Will Emails. As that was a 63-second lap and they come through 800 meters in about 2:05. And it looks like Markow is not going to stop. He's going to keep moving. The pace has obviously begun to slip a little bit. Desai getting out in about 60, 61 seconds. The second lap, 63, 64. So enabling the rest of the field here to catch up. See what they have over the closing stages. 600 meters remaining in this boys 1500. That's Mason Markow up front. Markow at the front. And then behind him Desai is still there. And Shibata has moved his way on the outside too.

As well as Jeff Levitt. And now we hear the bell as they come through in about 2:52, 2:53. And they're getting on their horses right now with Markow really starting to sprint. And it looks like this is going to be a blazing fast last lap. So Markow and then that's Jeff Levitt on the outside as they come through 3:10 through 1200 meters. Markow, Levitt, and Ronan Gantzos in third position. And Desai not out of it yet. He's still in fourth. So inside 200 meters to go, 3:25 on the clock. And here comes Jeff Levitt sprinting around Markow. He's got the front. And can he hold on? Can he take this Stumptown Running boys championship race?

This is Levitt, Markow. Look at that. Look at Markow come up on the outside. He wants this. He was leading. And Don't count out Desai. Desai with a blistering finish over the final meters. Is he going to get it? Oh! Who took that? It looked like it probably was Desai. We'll see. It ended up being pushed Desai coming out of nowhere. It was 3:53.93, closing in 59.4. So the Stumptown Running championship goes to Chris Desai. 3:53.9 after leading early, out in 61. Never a doubt from Desai. Got it by the skin of his teeth. 2/100ths of a second as he took it from Mason Markow. And look how far back he is on the straightaway here.

And Markow thought he had it as he got by Levitt. And then Desai turning on the Jets. Just the afterburners. A blanket finish here in the championship 1500 meters. Oh! Great shot there. Almost takes an elbow to the back of the head. Beautiful. Amazing work there. What a race. And from there we turn our attention to the top heats of the high performance sections. So this is the top heat of the high performance women's 800. We will then have the very top heat in the Hot Window. So the bronze-level competitions will start in the Hot Window. But this is the second to fastest heat that we will see on the

line now. How good are the races tonight? We have got Raven Rogers. Raven Rogers is in this second heat. That's right. NCAA champion Alia Miller. Just insane. The Olympic medalist Raven Rogers coming back to race in the electric forest. She is a previous 800 meter champion here in the Hot Window section. A 1:56 athlete. That's her best. Alia Miller, like you said. And the pace for this top section of the 800 meters. 2:01. That will be what the wave lights are. The first lap scheduled to go out at a very, very quick 58.5, following up with a 62.5 second lap. Add those two together you get 2:01, waiting for our pacesetter

Gillian Brown to get to the front here in the first high performance section. Alia Miller, the first of the finishers with Raven Rogers on her heels, well ahead of these pace lights. That looked like about a 28 through the first 200. So Alia Miller means business too, getting out in that armchair position right behind the pacer. And she wants to put one out here. Alia Miller leading Raven Rogers, the Olympic and World Championship medalist. Mallory Lindeman in there too. And a conner. And here as the pacer steps off, this is a fast first lap coming through in 58 seconds for Alia Miller with Raven Rogers hot

on her heels. 58.6 for Miller. So Miller brings it too flat. Best to this race. Great to see Alia attacking this third 200 continuing to put the gas down. Not accepting the fact that she's got an entire field of women, including Olympic medalist chasing her down. Raven Rogers starting to make up that ground just a little bit. Going in the final 200, this appears to be a two horse race with Miller and Rogers running 1-2 right now. 1:29 on the clock. And what do we know about Raven Rogers? She can close just as well as anybody in the world. And here she makes a pass around Alia Miller. And it's all Raven Rogers now.

What can Raven Rogers do on this final stretch? 2:00.5 is the U.S. standard. 1:59 .5 is the world standard. Raven Rogers, ladies and gentlemen, racing in front of the crowd in Portland. And she'll come to the line here in 2-flat. And she'll take the win here for that top high performance section of the 800 meters, 2:00.45. And Avery Pearson comes up for second, 2:03.18. Miller holds on, 2:03.24, after that heroic effort through the first lap. And there we get a look. Raven Rogers looking so strong down the home stretch. And that is the Raven Rogers we know. 2:00.4. Earlier this year she ran 2:05 at Mt. SAC.

But this is far better than that. Obviously training has been going well for Raven Rogers. Looking to get a little bit of positive momentum here as they get into the meat and potatoes of the track and field season. A great win from her basically even splitting that 2-flat. That's an impressive way to run. Super impressive. And later this evening we will see the Hot Window 800 meters featuring Jess Hull. Sammy Watson in the race as well. Now returning our attention to the men's top section of the high performance. 800 meters. And this, a lot of great athletes on the line. 1:46 men, mostly 1:46-1:47.

We got two badgers in the field once again. Patrick Hilby, Andrew Casey. We rode the elevator with both of those young men earlier today. They're excited to be out here. Race to the NCAA championship. Down in Eugene on Wednesday of last week did not advance to the final. Taking advantage as I was talking about earlier of. They're being a world-class track meet just up the road. So they're coming back with a chip on their shoulder there. Patrick Tuhey in this race, NC State as well. And they're off calling Dilla here. And the wave light for this race is set for 1:46. So wanting to come through the 400 meters in 51 seconds.

And the time to think about, for a lot of the Americans in this field, 1:45.6 to make it to U.S. championships and maybe sign one of those Bandit contracts. Pay your way to the championships. So under 25 seconds to start this, it looks like. And they're out very fast and everybody is in contention at this moment. So it looks like. Look how bunched that pack is right there. The rabbit is laughing because he can't even keep pace. These guys want to go too fast, too furious. And they're coming in right on pace. About 51-mid. And looking very smooth doing it. 51.69 for Hassan Abidi. Hassan Abidi from Tunisia.

51.6. Patrick Hilby in second. Then Andrew Casey, the Badgers. Badgers hot on Abidi's heels. They love competing in Big Ten Country, don't the Badgers? This is Big Ten Country ladies and gentlemen. Hilby and Casey. But Abidi. He needs to be looking for the inside pass again. Abidi holding him off, 1:18. 1:18, can he hold the Badger out on the outside? No, he can't. It looks like, as that's Andrew Casey attempting to go around. So Abidi still protecting the inside lane. Andrew Casey, Abidi looks very strong. Let's see if he can hold on to this victory here. Abidi reasserting himself. With a big run from the inside.

Oh no! Oh man down. Weaving through traffic. 1:46.01 on the clock. Patrick Tuhey. I really hope that doesn't result in a disqualification because that was some creative maneuvering, if we call it that. Trying to find space was Tuhey in the final 50 meters. Putting himself in big trouble. That was a Cole Hocker-esque move weaving through traffic. Just a little bit dangerous there. As Casey got the wrong end of the stick there. As we can see this replay here on the screen. And here comes Tuhey on the inside. Oh my goodness. Oh that's a hard fall going down. Especially competing for the win and no doubt.

About to get a great time there. 1:46.01 taking the victory there for Tuhey, and Abidi I mean right on his heels. PR for Tuhey. PR for Abidi. PR for Colin Dilla. PR for Patrick Hilby. The freshman runs 1:46.83. PR for Dan Howells. Top five in that race all coming with personal best. And you know what got in there? Competition. So yeah, 1:46.01, and everybody was in contention down that home stretch. And we'll see later on this evening in the Hot Window 800 meters. Running Warehouse section. Donovan Brazier continues his comeback. He was number one here in 2021 in the electric forest. 1:45.09. Defeating Jesus Tonatiuh Lopez, a 1:43 man.

And Tonatiuh Lopez is back for the fight as well. So that'll be a great race later this evening. In a little over an hour's time. But this is the high performance section. The women's 1500 meters on the track here. As we'll see the Hot Window 1500 capping off the evening later on featuring Sinclair Johnson. The women here stepping to the line. And a field assembled of about 4:10, 4:11, 4:12. The editors here Alma Cortez in the field. The Mexican athlete. Marta Penn Freitas in here too. And it looks like we have Anna Camp Bennett on the line for heat two now. She won the Hot Window 1500 last year in a kicker's 4:07 race.

So Camp Bennett in the second section this year. Melissa Tanaka on the line. And here we go. The wave lights are set 4:08 for this section. Alexina Tubal racing in the field as well. Sarah Van Dyke outpacing once again in this heat. And we'll see what these women can deliver. Some marks to keep in mind for athletes in this field. 4:06 flat is the auto qualifier for the US Championships. 4:01.5 is the world standard. And Cortez on the outside in the all blue wearing the five on her singlet. Alexina Tubal on the inside wearing one in the orange top. And Van Dyke the pacer. So athletes sticking right on the pacer for this race as they round the bend.

And we'll come through in about 65 seconds for the first 400 meters. Van Dyke leading the athletes. So we have Tubal Cortez Tanaka. Alexandra Carlson in the field and Camp Bennett. And Camp Bennett tucked in, last year's Hot Window champion, in fifth position in the Adidas red kit. And currently they're right on the pace lights, on 4:08 pace. So Claire Yearby too wearing that yellow on top is in this race. Marta Penn Freitas, the Portuguese national record holder, tucked in between Year- by and Anna Camp Bennett just ride the rail. That's smart running. But now Tubal to the front as Van Dyke steps off.

And Alexina Tubal is now leading this race. A 4:07 athlete. And Melissa Tanaka behind her. Alma Cortez a very tough runner here. As they reach 800 meters in about 2:13. Tubal. And Tanaka Cortez. Tubal leading this thing as Tanaka trails her. Looks like Tubal starting to pick up the pace. There were a couple of ticks behind that blue and green intersection of the wave lights. And now Alexina Tubal has gone back into the blue so she's worked her way back up into that 4:08. And watch for Yearby on the outside too in the yellow top because she's been sitting on the outside of lane one this entire race.

So she's been thinking about making a move. But they've got a lap to go, 3:01 on the clock as they hit the bell. So we'll see what Tubal can do if she runs another 65 second lap. Tubal starting to power away from the three women giving chase. Now clear of the pace lights and she looks fantastic and strong going down the back stretch. Not turning this into a final 200 meter kick but a long drawn out push from Alexina Tubal. She doesn't want to put this race into question right now. Tubal up there and Yearby making a move now into that second spot just like we predicted. But Tubal rounding the bend.

Rounding the steeple pit. Alexina Tubal looking to do something truly special today. Going after those personal bests is all these athletes but today might be the day that Alexina Tubal actually does it. Driving down the home straight away. Tubal is well in front of the lights at 4:08 pace and this is the second section of the women's high performance. 1500 and she'll get to the line here giving it everything she's got. Pushing 4:05 on the clock for Alexina Tubal. An excellent performance there. And that one's going to be tough to beat. That was impressive. That's a big personal best for Alexina Tubal.

PR coming in — before that, a 4:07.33 season's best. That's off a 4:13. 4:05.99 for Tubal, so she gets just under that 4:06 flat mark there to make it for the auto US standard. And here's a good look at her coming down the straight away again in the shadows of the grandstand. Tubal giving it everything she has pouring it out. Wanting that victory and getting that standard by 1/100th of a second. You see Claire Yearby right behind her too in a fantastic performance. 4:07.78 for her. Just fighting all the way through the line being the first person behind the rabbit committing to the pace early.

Knowing Alex is a seasoned veteran and I say that with all respect. She's been here a number of times moving up recently to the 1500 Alex. I was honestly surprised to see her in the 1500 used to see her more often in the 800. But what a run from Alex to a committing coming out. When you travel from the Midwest out to the West Coast for a race. Why let it dawdle? Why leave it to chance she grabbed. She made her own destiny and that was so exciting to see when she started to power away from about 350 meters. She just started to turn the screw on those athletes. It comes away and rewarded with an enormous personal best.

