Nia Akins, Cole Hocker Run Fast 800s; Sifan Hassan Competes in 5,000 and 1,500 Less Than 30 Minutes Apart; Cooper Teare, Anna Camp-Bennett Win 1,500s

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Kim Spir photos

PORTLAND, Ore. - Daniel Simmons wants to cap his high school running career at the U.S. Olympic Trials and Sunday at the Portland Track Festival, he likely made that dream a reality. 

The senior from American Fork, soon to be a member of the cross country and track program at Brigham Young University, smashed the high school national record in the 5,000 meters on a warm, breezy evening at the Portland Track Festival. 

INTERVIEWS

Simmons ran 13 minutes, 25.86 seconds to take the prep record, lowered last year by Lex Young of Newbury Park CA, down by nine seconds. 

The Olympic Trials standard is 13:25.00. Simmons will likely make the field with his time. The USATF will take 30 athletes. 

"Leading into this race I was feeling really confident that I could run 13:25, that I could get the standard," he said. "But getting here, on the day of the race, my mind started attacking me. Doubt crept in and I was scared. But toward the last three hours before the race, I was like, 'You know what, this is going to be amazing, I still believe I can do this.'"

Do it, he did. 

In a field of professional men, Simmons rallied from 18th and finished eighth with a 2:01 final 800 and 57.66 closing 400. 

Dylan Jacobs of On won the race in 13:18.18. 

Simmons intends to compete at New Balance Nationals Outdoor at Franklin Field in Philadelphia this week, with a chance to punch through the sub-four barrier in the mile as well as defend his 2-mile title. 

Two more prep standouts were part of the action during Sunday evening's premier 'Hot Window" session at Portland Track Festival, which was held for the first time at the new Lincoln High track in downtown Portland. (Lewis & Clark's grandstand is undergoing repairs).  

Three other high school standouts, Owen Powell, Sadie Engelhardt and Elizabeth Leachman, also jumped into deep waters against pros. 

Powell of Mercer Island, Wash. ran a US#1 time of 1:48.60 in the 800 meters and broke the all-time state record. 

Engelhardt, of Ventura CA, ran a personal-best 4:08.86 for eighth place in the 1,500 meters and moved to No. 5 on the all-time high school list. 

Leachman, coming out of her sophomore year at Boerne Champion TX, put herself in the middle of the 5,000-meter pack to start with but was unable to keep pace and fell back to 19th place before dropping out with four laps remaining. 

Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands, who never ceases to amaze, took on the challenge of racing the women's 5,000 and 1,500 -- all between 8 and 9 p.m. 

Hassan successfully fended off a spirited challenge from Elise Cranny to win the 5,000 meters in 14:43.85 to Cranny's 14:46.49. Karissa Schweizer was third in 14:48.60. 

Then, the double gold medalist from the Tokyo Games exited the track and got ready for her next event. Twenty-five minutes later she was in the 1,500 meters and finished a little over a second behind winner Anna Camp-Bennett (4:07.13) and Ella Donaghu (4:07.27). Gracie Hyde of Adams State, in third, broke the NCAA Division 2 all-dates best with 4:07.60, taking down the 1990 performance of 4:07.69 by Teena Colebrook from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

Hassan ran 4:08.22. 

"I just want to be out of my comfort zone and do things no one has done, or challenge (myself)," she said. "Just enjoy life, and try everything."

The Portland Track Festival represented one of the final opportunities to secure either Trials standards, or the even stiffer Olympic Games qualifying standards.

Cranny and Schweizer, who had not raced the 5,000 this year, both earned Olympic standards by running faster than 14:52.00. 

Virginia's Wes Porter, fresh off a sixth-place finish in the NCAA men's 1,500-meter final, kept his momentum going Sunday and ran a personal-best 3:35.63 to meet the Trials standard in the High Performance section. Lucas Bons, running unattached, was second in 3:35.88 and Brett Meyer was third in 3:36.40. 

Later, Cooper Teare of Nike won the fastest section of the men's 1,500 with 3:35.48. Kieran Lumb, a Canadian, was second in 3:35.63, and Gary Martin of Virginia was third in 3:35.77. Waleed Suliman of Brooks Beasts was fourth in 3:35.86. 

The top 11 in that race finished faster than 3:37.00, which is the Trials standard. 

Nia Akins won the women's 800 meters with a dominant 1:58.04 that was three-tenths of a second slower than her personal best, which came in Budapest last summer when she finished sixth in the World final. 

Nike Union Athletics teammates finished second and third. McKenna Keegan ran 1:59.93 for second and Sinclaire Johnson ran 1:59.95 for third. 

Cole Hocker showed his speed in winning the men's 800 meters in 1:45.63 and then declared that he is in the best fitness of his career. 

"I was looking for a chance to test my wheels, where I'm at," Hocker said. "Training is going better