She came here with a dream and it came to fruition here on the track tonight. And 4:05.99 is what was delivered. As we turn our attention to the men's 1500 meters here high performance section . An opportunity to remind you with that 4:05.99, under-4:06 clocking, that Bandit is paving the way for unsponsored athletes. To make their way to Eugene and sign a contract to wear a Bandit kit down there . So amazing opportunity there for athletes as we look at the high performance men's 1500 meters section. And a 3:35 flat is the US standard there. So last year in this particular section we saw Wes Porter, Virginia Cavalier,

step to the line and run 3:35.6 to take the win here. So we'll see what these athletes can do. We know that the climate is perfect right now for racing here at Clark Griswold Stadium. Yes. I mean like what more do you need to see. And you see the athletes who have just done something that they've never done before. The elation the jubilation the energy that they bring they're calling their coaches they're calling their partners or whomever they can get on the phone to tell them what they just did and be celebrated. It is just electric it's one of the things I love so much about track and field

. They're calling urban restaurant group to make their reservations at restaurants downtown right now and get the party going. That's what's happening on ice. Get the bottle going. Yeah tubals probably got people doing that for right now. So we're looking at this field assembled. I think Jeff Cooper just door dashed to a bottle their hotel so it's all good. Fantastic. We're looking at this second heat of the fifteen hundred for the men and some familiar names here in the field as this is 3:37 to 3:38 athletes toeing the line . So we saw 3:35.6 take the win here last year and I know that's what these guys

are looking for. Leo Young in the field his brother just ran a fantastic race out in Oslo. The best ever by an American. Yeah, an amazing race, winning that Diamond League out there, 5000 meters. Carter cutting in here to BYU athlete but a Portland local. Joe Waskum in this field, a Dawgs athlete. Get a lot of Huskies. Yeah, we know the Dawgs love this meet. I guess there's about 700 kids at Washington that run under 3:40 so I guess it only makes sense that there would be that number represented here at the Portland Track Fest. Andy Powell maybe the best 1500 meter coach on the planet definitely an

argument for that as another one of his athletes won the 1500. Well they had a sweep down there. On the planet of the NCAA. Yeah sure I mean he's coached some world beaters out there as well. Couple of them. Hey look I don't want his head to get any bigger than it already is you know. Okay thank you for keeping all of us in the world. Keep him on planet earth. That's why that's why we need you. What do they have nine? Nine Huskies go sub-4 in one race at the Dempsey last winter. Unbelievable. Sub-4 used to be a feat. That one you and eight of your college teammates do it in the same race. Now we have Christian Noble on the line here too, running the steeplechase, heat

two last night. Yeah maybe he's rethinking that decision. 8:36 I think for the steeple for him in that effort. So I'm having a Potbelly sandwich for lunch over on Sixth Street. It's good to load up. Good to load up beforehand and it's 7:08 right now so he's had plenty of time to digest. Probably expelled most of it. So we're off and running on the inside and the red singlet. That's Joe Waskum. So keep an eye on him. Oh so pushing a job we almost had somebody go down in the center there. Make sure everybody's on their feet. So we got the pace for this race here set for 3:37. 3:37 flat, and 3:35 flat like we said is that US auto

standard. And we got behind shopping there in pole position first of the finishers. Yep Oklahoma State cowboy but up here. We got a Husky jumping into the front. Reese Hammond not wanting the rabbit to get too far and that's what we like to see. Keeping this pace hot. We know that they've got instructions from Andy Powell to send this. 58 seconds through the quarter. As Ron Warhurst would say pin those ears back go for a ride. Pinhead pinhead. Reese Hammond. Ryan shop out there. And then Ronan McMahon-Scags. Sayer Salgado in here too. Dark Sky Distance. So you're having a great year. Taking chunks out of his personal best with a number of different races racing

confidently. Open for that breakthrough you know as most athletes are. Followed closely by Waskum. He's in that fifth position right now as we look down at this race. And reaching two laps to go with Reese Hammond still on the pacer. And Ryan shop. McMahon-Scags. And that's Sayer Salgado there. Looking comfortable. And looking like he wants to move up a little bit as they come through in 1:56. And now it's all Reese Hammond. So look at your boy Sayer Salgado moving up into third position and looking comfortable doing it. Looking smooth. And Reese Hammond definitely at the front driving the pace.

But he looks like he's laboring. He looks like he's really giving it a strong effort. Salgado now moving from third into second effortlessly floating by some of these other competitors. But Reese Hammond still in the front going through a kilometer at about 2:23. So if they want to run anything around 3:37 or quicker they are going to need to get moving. Salgado not wasting any time taking advantage of the opportunity of the perfect weather. Of the great competition and epic pacemaking. He has got 400 to go between himself and probably another personal best. It's only 332.39 with a lap to go. And you love to see it under 240 with a lap to go.

57.7 on the clock. Salgado at the front now. It's all his choice if he wants to keep that position. And he's driving now. He's moving down the back straight. Reese Hammond still in touch. And look at this coming from the back. We have Leo Young making a strong move in the speed suit. Hey if his brother can do it so can he. But Salgado has gone to the front. He's now moved to the arms chopping the stride a little bit but accelerating. Moving past the blue lights. Leo Young fighting to get into the second position. But Salgado is seeming to power away from this field. You can see it a little bit in his face but he's beginning to drive for home.

Here's Salgado at the front and Leo Young giving chase. Salgado looks like he can hold on but Leo Young is giving it everything he has to stay in touch. Salgado, this is going to be a big one for him, coming to the line at 3:35. And a big one for Young too. That was what Salgado has been waiting for. An enormous breakthrough. A four-second personal best here in the electric forest at the Portland Track fest. Receiving the biggest hug possible from his coach and mentor out there with noble booting and what a run. He can hardly believe it. What a day for Sayer Salgado. 3:35.48 is what the clock says, faster than last year's Heat 2 win from Wes

Porter, 3:35.6. And Young with a big PR as well. Let's freakin' go. 3:35 down. Reese Hammond rewarded with a 3:36.86 as we see the replay here. And look at the grit on Young here. But Salgado look at so smooth at the front. There's got to be something genetic with these young boys. They look like they are hurting from so far out. And yet they still manage to absolutely demolish the last lap of these races. Incredible, incredible run by Leo Young. Racing as that non-NIL kid out there. But Sayer Salgado methodically made his way up. Putting himself never too far in the pack. Running in about 4th.

5th. Staying on the rail. Not running any further than he absolutely had to. Making the passes smoothly and not in a jerky jerky manner. Just conserving as much energy as he possibly could. As he possibly could. And then when he knew a PR was in his grasp, he went to work. You saw him go to the arms with about 180 meters to go. And the rest was history. Ten men in that field under 3:39 in the second heat of the 1500. Oh, I got to sit down, Jeff. I got to sit down. Those boys are going to be partying tonight. They sent it and you could feel the electricity here. The voltage is kicking up. Because we are not yet to the Hot Window, Will.

That will come in 45 minutes time. I'm sweating. And we got Salgado down there on the couch as well. He's going to have a little chat with Ribich. Love to hear from him. We are going to send it down to the couch right now with Ribich. Talking to Salgado. Wow. Oh. Oh. Wait. I wonder if we can see you right now. I'm very, very happy with everything. The race was pretty good. I thought it was going to tie the last two. One-fifty. Hold on so I'm happy with that. All right. And this Portland crowd kept bringing you through. What did it mean to have this home stretch so as loud as they could be? Man, honestly, I appreciate Portland, man.

This is great. I love this meet. I'm glad to come back and get a redemption for the last time. So yeah, I'm pretty happy. All right. Congratulations. Yeah. Sign the table. Congrats on the PB. And the race win. You just love to see it. The happiness, the elation, the relief. These athletes, they train so hard. I mean, there really is not a lot of difference in how an athlete like Sayer Salgado, and a Cole Hocker approach this season. They both have their goals. They both train exceptionally hard. And they're both hoping, again, for those further breakthrough moments. And this is exactly what he puts in all the days, weeks, months, years,

stacked back to back to back for, giving himself this opportunity and taking the most of it. You could hear it in his voice down here, too. Like, that guy's going to come back for 20 years to set master's records here at Disney. It almost brings me to tears. It definitely gave me goosebumps watching him run that way because, again, this is one of the reasons the athletes are coming out here. They're hoping that their body will have it on the day, and Sayer certainly did today. And the facility is getting primed right now because this is what we always want. We want athletes to send it like that and to keep ratcheting up the efforts

here in the electric forest. And we're seeing this build on itself right now. And it's palpable here in the stands. We're going to get some rumbling I bet coming up for the hot window as we look down at the track and preparing to race in this top high performance section of the 5,000 meters of the female athletes. And athletes in this field will be looking at some 15:30 pace. So down on the track, getting ready to race. Naomi Kenboy in this race, West Virginia athlete, Yasmin Wright, for Saucony, Carmen Graves, a steeplechaser. She's jumping into the 5K. Micah Rivera Wood out there, too. She had a great race at the NYC Mini 10K last weekend, actually.

Finish well up in the rankings there. So we'll see what she could put down on the track here today. We know that she loves this meet, comes back year after year. Claire Green of the Peninsula Distance Club in this race as well. Last year she won this second heat in 15:30. And she's got to be enthused by her San Francisco teammates. Second place finish in that Portland versus Seattle versus San Francisco Casc adia Axe competition. Emily Bryson here, another West Virginia athlete. Joy Nakow, West Virginia as well. Danielle Jordan in here. Claudia O'Malley. So this is the top high performance section.

We'll see, in the Hot Window, the women's 5000 take place. Race between Ella Donahue, Courtney Frerichs. And a number of other great athletes stepping to the line. Jess McLean. Jess McLean. So Vanessa Frazier in that too. And Laura Galvan actually coming back to jump into that later 5000 meter race after the 10K last night. Katelyn Tuohy as well will be in the 5000 later this evening. Regan Yee. But it's a good reminder too that if you'd like to, Portland Track has seeded the prize purse — $25,000. But if you'd like to throw in because you like a performance, you want to get back to the athletes or you're a brand that says,

"Hey, we're going to dangle this carrot out there because we think that our athletes going to take this race." You could sweeten the pot at tracklnd.com. Watch those numbers go up. You can even leave a note. Say, "Hey, I'm putting this down for Sinclair Johnson because it's for Portland as well." You know, there are a lot of delicious restaurants in the city of Portland, Jeff. But nothing is as scrumptious as a brand new personal best. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Are you hungry, Will? I'm starving for PRs. Yeah. And here we go. Women's 5000 meters, high performance section, stepping to the line.

And they're off. And the wave light for this race is set for 15:30. And that's Amy Cashin up front, the steeplechaser, Australian athlete, Australian Olympic steeplechaser, and Portland Track Festival champion in the steeplechase from 2022. She's doing the pacing for this race. Great to see her out there this evening. The athletes just getting in line. Single file. Let's not waste any time. Put yourself in line. Recognize if there's ever going to be a gap. Move around. Conserve the energy. This is expert 5K running. This is what you like to see when the athletes they know exactly. They've been here before.

They know what they're set to do. Single file right now. Looks like a training run out there, which is what you want to see. What you want to feel getting relaxed for that first part of the 5K. Before the punches start being thrown later on in the race. You know, this is as close to a marathon versus a sprint as we're going to get out here tonight. So yeah, these ladies are establishing themselves early where they want to be in line. Don't give an inch. Don't run any further than you have to. Sit on the rail. And that's Savannah Roark in the pink top behind Amy Cashin. She's the first racer followed by Tristan Spence,

Adams State athlete, and then Micah Rivera Wood, Peruvian athlete. And Carmen Graves. Savannah Roark, the Syracuse standout. Now running here either has just graduated or running unattached. Looking for qualifying marks of the US championships. And Claudia O'Malley in this race too, Grand Valley State. From the west side of Michigan. Yasmin Wright in the field, Saucony athlete. But right now everybody is clicking off. 74s. Amy Cashin laying down the pace. Savannah Roark not having the performance of her 5K that I think she probably would have wanted this year. And definitely where she's put herself on this race, what she's expecting of

herself. Coming in with a season's best of 16:23. Obviously well ahead of that pace right now. Winding up the pace here. Getting it going. Making it smooth. And everybody looks comfortable so far here in the early goings as they should at this pace. But there is a pack separating themselves on the back there. Naomi Kenboy from West Virginia on the tail end. Carmen Graves in front of her. Rivera Wood. Tristan Spence, Savannah Roark. And Amy Cashin leading. That second pack is Danielle Jordan. And now moving up is Yasmin Wright, leading that second pack. So another 74 laid down by Cashin like clockwork here.

3:06 through a K. So you can extrapolate that. They're right on 15:30 pace. Yeah, Micah Wood — she and her husband Adam Wood have a very fun Instagram handle. The Woods Run. Chronicling their post-collegiate running exploits and desires to both represent their countries internationally. Give it a follow. It's really great wholesome content. Good content. They always have a great time here in Portland. They got a YouTube channel too. Put stuff up there. So you can check out the scene. Maybe as you book your ticket here next year for the Portland Track Festival, you can get some ideas. Get your tickets out here and come watch this meet in person.

It's as fun as you have hearing us babble on endlessly. Get here. Stop those feet. Clap those hands. Bang the thundersticks. Yeah. Thundersticks out there this year. That's right in the stands. So another 74.3. The order is unchanged in the early goings here. Roark throwing a hand up a little bit. Stepped on that rail, but she's okay. Amy Cashin doing a great job. Getting these women to exactly where they need to be right now. Approaching one mile, 1600 meters or laps. Yeah. I know these aren't equivalent things, but to, you know, to the lay fan. They're approaching. They're approaching all of those things.

Just under five minutes there. 4:57, so Roark pulls to the outside right now and is looking to make some space. As Tristan Spence goes up into that position behind Amy Cashin. So Roark is tucking in. Interesting move. But, you know, she knows herself better than anybody. She knows how she's feeling. We have no idea. And they're stomping their feet in the stands and clapping their hands together . This is what you love to hear from the raucous Portland crowd. That's right. You know, the Unipiper's in there now too. His work done for the evening. 74.4 once again. Fantastic work here by Amy Cashin.

As Tristan Spence sits behind her. Amy Cashin got to be a little bit tired from last night. And maybe someone mentioned that to her today. She says, baloney, no way. Any more laps?" Not quite the race that she wanted last night. I would imagine coming in looking for a little bit more than that. You know, we set that up on a couple of our Pacers today. That, you know, maybe last night they did not achieve what they had hoped. But, you know, again, the beauty of running is you can always wake up and do it again the next day. So Amy Cashin doing a spectacular job and really helping these athletes to set

up their races in almost a perfect way. Her splits are phenomenal. Yeah, low 74 is clicking off here. And how do you think Rivera Wood is feeling too? Having run a 10k on the roads in New York. It's not a flat 10k out there last weekend. Flying across the country to jump on the track here for 5000. She's sitting in that third position behind Tristan Spence. And then Carmen Graves too. Tristan Spence, the Adams State standout. Adams State has some phenomenal athletes. D2 powerhouse. Powerhouse. Was it Adams State, Chico State? Chico State Wildcats, baby. Shout out to Gary Towne. I believe I saw Gary Towne running potentially on the...

It might have been one of the assistant coaches. I got a text from a buddy who is from Chico. And we saw one of their coaches running a beef Eric's in trail a couple of days ago. Yeah, well this place is crawling with celebrities right now. We saw Chauncey Billups in the stands earlier. None other than. Yeah. If you hadn't tuned in early in the day, we saw Chauncey Billups because his daughter won the open 400 earlier in the day. Running a phenomenal 53.67. That's Sonaya Billups, Chauncey's daughter. Freshman at Howard University. Great to see them. I got to believe they're still in the stands.

Coming up, 2400 meters here. Or 2600 meters. 8:03.96. Another 74.5 for Cashin. Spence. Still there. Spence and Wood. And then a little gap back to Carmen Graves. Trains in the Denver area as well. Wazelle athlete. And Cashin doing a great amount of work here. See how far she can take it, but she's definitely made it more than halfway so far. Approaching 2800 meters here. Setting this race up beautifully as Spence and Wood sit on the rail. And just are content to have these 74-mids delivered to them. Spence and Wood here. Look at Wood swinging a little bit to the outside. Getting a little anxious.

So we know that Amy Cashin is pulling off right now. Her pacing duty's done. Cashin getting them through 3K. Bravo again. I will never stop celebrating these incredible pace jobs that we're having at the 2025 Portland Track Festival. Tristan Spence and Micah Rivera Wood now running 1-2. Reaching 3K in 9:18. A 74.8 there. So Spence is now controlling the pace. And this is a real race between Spence and Wood now. And Spence, is she getting some daylight out there? It looks like she might be. So she's trying to hang on to those green lights which are 15:30 pace. 15:30 is what won this section last year, by Claire Green.

Yes, Spence getting the gap on Wood. But Wood PR territory. Yes, absolutely. Both of them, both of these athletes approaching the final mile of this 5K. Tristan Spence just narrowly holding on to the tail end of that green wave light. Micah Rivera Wood an almost equal distance back to Carmen Graves. All of these athletes are in what has got to be one of the most challenging portions of a race in the entirety of Track and Field. The last mile of a 5K. So Rivera Wood, her personal best, 15:36 for the Peruvian athlete. So she's still holding on to what could be a personal best right now after phenomenal performance last week at the mini 10K.

Spence, personal best of 15:43. So well within striking distance as well of her personal best. The Adams State athlete, and she's leading this race. So Spence flying around the curve and further down the list. Carmen Graves still in it. 77 is what she's been clicking off the past two laps as Spence has notched a 75 and Rivera slow to 77. But Spence coming up here. We'll see what this lap is running. As we get to three laps remaining. 3800 meters for Spence. 77 for that lap on the clock. And a 79 for Wood. So the pace slipping right now. You know to those watching at home I think it's of no surprise that when the

pacemaker stepped off and the athlete. This is one of the great advantages and why Portland Track Fest does such a good job and puts such an emphasis on providing good pacemakers. It's that an athlete like Tristan Spence all she had to do was focus on the back of the runner in front of her. And now with the wave light starting to get away it really becomes an internal battle of Tristan versus herself. As to how hard she can push over the final kilometer of this race. Rather than just you know having it tying that imaginary rope to the athlete in front of you. So she's really got to dig now and she's inside three laps to go coming up on

two laps remaining. And Spence has been leading ever since Amy Cashin stepped off, who was pacing this race. And then Rivera Wood in second and Carmen Graves staring at the back of Rivera Wood now. Getting the benefit of having her to pull on. See if she can lift herself up to that second position. And Spence inside two laps to go now that was a 78 second lap for her. And see seeing what she can summon for this final 800 meters. But looking smooth out there right now. Yeah again we've talked about this in a number of different races where you know these athletes it's they're swinging for the fences here.

And one of the most impressive things is that they're not she's not falling apart. She's just slowing down a little bit you know like we've seen catastrophic blow ups in certain races where athletes basically they forget how to run. And that's not the case of what's happening today. I think that Tristan Spence has really just gone and taken a big swing looking for a huge PR. And what we just saw with Sayer Salgado in that 1500, and I'm not going to even call this coming up short but just the effort is starting to show itself. And I'll be very curious to see what she's able to throw down for this last lap

too because we saw what's possible with Jared Clifford. He showed us what you can do kicking early in finishing that penultimate lap in 63 to come back and run 69. With a full stop mind you. With a full stop that's right so the 69 was worth a 65 likely. Maybe faster. She's starting to pick up the pace a little bit now as Tristan Spence here in the bell being one lap to go one more circuit of this oval. It's 77 so bringing it back slightly Tristan Spence and now inside a lap to go. So she just has to slingshot herself around this final 300 when she hits the cone down the back straight away. And now Carmen Graves makes a move too and is able to pass Rivera Wood.

So Carmen Graves looking very strong down the back straight and you can see her on the screen too. Wearing that Wazelle pink uniform. Carmen launching into a big finishing kick here trying to empty the tank over the final 400 Tristan Spence I think is just hoping that the finish line comes sooner rather than later. And Spence swinging around now. Coming onto the home straight away the fans letting her hear it because this is the last straight away for her. She's coming down the final stretch passing the living room. And the rumbling of the stands we can hear under our feet. But she'll come to the line and she'll get there in 15:40, so that is a personal

best for Tristan Spence by three seconds. So a win in the electric forest and a personal best. Carmen Graves comes up for second, 15:48. And here driving down the straight away we've got a race on our hands. That's Yasmin Wright in the center. Kenboy on the inside. And on the outside that's O'Malley, Grand Valley. Rivera Wood gets to the line in third, 15:52, and we saw O'Malley finish there in 16:02, just ahead of Kenboy. And here's the victory stretch for Tristan Spence. Able to close it down and solidify that victory for herself here in the electric forest with a new personal best, 15:40. Arms up breaking the tape.

Even giving us a little cheeky smile at the end. Yeah, she got into PR territory. So fantastic race there. Good on her. And here we've got athletes warming up for the hot window about to start down on the screen here. The 2019 World Champion, former American record holder. And one, I can say it. One of the greatest athletes that I've ever met. This guy can do the impossible on the track. Okay, okay. Let's leave personal emotions aside. Okay, Donovan Brazier. Keep it professional. Ladies and gentlemen, seeing him do some amazing things. And he'll enter the track once again in the Running Warehouse 800 meters when

the Hot Window starts. Just a talent. When we saw it from his days at A&M. I would say, yeah, an incredible talent. But the way he's been able to adapt from his front running style and be able to win from anywhere on the track at this point. Oh, I read that article, Jeff. I read your piece. Yeah. I can assume your content. Thank you. Thank you for reading. Well, thank you for being a reader and a math major too. You're an all-around student. But here we've got Heat 2. This is the top section of the men's high performance 5000. And we'll have the Hot Window 5000 later. But a lot of great athletes in this field.

Including. Luis Grijalva. I'm going to say Craig Engels. They say it himself. Oh, he's back. No, not quite Craig Engels for this. But Luis Grijalva. Luigi, one of my all-time faves. I know how much you like Luigi. I love Luigi. He was fourth at the World Championships. Excellent 5000 meter runner. And he's stepping to the line here. See, I'll believe it when I see him on the start list. I do not see him on the starting line. So he raced in 1500 earlier tonight. And we'll see if he jumps in here again. Got to hear Luigi catch up with Aisha and Eric Jenkins at the courtesy of Garmin podcast at the Grand Slam in Philly.

Talking a little bit about how tough of a time he's had since the Olympics last year. Getting hurt coming back from injury and trying to race himself back into fitness. I mean, the good thing for an athlete like Luigi representing Guatemala is he really gets his the benefit of time. You know, we're still 12 weeks away from the world championships. The qualifying window doesn't close until the final weeks of August. So he's got plenty of time. And if you stand here on the start line, that means good things for him. That means the fitness is coming. It might not be tip top yet. But he said he's been swimming and doing cross training more

than he ever has in his career. This is the first ever injury that he's really dealt with. And we'll see what he can do here against the 13:30 field. As he practices racing, getting back into his debut for the season. But the pace set for this race, a 13:35 for the wave light. And we've got a cut off. That's a baby Yoda on the front there on the t-shirt. Yes, it's not a baby Bjorn. It's a baby Yoda. Baby Yoda in a baby Bjorn, I think. Baby Bjorn. Yeah. So the pace are all ready, hyping up the crowd too on the home stretch. Yeah, let him hear it. Let's get this thing going early and cheer these guys along.

Henry McLucky in this field. 5000 meter man and 1500 meter man. The raucous fans in the stands here in the electric forest is creating like a sound vortex, a veritable baptism for these athletes who are trying to recreate themselves, re-identify who am I? Who do I want to be? Go find yourself, kids. That's why people come to Portland in their 20s. Yeah. Find themselves. Yeah, go duck yourself in the river. Yeah, that's another, these trees that create this grove here in the electric forest, they create a nice little protection from the wind, but they also trap the sound and keep it in here, which creates an awesome atmosphere for racing.

Look at this. This pace your better go 4k. You're wasting all this energy up front. Come on, man. Oh, fantastic work being done out there. Louis G with his, yeah, one of the most fun running forms to follow. Mm-hmm. So, 65 seconds. McLucky up there. Did we talk about the wave lights right now? Wave lights set to 13:30. 13:30. 13:35. So, right on. They're ahead of them right now, right at 65 pace. And really working through this race right now, but in the early goings again, great pace work being done just like Amy Cashin put forth in the earlier heat. This is a large field here for this 5,000.

You can see all these guys strung out. We've got Kendrick coming through the cans. DJ Mustard on the beat. We've got great pace setting. Wave lights set to 13:35. The entire field is in it. You might be right. I think that might be a cat and not baby Yoda in the baby Bjorn. Who cares? I do. It's cool. It is cool. It's cool if you win. Yeah. Yeah. When you do things that are outlandish, you've got to back it up with performance. And that's what we're seeing right now committed to the task at hand. I want to see that cat run 3:30. Don't let the cat out the bag just yet. Eric Cesarrez in here too.

Thunder Road Running. Mattani Vree from Wisconsin. He's in that 5th position there in the all-red. The Badger. Big 10 country. Yep. He's right at home. Jacob Mitchum in this field too. Archie Nokes another Wisconsin Badger. The Pacer stepping off now. My guy. Well, we'll see it might be that cat in a baby Bjorn is the second pacer here because we're getting McLucky as the first racer. Well, McLucky to have two pacers. Yeah, thanks. The new sandwich at McDonald's over a billion served. Okay, so down here we're coming to 1600 meters. It's still right on pace for that 13:35. Charging down the back stretch.

We get to 1600 meters in about 4:21. If this is indeed Corey Gorgas with the baby Yoda / cat in a baby Bjorn, raise your hand. Do we not give him the earpiece? No, we didn't. Oh, all right, well, we're given this one time. Love to get a close up on this cat or a baby yoda. I think it's a cat. So Henry McLucky up there in that second position. Absolutely. We've got to get British athlete. We've got some info on where we can get one of these shirts. It's Cesarez. And then Mattani Vree, Israeli athlete. One thing that's good to see here, Jeff, is that this entire line, this first line of finishers, there are no gaps.

No one has fallen off yet. There's no chinks in anyone's armor. There's been a little bit of movement. Some people moving back, moving forward. We haven't really lost anybody yet. Everyone's still very much in this. Everybody's finding their place and we could see Luis Grijalva is still tucked in and midway through that pack too. In sixth position, if you don't count the cat in the baby Bjorn Pacer, which is an excellent pacing outfit because he's got everybody in a baby Bjorn right now taking him along. Yeah, come, hop on. I got you. Yep, McLucky Cesarez and Mattani Vree. And now you get a good view of Luis Grijalva who's moving out slightly

because he wants to move up a little bit. See if he does. He's just always paying attention. Want to see what's going on? The exceptional athletes. Just not letting things get away. I was trying to get around Mattan there. It looks like that's Christopher. Made Leon, I think in front of Luigi right now. It's truly international field here with May Dillion, Mexican athlete. Luigi, of course, Guatemalan. Mattani Vree is an Israeli athlete. And then all the Americans as well. Spanish athlete. Adrian Diaz Lopez in this race. So clicking off 65s like clockwork here. Everybody's staying in touch through that top.

However many, at least 10 athletes strung out in a line. And now this pace is hyping up the crowd. Make sure we stay on the track, hugging the rail. Watch your ankles, young man. Coming through here. 2600. 7:04. 64.99. And that's McLucky. And not the pacer. So hot pace here. Yeah, you can see Luigi on the screen. He's moved his way up into the fourth racing position. Eldad Moogetta behind Luis. Riding his coat tails to what he thinks is going to be a great day. Honestly, really smart way to race. Luis is such a smart racer. He's been competing at the highest of high levels. He knows exactly what he's trying to get out today, which is just a

good solid effort. Not really expecting fireworks. Again, one of these methodic moves. Recognizing when someone wasn't going to make another lap and slowly moving around them. Don't use any more energy than you have to. Just get something on the board. I think oftentimes people think they don't think about the joy of racing too for these types of scenarios. Most of the, a lot of the time athletes think about or even spectators watching the race. They're going to sit on the line and try to go as fast as possible. But how much fun is it to play the game while you're out there and weave your way through traffic and figure out, oh, can I pass

this person now? Can I climb the ladder? Can I move up? And Luis Grijalva, getting back, feeling that again, jumping on the track and being able to navigate through a pack. We'll see what he can do in the later half of this 5,000 meters. He's not looking for that big breakthrough that we saw from Alexina Tubal, from Sayer Salgado, from a bunch of these racers already today. He's taking punches at big PRs. Again, he's just looking to have some positivity. Finish a race. Feel good. Come off of this race. Get back into training. Feel good back in the next workout. So again, the beauty of running, a lot of athletes running for a

lot of different reasons with a lot of different goals. And they came through 3K in 8:09 too. And now this is McLucky at the front. And there are no more Pacers on the track. So four laps remaining for this 5,000 meters. McLucky, Cesarez, Mattani Vree, Luis Grijalva, and Eldad Mulugeta. So another 65.6 for 3400 meters. And McLucky, now his job to push at the front. Or any of these other guys, if they don't want the pace to slow, I know that Mattani Vree wants to get after a 13:30 here, so he'd want to pick it up if this race starts to falter. And you could see that top three bunching a little bit.

Cesarez moving out on the outside. Looking to make a move. And I think we could see something pretty awesome here unfold in the last three laps. Because you rarely get to be treated to a pack like this, a pack like this of five athletes with three laps to go in a 5,000 meters. So Cesarez moves up to pass McLucky. Mulugeta looks a little bit to be on the ropes here, so if there's any big moves or changes of pace up front, Cesarez realizing that the pace is beginning to falter, goes around McLucky. 66.2 on that lap with Cesarez out front. And now, look at Luis Grijalva starting to make a move. Going by Vree, and Vree's going with him too.

McLucky falling back a little bit. Grijalva not wanting to go around Cesarez just yet. Content with what Cesarez is laying down right now. You know, I'm sure Mike Smith just told Louis just win the race. However you need to do it, however you feel comfortable doing it, just go out there and win the race. As we said, get one on the board. Louis is covering all these moves so well, so smoothly, almost effortless. I mean, he's just his face. You can't even tell that he's out for anything more than a casual Sunday jog. And he's got that unorthodox right arm swing there too. He's beating the drum. And he's sitting in that second position as they come to the line here.

So if Vree wants a 13:30 or faster, they're going to need to run about a 2:03 to 2:02. And here goes Louis G. And Louis G to the front now, and Mattani Vree goes with him. And we'll see what Grijalva wants to do inside two laps to go. You can see him start to stretch it out down the back stretch. Both athletes, Evrie not really giving him an inch, knowing that this is exactly what he was hoping for. Get close and then get competitive. Louis G on the gas 600 meters to go has really started to turn the screws. So we know what this man can do, 12:50s for the 5000 meters. Louis Grijalva, and Mattani Vree wants to run fast here too.

And we'll see what Louis Grijalva can deliver on this lap leading into a lap to go, as he looks over his shoulder just to see who's with him. To see what types of resources he has to dispense at this moment in the race. Mattani Vree for my money looks pretty dang relaxed. Two of these athletes look phenomenal. This appears to be a 61-62 on that lap for Louis G out front. Mattani Vree now trying to cover the move. Luis launching into a final kick. Really pushing the pace now, putting 5, 8, 10 meters on Evrie in his wake. He goes to the Jets and shows his world-class caliber here down the back stretch.

Looking like he's running an all-out 400 right now. That was a 62 second penultimate lap. Mattani Vree not slowing down either. I bet he's speeding up. But look at Grijalva as he rounds the bend, swinging the arms. We'll see what he could do. Is he going to keep the gas on coming around this? This is Luis Grijalva. Welcome back to the track world. This is your welcome back party buddy. The stands are rumbling right now. Luis Grijalva passing the couch, coming down the final straightaway. Lifting the knees and pumping the arms with the sprint form. And he'll make it to the tape in 13:27 as we've got a race on our hands for second

. And that's Cesarez beating Mattani Vree to the line. Cesarez, 13:32. Vree, 13:32.78. Personal best for those two guys. And 13:27 for Grijalva with a 57.9 close. And Shafer of ZAP Endurance coming in 13:36. Mulugeta, 13:40. Archie Nokes. Cesarez in a PR, also for Mattani Vree. Freshmen. Guys, these kids are fast. And they're all coming in under 14 minutes now. Diaz Lopez, 14:03, from Spain. And down the final stretch here. We've got one more athlete on the track. They're coming in the crowd, gives them a round of applause. Dale Mulholland from Loyola, Chicago. And when we come back, we're about to enter the Hot Window, ladies and

gentlemen. Don't go anywhere. You may have noticed Trevor Bassett come out behind right. Benjamin All dressed in black, the 26-year-old. There he is. He has a legitimate shot of making this team. He's unsponsored. The unsponsored project is all about supporting athletes to be able to chase their dreams and put them on a pedestal and really, really do something that's right. And special for these unsponsored athletes who are trying to make it. There's a ton of conversation about how do you grow the sport, what's good for the sport. And obviously right now, track is trying to grow. There's no system where athletes are getting paid outside of footwear brands

for the most part. 2023 and 2024 was another huge pillar of the initiative to keep it hyper- focused on the athletes. But we're still keeping our release clause within every single one of these contracts. Yeah, for 2025, I mean, for us, it's really just honing in even more on how we can support athletes at a deeper level. Point blank will be able to double the amount of support that we were doing. It's 27. CJ Allen and the ever-present Trevor Bassett making yet another team. [Music] Track fans everywhere. We have now entered the Hot Window in the 2025 Portland Track Festival. Everybody getting into their seats because we're about to witness something

that we only get treated to, but once a year. It's getting hot in here. That's because we're in the Hot Window. We have the top heat of the 800 meters, the 5000 meters, and the 1500 meters here at the Portland Track Festival. And we see the women's 800 meter athletes warming up right now because they've seen how fast this track is in the earlier rounds. And what can be delivered in this race earlier in the evening, we saw Raven Rogers run 2:00.45. And she is a previous winner. Effectively negative splitting that. Exactly. She's a previous winner of this Hot Window 800 as well, running 1:58 here in

this meet. So we see the competitors on the line there jumping in this race last minute. We have the Olympic 1500 meter silver medalist, one of the fastest of all time, Jess Hull. Stepping to the line in the Dream Cell women's 800 meters. And she's run 1:58 earlier this season at the Grand Slam meet. Sammy Watson, a 1:59 athlete in this field as well. Sadie Henderson, a 1:58 athlete. It's competed at the Portland Track Festival many times in the past. And we can throw up on the screen and see how the fans think that this race will unfold, who they believe will win. So, Jess Hull. It looks like she has the most first-place votes in this race.

I don't know if Kayla Edwards is stepping to the line this evening. Seeing Kayla as a DNS. Sammy Watson in here, another top contender. And she won an 800 down at the Sound Running Track Fest earlier this year. And she's there in the red uniform. Red top, black shorts. In this race also Haley Kitchen, Penn State, Malia Menagotti. Honor Finley. So we'll see who can take this. Jess Hull Was once a 5000 meter champion here at the Portland Track Festival 2021. She won that race in 14:57. You can see the purse on the screen too as people have sweetened the pot. You can throw in as well if you'd like on tracklnd.com.

Look if you're watching this stream for free. You forewent your coffee today because you knew you didn't need it because the electricity coming from the forest tonight. Chuck a couple of bucks in there, sweeten the pot. And if you want to sweeten it for your humble announcers, toss us a couple power pellets. Our bag of skittles is just getting empty up here. Yeah. We had a couple skittles before the hot window just to ratchet up the energy here in the booth. Everyone, everyone needs those, you know, those calories. Gotta put them in. Previous. So the previous two Dream Cell 800 meter championship races have been won by Nia

Akins here at the Portland Track Festival. Olympian. Yep. Last year she set a meet record with her championship win. She ran 1:58.04, that put her above Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who previously held that record. But athletes step into the line now and you could feel the electricity. I'm getting nervous, Jeff. And everybody giving Jess Hull a round of applause on the track as she's introduced. Well deserved. Well deserved. Former Oregon Duck, world record holder over 2K, Olympic silver medalist at 1500 meters. Hull's first professional race was an 800 meters on this track in the Stumptown Twilight.

She ran 2:03 for that 800 meters. Good vibes. And they're off and running right now. Beware your feed our ladies and gentlemen. This is the hot window at the Portland Track Festival. Pacing for this race set for a 1:57 on the wave light. That's smoking. We'll see what we can do because the pacer is trying to get to the front. But athletes want to roll here. So getting to the 200 meter mark in 28 seconds. Sammy Watson hot on her heels, Honor Finley on her outside shoulder, with Jess Hull following in close pursuit. Watson and Finley, Sadie Henderson on the inside in the green. Trying to find that magic.

That catapulted her to a 1:58 best. But look at this moving up down the straightaway, Hull. Showing the caliber of athletes she is getting to the front of this race. Not wanting to relinquish that pole position from here on out as she gets through in 58 seconds. Looking extremely powerful. Watson in second place right now. Hull to the front. Hull driving down the back stretch currently. Jess Hull looking powerful. Confident. Obviously expecting to race in that Grand Slam track meet in a couple of weekends. Taking advantage of an opportunity to go down in distance for her at the 800. Seeing what she can do.

Testing herself. Giving every opportunity. Knowing what those green lights represent. Which is a 1:57, which would be dang near a personal best. This is all Jess Hull right now with Sammy Watson giving chase and Honor Fin- ley in third. A 1:27 through 600 meters, and we know the kind of strength that Jess Hull has as the 2000 meter world record holder. And she's moving extremely quickly. And extremely strong down this home stretch. She's a 3:50 1500 meter runner. Seeing what she can do in the 800 here. 1:58 for the win for Jess Hull, the Australian. 1:58.69, closing in 60 seconds there. She is your champion this year and will receive the log round.

And she is now a two time champion in the 800 and the 5000 here. Something that has never been done before. Talk about range. Talk about range. You expect that kind of range from a 3:50 1500 meter athlete. Please with her performance in second place. Do you expect that? That's what you expect now. Are you not entertained? Oh, there it is. Fans are treated to something special there from Jess Hull. Sammy Watson coming in second, 2:00.73. Kaylee Pulitzer of Oklahoma State, 2:00.94. Honor Finley, 2:01. So all the way down the list. And the track is hot ladies and gentlemen. 1:58.6 for Jess Hull here as we get a glimpse of the replay down the final

stretch through the tunnel of fans. Under the grandstand and Jess Hull. Look at the power. 1:58.6 breaking the tape. An outstanding effort there and on the screen right now. Running Warehouse. Men's 800 meters. And this one. We're not lying to ourselves. We know a lot of you have tuned in to watch this event tonight to see Donavan Brazier. The king of the, the king of the oval. And the two lap champ. Something that we have waited for for a long time here in 2019 in Doha on a hot night. When he won that 800 meters going around Puerto Rican Wesley Vasquez. Setting an American record then, 1:42.3.

That lit a fire and we thought he was going to be the Olympic champ the very next year. Instead he competed in the big friendly series here in Portland. And we saw him run 3:35 closing in 52. There's not much that this man can't do on the track. He's run 1:13 for 600 meters. Yeah, well I guess you expect that from an athlete like him. Don't you? But a lot has happened since he's been on the track. The 800 meter scene has changed. We have men like Josh Hoey today who's run 1:42.4 and become the third fastest American of all time. Bryce Hoppel has reset the American record running 1:41. In 2021 when Brazier won this Portland Track Festival race.

The man next to him, Jesus Tonatiuh Lopez, got second narrowly, the 1:43 runner. Behind them in third, the eventual Olympic champ Emmanuel Korir. We'll see who can come out on top this evening. John Rivera, a 1:44 man, in the race as well. I'm not going to lie, Jeff. I did not know that we would ever see Donovan Brazier back on the track. He's such close friends with Craig Engels and they do so many eccentric things together. I began to think that that was it for him. He sort of hung it up, that he was entering the next stage of life. But lo and behold, what do we see? His first race on the track, drops a 1:44.

This guy is just oozing with talent. And now I feel like the expectation, the weight of expectation is lifted from his shoulders. And you've talked about how he has fundamentally changed the way that he once raced. Winning from anywhere on the track. This used to be a type of race where Donovan Brazier would go out and hammer it from the front. But now you seem to tuck in the middle of the pack running pretty well controlled. And Handal Roban right now. As the pacer is leading, Roban is the first racer. The Olympian from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As they come through in about 51 seconds, Donovan Brazier tucked into the pack

there. Roban, Watke, John Rivera. And then back to Olivier Demule. And then Brazier. Here comes Donovan Brazier, storming down the back stretch. This is what he can do. Doesn't everybody remember Donovan Brazier here? Coming to 600 meters in 1:17 and now in full stride. Handal Roban behind him. The meet record was set by Tyler Mulder in 2013, 1:44.7. What can Donovan Brazier run today? He ran 1:44.7 in his opener last week. And he's storming down the final straight away to the excitement of the crowd. 1:42, 1:43! And he'll break the tape, ladies and gentlemen. 1:43.81 for Donovan Brazier. A negative-split running of 51.0.

Sorry, what can he not do? What can he not do? The move that he made, the acceleration from about 280 meters out. He made those other athletes who were hauling butt down the back stretch. Looked like they were standing still, Jeff. What an incredible, incredible race. Guy's back, he's back. Track world, let us reintroduce you to Donovan Brazier. The man is back and everybody has to stand up a little taller right now and a little straighter because that move that he just pulled down the back straight. You tell me somebody else in the world that can do that. There's a handful of guys less than that.

You have an infield full of world-class athletes. Everyone just stopped whatever they were doing to watch. That was a master class in 800-meter run. We saw that the first 200 went through in 26 seconds and he was bunched in the back. He removed himself from that box and was able to escape. Run a 51.0 for the second lap on the close. Donovan Brazier. Handal Roban comes in second, 1:45.05. That makes him the third fastest man ever at the Portland Track Festival. That's it. Like the ghost of Riley Masters. Your meet record is gone. It stood for 12 years. But here down on the track, as we move quickly because we have little downtime

here at the Portland Track Festival in the Hot Window. We move quickly to the Shamrock Run women's 5000 meter race in the Hot Window and the times that we're going to want to look at here. 15:05 is the U.S. standard. 14:50 is the world standard for this race. You can see the list of competitors on the screen here. Notably, Courtney Frerichs. Never moved those barriers. See what you got. One of the, yeah, the GOATs in American steeplechasing. Laura Galvan here, a 14:43 5000 meter runner. She ran the 10k last night jumping back on the track. You can see her in the back. And Anna Camp Bennett is on the line.

We'll see if she's pacing or racing this race. Regan Yee there, steeplechase. Canadian Olympian. Jess McLean, your top American finisher in Boston jumping on the line. The crowd reacting to an interview with Jess Hull here. I think the crowd is reacting to Donovan Brazier. We just saw two amazing performances in the 800s here. There's Jess McLean on the line. Refinding her strength in her running career. Last year, placing 4th in the marathon trials and 4th in the 10,000-meter trials. Yeah, just being offered in a position on Team USA. Yeah, she'll be competing in Tokyo later this year. Ella Donahue on the line there.

A 14:50 athlete and alum of Grant High School on the east side here in Portland. So she's racing in front of her home crowd. Laura Galvan, Regan Yee, who we talked about previously. And Courtney Frerichs. So steeplers turned 5K runners, you know. Yeah, this is a fantastic field assembled here. I'm still buzzing from those 800s. I'm buzzing. I can't get enough of this. Again, you got athletes that just raced and ran PRs. They're looking to get dapped up from Donovan Brazier on the infield right now. They're looking from maybe an autograph. But one of the greatest to ever do this. Looking in awe at a man that just surpassed all expectations.

Ladies, being given final instructions. No funny stuff. Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. That's right, 12 and a half laps on deck here in the Shamrock Run women's 5000 -meters. Shamrock Run. An amazing event on the waterfront every year. One of the top 8Ks in the country. And here we go. Women's 5000 meters. Portland Track Festival. We'll see who gets the crown this year. Last year, it was Sifan Hassan in 14:43, setting a meet record. And Anna Camp Bennett looks to be the pacer here. And Ella Donahue slides herself into second position. Diljeet Taylor, coached athlete now.

Training out in Utah. And Camp Bennett also coached by Taylor. And on the outside in the red, two, Katelyn Tuohy, making her return to the track. And the former NCAA 5000 meter record holder, a 15:03 best. So we have Camp Bennett, Donahue, Courtney Frerichs, who has had a lot of success on this track. She is the meet record holder in the 3000 meter steeplechase for this meet. So it appears as though we have two different pace lights here, Jeff. The first front set of pace lights set for 14:50. That would be the blue and the green. The white appears to be a 15:05. That is the U.S. championship standard for all those who are a reminder.

Because we talked about it a couple times today. If you haven't been tuned in with us for the last four or five hours, that is too bad. These are some great stuff. If you just turn in for the hot window, welcome. We are in the Hot Window women's 5000. Anna Camp Bennett, inching her way up to that 14:50 pace light. Welcome. We love to have you here. And those two marks, 14:50, the world standard, 15:05, the U.S. standard. And the U.S. standard, as we have been saying all evening. For any unsponsored athletes that hit that, they will have the opportunity to sign a contract with Bandit. They have them pay their way to Eugene for the U.S. championships.

So Vanessa Frazier in this heat as well, Saucony athlete. She has had a lot of success on this track in the past. Trying to find that form that got her to 14:48. She was on the Bowerman track club, ran that Boston University indoors, then an American record. But Donahue up front, letting a gap form a little bit to Anna Camp Bennett. You know what's interesting is, I finished my run today, get back to the hotel, having a coffee in the lobby. The Stanford Dorks just will claim. And Vanessa Frazier, they're doing work, like they're doing homework on a college trip. No, we were having a good time. We were having a great chat.

But I was asking her, I was like, hey, you know, we were watching the Stockholm Diamond League. I was like, you know, what Diamond Leagues have you run in? She's like, I've never run in a Diamond League, which is so shocking to me as an athlete who's broken. What's her PB in this, 14:48? Yeah, an astonishingly fast time. But she said, no, I ran that in her best year. She was on fire during those COVID races. And so, yeah, she said, you know, even though, you know, she probably would have had the opportunity having had run that time, the Diamond Leagues and one of those races were happening. And so she missed that opportunity, which she says is a big miss for her in her

career and hoping to get herself back into that kind of a position. And through 3:00 flat here for Ella Donahue, that was a 72-second lap. So that's 3:00 flat for Donahue, Camp Bennett the pacer out front. There's a lot of firepower in that front part here. So Donahue, Courtney Frerichs, Jess McLean, Marathoners, and 10K runner stepping down to the 5K once again. Earlier in her career, she was a 5,000 meter runner. But Katelyn Tuohy on the outside too, in that red uniform, keep an eye on her as she moves her way up right next to Jess McLean. Sort of like these earlier heats, I wish these women would just settle down a

little bit, get in line. Stop running the extra meters that you're running on the outside of lane one. Every lap in the track is about eight meters different. If you go from the inside of lane one to the inside of lane two. So if you find yourself running a half of a lane out, that's an extra three or four meters per lap. That adds up over 12 and a half laps of the track. So Katelyn Tuohy looks very comfortable, mind you, but running extra distance every single lap. Tuohy now trying to find space for herself in front of Jess McLean, behind Courtney Frerichs. And another 72.9 delivered to Ella Donahue there by the great pacing by Anna Camp

Bennett. And coming up here, we're getting to the 1600 meter mark. And it looks like there's some anxious energy in the pack, as you were saying, with Tuohy running side by side. With Jess McLean, everybody trying to get that position up there and maybe wanting the pace a little faster. They're going to have to do something about that. 4:50 through 1600 meters. Yeah, I feel like if the athletes were really concerned about a fast pace that they would have been up on the heels of Anna Camp Bennett early on in this race . But there really has been a lagging meter or two between Anna and the rest of

this field. Ella Donahue coming through the first kilometer dead on three minutes. I was a math major, that's 15-flat pace. So if they're looking at something under 15 minutes, they're going to need to pick it up in the latter stages of this race. And Camp Bennett pulling to the outside as now you can hear the thunder from the stands with the stomping from the crowd, urging them on with that old Hayward energy that you could still hear here up in Portland. 73 seconds here for that lap. Anna Camp Bennett out to the front. She pulled wide and then she got right back in it. So Ella Donahue still protecting that front spot.

And Courtney Frerichs behind her. So the two athletes, both once Portland residents. Courtney Frerichs with the Bowerman Track Club. Ella Donahue growing up here and then previously a member of the Union Athletics Club. Now both Swoosh TC, but both in Utah I believe, separate coaches. And we're going to bring you right back to the action. We're going to stick here right now but pretty soon we've got an interview with Donovan Brazier. We've got Ella Donahue out front now and Courtney Frerichs and we're going to send it down for an interview on the couch with Donovan Brazier but we'll keep you here as

well. As we prepped for this interview don't worry we'll leave you with the pictures. And now we're rolling with the interview. Donovan Brazier welcome back to the track welcome back to Portland. What does it mean to run a season's best here in front of this home crowd for you? It feels great. I love Oregon. I built a lot of my base here so I'm just really grateful to be back and healthy. There's a long time break there but you've returned in class form and it's exciting to watch not only as a fan but a friend. What does it mean to be able to have your head down get to work and then come out with wins back to back?

It means good. I definitely need confidence boosters to say the least because of how great the 100 meters got in America but I'm just really trying to keep up with these guys right now. You have all of Portland behind you as we believe that you are one of the greatest of all time and we appreciate you for what you've done for the sport what you've done for the city of Portland and there's a lot of young fans here that look up to you so welcome back. We love you. Everybody let's give Donovan a warm welcome back here in a Portland crowd welcome. He's going to sign his name here on the table sign his name on the posters and

throw a t-shirt so once again if you are the loudest fan here for Donovan here's your chance to get a t-shirt from him. I'm too fat, I'm too furious, I'm too fast for y'all man. I'm too fat, I'm too furious, I'm too fast for y'all. All you just came home from doing to me and tell me what you going to do at the booth. Okay, Ella Donahue still clicking off 74's here at the front of this race. Courtney Frerichs sitting on her outside shoulder now Jess McLean on the inside and we see this tight pack still forming behind them so they're not strung out everybody is bunched together here. We've got Amber Tenizma in here as well on the outside, Under Armour athlete,

and Lucy Janks, Evelyn Kenboy sitting on the back of that pack with Regan Yee who is making a move to the outside. Everybody trying to get to the front of this pack but not the tip-top front which is being protected by Ella Donahue but now Katelyn Tuohy makes a move as we make our way to 3200 meters here, 9:47 on the clock. You know this isn't exactly playing out the way in which we thought that it would. I thought that the athletes would be a little more aggressive of going after some of these paces, at least the 15:05, but we thought that we were going to try and attack that 15 minute barrier but

what is ultimately happening is you have athletes like Regan who's like really trying to find some of the form that she's had in the year of 2024 Amber Tenizma who's trying to establish herself as one of the better American middle distance runners She ran 15:15 if I'm not mistaken at the Track Fest down in LA a few weeks ago, there was a big PR for her but this is a great opportunity to mix it up with some of the best in the US some of the best in the world and like this pace is perfect for her so that's you know well it may not be exactly what we thought was going to happen this is an incredible opportunity for some of these athletes

And Tuohy's stringing it out right now, 72 seconds, ratcheting down the pace, so moving from 74s to 72s, she doesn't want to let this sit any longer. Regan Yee going with her Ella Donahue still sitting third in the pack with Courtney Frerichs and all the major players are there so Tuohy doing what she can to make this a real strength effort here in this electric forest atmosphere and Tuohy now stringing it out that move got rid of Evelyn Kenboy who was hanging onto the back of that pack Regan Yee now the only one to really make a strong effort of trying to keep up with Katelyn Tuohy as they're coming up on three laps to go

great to see Katelyn running with this amount of confidence, this amount of strength taking it to this field right now where she has four or five meters on a pack of about seven and the former NC State Wolfpack athlete Katelyn Tuohy now taking charge of this race inside three laps to go and that was a 71-second lap for Tuohy as she's got the gap and you can see it right now so who's going to try and get back to her out of that pack behind her this is Tuohy's race now as that gap keeps growing and she's feeling it right now as she's chasing that finish line and finding her old form here looking so strong working her way down the back straight away around the curve

you know Katelyn Tuohy I think is a rare example of an athlete who was so incredibly dominant in high school went on to continue that dominance in college and now is showing herself to be the class of this field right here Jeff she's put 15 20 meters on a group of very celebrated 5,000 meter runners in steeple chasers Olympic medalists are in that group behind her and she's just made mincemeat of them so Courtney Frerichs leading that pack, the Olympic steeplechase medalist and Katelyn Tuohy inside two laps to go up front driving the pace, a 70-second lap, so she went 72, 71, 70, ratcheting down

the pace growing that gap, Frerichs pushing a 73-second lap leading that second pack so what's going to happen who's going to make a move in that second pack because we know they're fighting for that second third place position but first place right now going away is Katelyn Tuohy who's having a stellar performance this evening Katelyn Tuohy's listed personal best, 15:03; those white lights in front of her are 15:05. if she can continue on the 72-clip she will not only win this race but set a personal best in the process the group behind her I think that they've just left way too much to weigh too

much ground to cover over the final lap of this race, but Katelyn Tuohy's showing no signs of slowing down 72-pace too, she's running 4:40 1600 meter pace here see what it is when she comes up to the bell lap and she's reaching it right now Katelyn Tuohy leading this race, 13:55 on the clock and that was a 69, so taking one second off each lap, Katelyn Tuohy. Donahue back to the front is now pushing this pace clock to 70 and we know that Donahue can close like crazy too but she's got Katie Izzo on her heels, the Adidas athlete in the red kit so Katelyn Tuohy charging out front, then Ella Donahue, and then Katie Izzo

Katelyn Tuohy smack up in the middle of that 15:05 pace late — what does she have over the final 200 she's gone big to the arms sprinting with all of her might she has now eclipsed the pace lights what does she have left of the final 150 meters? Around the bend in the electric forest here comes Katelyn Tuohy rolling around onto the home straightaway down Paradise Alley this race is all hers and looking incredibly strong, leading the pack, Ella Donahue in second, Katie I- zzo fighting for that spot, but here comes Katelyn Tuohy, the clock hits 15 minutes 15:03, and she'll be there, 15:04 it looks like, for the victory. Donahue takes

second, Izzo third 15:04.07 for Katelyn Tuohy, victorious tonight at the Portland Track Festival Donahue 15:08. So Tuohy, 68 seconds; taking a look at her final split, she went 72, 71, 70, 69, 68. incredible pacing there, what a run from Katelyn Tuohy, hats off to her, great to see her back running so strongly. Big PR, I have to say it, from Amber Tenizma going from a 15:15 personal best down to just under 15:12 in that environment. Regan Yee showing great form in 15:10 and here's Katelyn Tuohy powering down the last 50 meters, grimacing, gritting her teeth giving it absolutely everything emptying the tank and being rewarded with the

victory fans roaring her on to the finish too Lucy Jenks coming up with a great result 15:09 for her in fourth place. Regan Yee 15:10. Jess McLean coming back to the track after Boston, 15:12 and now we have to take an immediate transition here to get to the men's 5000 meters This every single year is called the Paul Banta Memorial men's 5000 meters and it's a long time meet director for the Oregon Track Classic that was the father we can say it because it's Father's Day the father of this meet the Portland Track Festival that meet Oregon Track Classic ceased to exist in 2005 and three years later the Portland Track Festival started

and this is now its 17th year thanks to the great work of Paul Banta and Craig Rice who started this meet after him you can see on the line here a great assembly of athletes. Justin Knight, a 12:51 man, trying to find that form again on the track Ayman Kenboy, two years ago we saw him take down Cole Hocker in the Hot Window 1500 here at the Portland Track Festival Got Drew Hunter on the line in the New Balance kit there high schooler Tavon Kitchen, coming off a 7:58 3K performance at the Oregon State Championships but a lot of great athletes in this field And the pacing for this race set for 13-flat at the front light and 13:10 for the

second Austin Dahlquist the Pacer James Moira in this field, Gonzaga athlete Dan Mahalski up front steeple chaser race last night and Kieran Tuntivate so that is the field out there James Moira wearing that Brooks kit down on the track the neon up there and he's a 13:22 athlete Kieran Tuntivate behind him representing Thailand former Bowerman track club athlete so he's familiar with Portland we've got Justin Knight Thomas Ratcliffe in the pack so there was intended to be a couple different pace lights set for this race with the front pace light being 13 minutes, a second pace light being 13:10

Our pacer is only listed as being at 13:10 with Dan Mahalski and Austin Dahlquist both of them Pacers out front those green pace lights will give you a pace check here at 600 meters they're coming through in about 1:35.95 so that's roughly 63 pace, that looks to be about 13:10 13:10, the meet record here at 13:18 set last year by Dylan Jacobs in the field we have a previous champion from two years ago Olin Hacker, the Hoka athlete, who ran 13:19 to win this meet in 2023, so he's claimed a log round before and we'll see if he can get back on the couch but strung out in the field Kenboy there in the purple on the outside

you know who you haven't really talked about much here Kenneth Rooks Kenneth Rooks Kung Fu Kenny of a different type yeah I think that nickname's already taken whatever hey there could be many Kung Fu Kenny's in this world Kenneth Rooks, obviously Olympic silver medalist in the steeplechase here trying to notch lower his personal best in the 5000. We just saw Courtney Frerichs take a swing in the women's race but Kenneth Rooks looks very much up to the task sitting right there on the shoulder of Olin Hacker and Ayman Kenboy, a lot of those heavy hitters in the middle of the pack yeah Rooks witnessed last night the 8:13 performance by Isaac Updike

taking the log round and setting the meet record here Portland Track Festival Rooks last year was the champion here at the Portland Track Festival in the steeplechase and then went on to win silver medal in the Paris Olympic Games in one of the more inspired performances I've ever seen Jeff incredible unbelievable just the grit and determination and just desire shown by Kenneth Rooks over the final 400 meters there was I mean shook me to my core in this race as well hanging on to the back of this pack Suguru Osako, the Japanese great he's got a 13:08 best and a 2:05 marathon to his name Osako won a million dollars for that 2:05

that's fantastic good for him it was some business or the government in Japan put a prime out there we got we can see the Japanese fans cheering him on right now with flags in the stands world championships will be in Tokyo this year back to my very important story about Suguru Osako, that if he broke the Japanese national record at the Tokyo marathon they put a prime out there of a million dollars and he did just that he's a man he's a man of his word I'm gonna go run that so out here Dan Mahalski setting a great pace still as the field strung out behind him clicking off 64-second laps and that's what looks like

the pack wants right now as it is a bit strung out in front of him but bunched slightly towards the back so Moira out front, a 13:22 man yeah it's 4:16 through a mile I would expect it more from this field again we are more concerned with racing here at the Portland Track Fest less concerned with times but 4-16 is a mere that's 13:20 pace that's easy days for a lot of guys in this field so we'll see what they can do because there is a lot of fire power in this pack Drew Hunter is there Casey Knievel-Bard Olin Hacker lots of athletes coming down from altitude for this event and that was a 65 flat on that lap

as it looks like gaps starting to form at the front so we'll see what these men want to do as Moira, coached by Pat Tyson leads in that neon singlet and we're going to be right back we're going to leave you with the picture on the screen we'll talk to you in a minute Every runner's journey is different no matter where you start or how far you go you need gear you can rely on it can turn a quiet road into your escape where every step clears your mind on rugged terrain it keeps you steady mapping your path even when the trail fades it moves with you fluid and effortless sinking with your pace through every stride

and every lap wherever your run takes you Running Warehouse has the gear to get you there and the fans are rumbling in the stands as these athletes run by the grandstand that's still Moira in the neon the first racer in this race and Tuntivate behind him the Nike athlete representing Thailand Ayman Kenboy who knows what it takes to win at this meet on the outside in the orange Tracksmith kit that Sam Parsons representing Germany is a 13:12 athlete also we haven't lost anybody in this race we've talked about Suguru Osako sort of taking up the back of the field but we have not dropped anybody with these 64-65s

smack dab in the middle of this field is none other than Tavon Kitchen Tavon Kitchen who's sitting right on the heels of former high school superstar standout Drew Hunter so I mean in great company there on the shoulder of an olympic silver medalist thank you for the opportunity Jeff this is once a runner territory here as Tavon Kitchen the 7:58 athlete, Crater athlete jumps into the deep end in this race with this kind of competition but now Parsons takes the lead and kicks it down a notch to 63.9 so Parsons had enough of those 64-65s and now they're really getting things moving here in the 5000 meters

yeah this has just gotten from a pretty comfortable pace for these guys to the gas is on young Parsoni going to the front you can just tell that he has changed the momentum of this field these guys are now all strung out they were running about two abreast there for a couple of laps everyone starting to look around look at each other and right now Sam Parsons has put the pedal down and there are some real kickers in this race too we know Olin Hacker can close like crazy and Kenneth Rooks we've seen what he can do in the steeplechase hasn't been able to do it quite yet in the 5000 meters Ayman Kenboy

he's run 12:51 so you can never count him out so lap to lap for Parsons there was 63.2 coming through 3,000 meters and 8:04-high so again these are fairly unimpressive times for a lot of the guys in this field but you can obviously see that the tempo has been turned up and now the race is really starting here through 3,000 meters 2k left and Parsons driving the pace hitting 63s so it's what they wanted from the beginning and Parsons is the one who's going to deliver it to him but everybody's still in touch it's strung out now but there are no gaps up there through the first dozen athletes in the field

as they swing around the curve Tuntivate there in second place still Kenboy moved his way up in front of Justin Knight now and you can see Drew Hunter on the outside the man's been running on the roads the man's been running on the roads, he's run a little bit of Bolder Boulder Bolder Boulder, excuse me yeah thank you but he's also dabbled in the 10,000 meters success there a fourth place finish in the trials last year and now back to the 5,000 and they're back to 65s I thought that they would I didn't see it slow that much but you don't want to shock me more than anything in this is that little injection of pace

has chewed up and spit out Olympic silver medalist Kenneth Rooks it is absolutely thrown him off the back of this pack and again that is surprising to me but this again is another example of how the steeplechase and the athletes who excelled at are extremely unique individuals so Hunter was behind Kenboy there clipped him a little bit there were some words exchanged as he made his way to the front I think he must have just said Happy Father's Day this is Father's Day for Drew Hunter a father of two here and he's leading this race his family in the stands and on the infield Olin Hacker behind him

and so Drew Hunter driving the train Olin Hacker Kenboy into third position now as everybody tries to get their spot for the kick with three laps remaining see who can hoist the log round here in the electric forest and the fans are roaring them on Hunter never taken a win before at the Portland Track Festival he's been close he's been second the year the Clayton Murphy won the 1500 he came second place to him the fans showing the respect and admiration for high school athlete Tavon Kitchen as he passed behind and again that injection of pace sort of if he was on the ropes it showed this lead pack now

again every lap we're starting to lose one or two athletes we're down to about nine or ten in the front here in the final kilometer Hunter stretching it out clicked off another 63 Olin Hacker behind him and the fans are rumbling beneath us as they come by the home straight away Hunter Hacker Kenboy Watch out for Casey Knievel-Bard he's a 1500/5K guy so he's got speed he can close well he can change pace with the best of them and he's now put himself into sixth place ahead of Justin Knight inside two laps to go lurking on the outside coming up into third position Kenboy a 13:08 man over 5000 meters

and a 3:34 memorably here two years ago defeating Cole Hocker and he takes the front storms to the front Olin Hacker goes around Drew Hunter trying to stay attached but Kenboy now making his bid for the front with 600 meters to go and we'll see if he can hold it for the Puma Elite racing team Kenboy brow furrowed looking down the home straight away and here he comes you can see Thomas Ratcliffe there in fourth place position Parsons still there Kenboy focused on exactly trying to execute right now it's Kenboy Hacker Larson's Bell lap, 12:17 kicks it into another gear does Kenboy starting to inch away from this field

Drew Hunter wanting to get around Olin Hacker running the extra yards around the turn Ratcliffe also doing the same it seems as though Hacker is out of it but you can never count him out with his blistering final kick Hunter closing the gap now on Kenboy has Kenboy gone too soon has Father Drew Hunter given himself an opportunity to get the best gift down with 200 to go with Hunter giving chase Kenboy looking smooth around the bend but Drew Hunter is closing down on him with every step gritting his teeth with that dad strength let's see what he could do Father's Day here in Portland and it's Kenboy

and it's Hunter Hunter and Kenboy down the final stretch it's a nail biter who's going to take it we've got Kenboy Drew Hunter a little bit of daylight Hunter moves to the front looks over it he's got it 13:14 on the clock Drew Hunter is your champion here at the Portland Track Festival 13:14.95 meet record in the Paul Banta Memorial 5000 meters and Banta is looking down smiling on the stadium right now watching that and a perfect one for Father's Day that was a bare knuckle brawl of 5k the gloves were off over the final lap Kenboy I thought he had it the move he made was so definitive and here comes

Tavon Kitchen coming in trying to go under 14 minutes Tavon Kitchen coming in here 13:56 on the clock 57, 58 and he'll just get under about 13:59 it looks like so ducks under 14 for the high school athlete there Crater great but Hunter and here we are another view of the stretch battle and we got Thomas Ratcliffe coming in third there but Kenboy does he have it Drew Hunter he's been moving up in distance but able to find that 1500-meter leg speed because strength is speed and he closed in 56 seconds over that final 400 meters a 1:56 clocking final 800 give me that banner that's mine wow that was an exciting race

that was an exciting race I mean it went from they were jogging out there to closing and running a 13:14 but that's what you can do when you have these immensely fast final one or two laps 56-60 for the final for the final 800 for Drew Hunter 1:56 and for a man throughout his career has placed so highly here at the Portland Track Festival second in the 1500 years ago has come back to finally claim victory and be able to throw that log round in his trophy case for the kids to see on Father's Day unbelievable bravo Drew Hunter hats off to you sir happy Father's Day and here we are in the final events of the evening

assembled on the track this is the Bandit Running women's 1500 meter race Simone Plourde the Canadian, a 4:04 athlete on the line and moving down the line there's a number of who's who athletes here Christina Aragon a 4:04 athlete in the field Fomina Asakal, the On athlete Katie Camarena there she's in an Asics kit she ran at Portland State University and this is her first time in the Hot Window Portland Track Festival and Lorena Rangel Batres there Jen Randall from Pacific Athletics Club Sadie Sargent having a great season so far good race down in Los Angeles Gracie Hyde in the pink uniform she won the steeple last night

9:24.6, and she's coming back here to compete in this 1500 meters and in this race as well Portland's own Sinclair Johnson and the fans have turned out to watch her tonight and cheer her on sixth fastest American of all time she placed fourth in that amazing race in the Olympic trials last year to run 3:56 just an absurd time 1500 meters these days yeah, 3:56 to not make the team unbelievable and she'll try to make the Tokyo World Championships team later this year but there's Aragon, Plourde, and there's Sinclair Johnson on the inside wearing the number one so she's also never taken a win here at the

Portland Track Festival far and away the top seed as we look at what the fans think heading into this race without a doubt Jeff we are in a golden era of American middle distance running I think that it's safe to say that and I don't say that because of the times the athletes are running because that'll get me in trouble with the spike and shoe purists and all the like but with the happenstance of major victories on the global stage whether that's the Continental Tour, gold meets, Diamond Leagues Olympics world championships the medals that we are bringing home and the performances that we're putting up on a week in

and week out basis are insane it's a new era in track racing times to think about 4:06 flat, the U.S. standard here, 4:01.5 the world standard as the women step to the line it looks like the wave light will be set for 4:04 but we'll see what the athletes have to say about that as Sinclair Johnson tries to get to the front on the inside and the rabbit moves to get in front of her far and away the favorite in the field Johnson Wow we haven't seen numbers like that they really jumped in if you're putting in votes for Sinclair Chuck a buck in, sweeten the pot if every one of you put in a dollar that's 1400 more bucks

into the pot for these athletes there you go show them your love it's just a it's just a buck and there's the purse right there a little bit of what the athletes are racing for in this bronze level competition as they run by the grandstand for the first time Sinclair Johnson in front Simone Plourde, the Canadian athlete training with Diljeet Taylor 48 seconds for that first 300 split person players gained some space at the front for herself Sinclair Johnson rolls through 400 meters in about 65 seconds so right on pace right on schedule a good pace that train is never late and looking incredibly smooth too

two years ago we saw Sinclair Johnson jump on the track coming back from injury and run 4:00 flat here in Portland at the Stumptown Twilight so she's got the talent you never know what she can do but what we might have in store tonight because the athletes are all spread out in touch behind her Jala Hancock-Cameron of Australia in the blue kit sitting behind Simone Plourde behind her Olivia Boone and now that's Katie Camarena on the outside trying to stay in touch with the field in the orange in the back but this is Sinclair Johnson in the pole position two laps to go 1,500 meters 65.3 on that lap for Sinclair

Simone, Riley Chamberlain all running 65.4 these are all roughly the exact same time the pacemaker doing a phenomenal job executing to perfection and now the duty is up to Sinclair Sinclair is in the front driving the train, Simone Plourde on her heels Riley Chamberlain in the all-blue BYU athlete sitting in third so what does Sinclair Johnson want to do here she's got Simone Plourde on her heels and Johnson around the bend as the entire pack rolls on behind her it's Johnson without daylight currently but she's leading this pack the Portland local in front of her people here she lives and trains

in this city it's special for the fans to see her compete here this is a real fan base developing they're behind her and they would love to see her take a win here in the forest this evening we'll see if she could do so inside a lap to go three are getting away here with it being Sinclair Johnson, Plourde, and Riley Chamberlain looking fantastic in third so Johnson now making a move down the back stretch this is her bid for the win as she tries to uncouple herself from Simone Plourde getting daylight between Sinclair and Plourde about five meters at this point Riley Chamberlain looking to go around

Plourde on the outside but those three are basically clear from the rest of the field Sinclair Johnson looking to take her first victory here at the Portland Track Festival in front of her home crowd and they're bringing her home Jeff emptying the tank now Riley Chamberlain makes a move around Simone Plourde, but this is all Sinclair Johnson down the straightaway and we'll see what she can deliver as the clock says something very fast on it 4:01 for the win for Sinclair Johnson 4:01.46 with a 61-second close for Sinclair Johnson that came largely on that final 300 meters delivering a win for the Portland crowd here

Simone Plourde with a 4:03.8 personal best and Riley Chamberlain 4:03.9, a huge personal best for Chamberlain who I believe if I'm not mistaken is a 4:08 athlete coming into the day and we'll double check that but Grace Featherstone the steeple chaser a 4:06 to her name yesterday and there Johnson is hoisting the log round and that's hers to keep but down the line put that in the trophy case you have to that is I mean who gets a log round there's 10 athletes a year only champions in the hot window that get one of those exactly Sinclair Johnson closing it down in a 61 second final circuit for 4:01.46

and here we see the replay of the fans roaring her on to the finish putting their thundersticks together Sinclair Johnson and her first victory at the Portland Track Festival and what a race we've got Drew Hunter addressing the crowd with an interview from Mr. Ribich saying the importance of performing in front of people you love dearly he said his brother was here his parents are here his wife is here his kids are here it's Father's Day man what a time to perform every single one of these races has been an incredible story unfolding here on the track and we've just been treated to something special

every single time and we're coming to the end of the night this race is left there's so many races so many start lines ahead but only one left this evening as the Bandit Running men's 1500 meters sits between us and the party the after party and the after after party because after the party it's the after party but here we go look at this you know who's pumped up that women's 1500 Kregnolat absolutely the pace pirate and he's jumping to pace out here for this Bandit Running men's 1500 meters and the fans are going crazy right now because Drew Hunter is summoning all the strength he has to throw a t-shirt into the crowd

not much of a thrower more of a runner than the team so yeah he used all of his arm strength in the 56 forgive him just you know the people at home it wasn't on the screen so wanted to paint a picture absolutely and here we get the start list of the men's 1500 meters Kregnolat in there a 3:33 man he's in shape he won a 1500 Brooks PR last week and he always put together a good performance last year he was winning down the straightaway before Cooper Teare drove through traffic and was able to claim the victory Sam Prackel a staple here at the Portland Track Festival both Andy Powell coached athletes

speaking of Andy Powell Owen Powell is in this race a 3:56 indoor-miler high school athlete we might see something special here Jeff he recently ran a 1:46 .6 in the 800 last week and given the range that he has 8:30, low 8:30s in the two-mile anything's possible we saw what Hobbs Kessler could do four years ago here as a high schooler running 3:34 every man in this race has run 3:36 or faster that's Alex Stitt on the screen Oklahoma State athlete a 3:36 man and West Porter in this race as well he won heat two last year in 3:35 so this year he gets into the top heat Josh Thompson trying to find some form this year

3:34 man representing team USA at the World Championships national champion and Derek Johnson coming back into this race after racing the steeplechase last night we've seen that double being being done multiple times done very well just moments ago absolutely Featherstone — all with a huge PR there's got to be something about going from a steeple to a 1500 that you just it just feels easy like I know the 1500 is hard but the steeplechase it borders on impossible when your legs start to get heavy having to go over those hurdles having to jump into the water pit like what an ask for an athlete then just be like oh no it's three and three quarters laps no hurdles

also in this race we cannot neglect to say there are two high school athletes Josiah Tostenson the Crater athlete who's run 3:57 for the mile is also in this race so we have a border clash with Washington's Owen Powell and Oregon's Josiah Tostenson his teammate Tavon Kitchen in the 5000 meters earlier this evening but he'll contend with the best that we have here in the men's 1500 top section Portland Track Festival a bronze level competition his high school guys are being thrown into deep water right now just not a problem these kids all have ice in their veins they just don't care and this is a

this is a storied event here we've seen ever since 2019 this race has been won in 3:35 or faster but before that 2015 most memorably likely is Evan Jager's 3:32.9 performance which was at that time the American-soil record by an American parents COVAX there we just saw were in the Harvard jersey on Friday finished 3rd in the NCAA championship that was one of the most outlandish 1500 finishes I've ever seen a 3:47 is what they were 3:47, 3:47, 3:47, 3:47, 3:47, 3:47, 3:47 I don't know how early they were there was just one guy that ran 3:48 basically flat unbelievable they were seven wide on the home stretch

Ethan Strand running about the silliest race of anyone on the track in about last place with 100 meters to go not where you want to be we're here also in this race we have Elliot Cook the Oregon athlete now wearing a Nike kit, he's a 3:33 man shocker and a great 800 meter athlete as well so we'll see what he can do follow up I just never knew that was a pipeline I just never knew that was a pipeline yeah it's hard I mean once you get it then you can make the connection okay yeah yeah but here we go men called to the line Bandit Running men's 1500 meters to cap off the evening here at the Portland Track Festival

Craig Noax got to get out fast to get in front of the crew because they want a roll here and he just watched his fiancee Sinclair Johnson run a 4:01 for the 1500 meters and take the victory but a little pushing and shoving as the men trying to get position yeah you got 14 guys everyone's trying to be in the same exact place at the same exact time so Craig's done a good job to get himself out of the fray out into the front slowing down ever so slightly let these athletes catch up and I'm sure he'll put the gas back down and that is Kieran Lum in the top position behind Noax who the fans think will take this

but they come through in about 43 seconds in about 43 seconds in the wave light for this race set at 3:35 so that is about 57 for Noak through the quarter and Lum is going with him as he is always done here at the Portland track festival whenever the pace has lagged Lum has been the guy to pick it up and push it but Fuad Massoudi sitting behind Lum and then Sam Prackel and Lucas Bonds Sam Ellis tucked into the pack as well gives these athletes a lot of confidence to have a pacer like Craig Noak they I mean domestically Craig has done an incredible job paced most of the fast miles and 1500s here in North America

so all the confidence in the world that Craig Noak is going to do a smashing job and he's doing just that right now coming through with two laps to go coming through with two laps to go in 1:54, those are 57.3s so 57-dead for the first 57.3 on the second Craig is doing an incredible job Kieran following closely on his field Massoudi right behind him Prackel then running in fourth position right now but the third of the finishers Prackel let's see if he can do something crazy today we're looking for some fireworks from Sam Prackel I've been wanting a big breakout from him for the last couple of seasons

and the pace pirate pulls out having pulled the guys through 1:55 through 800 meters for Lum and now Lum is at the front and it's Lum Massoudi Sam Prackel and Lucas Bonds in the green singlet so Lum let's see if he can keep the pace hot here he's on the lights at 3:35 pace you could see on the side pulling out in the speed suit in the black speed suit there's Owen Powell and he's next to Josiah Tostenson back there with a lap to go 2:39 on the clock Lum at the front and Massoudi and then Prackel all strung out still nobody's making a move yet and 1200 meters hit in 2:52 now he going into the front

Lum in 2nd, Kovacs in 3rd, Prackel in 4th 150 meters to go one of these athletes have left Massoudi is starting to pull away from this field and the Pokes coming down the stretch for Oklahoma State Stillwater going crazy right now we're seeing what he can do it's Massoudi and it's his race to lose as he's got a good gap coming down the stretch and he'll come to the finish line and 3:33 maybe 3:34 and a blanket finish behind him 3:33.93 for Fuad Massoudi and Kovacs will come up for 2nd, 3:34 Prackel, 3:35.2 Sam Ellis, 3:35.4 and as they all came across the line it's impossible to see how they finished

but 3:35s across the board Porter, Stitt and Massoudi with that 3:33.9 Elliot Cook coming in 3:36.0 Thompson as the results populate and Lum doing the lion's share of the work 3:36 here on the screen Owen Powell, 3:36 and Josiah Tostenson both high school athletes and 3:36.49 and 3:36.85 so neck and neck we heard from Tostenson's coach heading into tonight that he did a 800 meter time trial earlier this week in 1:47 following seeing Owen Powell's 1:46 he said I want to get in the top heat too and he delivered but here we got Massoudi coming down the straightaway he's your champion tonight 3:33.9, a personal best for him

what a different race experience this must have been for Terrence Kovacs they're the Harvard athlete running 3:47 down in Eugene but a few days ago to come back up here and run a massive personal best, 3:34.79 I think that's six seconds off his personal best Massoudi taking a baby PB going from 3:34.3 down to 3:33.9 a baby PB for Sam Prackel a baby PB for Sam Ellis man what a finish what a remarkable race Holy smokes so the hot window delivered once again as it always does year to year amazing finishes here followed Massoudi closing it out with a 3:33.93 after Sinclair Johnson's 4:01 and before we keep going

with you and drone on and on we're going to send it down to the couch with an interview with Sinclair Johnson if you're trying to get a t-shirt here stick around Sinclair Johnson and we'll be throwing out t-shirts after the interviews Sinclair Johnson you're living here in Portland Oregon this is a home race for you first race of the year outdoor with a win what does it mean to get a win in front of your home crowd oh I love it I think the energy of the crowd different carried me the last 800 and just excited to be out here I think Portland is such a good running community city and yeah it was a good night for it too

that's awesome and now there's been some coaches changes too but we're still seeing progression still seeing wins what does it mean to be able to stay true to what you're training and looking forward to ahead of the next couple weeks yeah I think I'm always my biggest advocate and I'm gonna take it I'm gonna make a change when I feel like I need one so definitely glad to I take a big risk going off my own and being coach my fiancé so I'm glad to see it's paying off so far well you too both our local legend here at the Portland Track Festival so congratulations on the win we'll sign the table sign the poster

anything else you want to say to sign off at the Portland Track Festival I just want to say go pokes because we just had we just had a Poke win the 1500, Fuad Massoudi so yeah go pokes it's a sweep for Oklahoma State University And Sinclair Johnson will be able to sign the table throw a t-shirt so if you want a t-shirt here from Sinclair go ahead and be loud and be proud as she is a living here in Portland Oregon a local and excited to be able to give back not only a win but a t-shirt here to the local crowd if you want to be loud and proud and we're good And then a personal best here for Fuad

in the men's 1500 meters, sponsored by Bandit you came out here, you saw a fellow Poke here when the women's 1500 meters what did it mean to come out here and win this race in dominant fashion I mean thanks for having us here I mean I had no expectation coming to Portland after doing a 5k on Friday so my legs were heavy and I just came here and tried to kind of win the race, I wasn't even looking at the time and it was pretty good I'm so happy and it was pretty good, I'm so happy absolutely getting closer does that mean you're going to be racing a few more times we might be seeing a few more races here

coming up in the next weeks yes I'm going to go back and sit with my coach and get like 2 or 3 weeks more training and then win again in the summer all right we're looking forward to cheering you on on the circuit Portland track is behind you congratulations on the win make the signatures and we'll throw out this t-shirt for you and fans have already emptied the stadium here getting to their cars to go celebrate the wins here but yeah that's right, two Cowpokes winning the 1500 meters there with Sinclair Johnson taking the women's as well and both in dominant fashion Jeff dominant we expected fireworks

from both of those races and they delivered absolutely, 4:01 for Sinclair 3:33 for Fuad I mean what more do you want to have a of track and field? from the 800s to the 5000s to the 1500s the hot window delivered steeplechases, of course in the 10,000 meters that we were treated to afterwards amazing performances all around and throughout the day once again a fantastic Portland Track Festival and we just want to thank everybody for tuning in everybody coming in to bring the energy into this stadium in the electricity light it up and to all the partners that help this or make this happen it takes the city

to make something like this happen and we truly believe that getting behind events like this evergreen events and having them take hold in the United States that's how you grow the sport and build a heritage and a history and something that we can all look forward to from year to year so we'll be here next year and we'll be here 20 years from now and maybe we'll be in the booth who knows maybe we'll pass on the reins then a thousand years from now you will still be able to watch the Portland Track Festival And don't forget to spay and neuter your pets you know but just be good people that's what this event

is put on by good people it's attended by good people and the people who come here and race are good people so just be a good person and there's all the good people there the crew the Tracklnd production crew to us hey everybody thank you for tuning in from around the world from over a hundred countries probably 200 at this point this is global once again thank you to Bandit running for giving us this free live stream to view from around the world and that's it for us tonight we will see you in 2026 in the electric forest where are we going to eat? wherever still serving food one of those fine-dining establishments

maybe a cold frosty beer book your tickets now for 2026 here at the Portland Track Festival all right good night everybody thanks for tuning in thank you for tuning in may have noticed Trevor Bassett come out behind Wright Benjamin all dressed in black the 26 year old there he is he has a legitimate shot of making this team he's unsponsored the unsponsored project is all about supporting athletes to be able to chase their dreams and put them on a pedestal and really really do something that's right and special for these unsponsored athletes who are trying to make it there's a ton of conversation about

how do you grow the sport what's good for the sport and obviously right now track is trying to grow there's no system where athletes are getting paid outside of footwear brands for the most part 2023 and 2024 was another huge pillar of the initiative to keep it hyper focused on the athletes but we're still keeping our release clause within every single one of these contracts yeah for 2025 I mean for us athletes at a deeper level point blank we'll be able to double the amount of support that we were doing CJ Allen and the ever present Trevor Bassett making yet another team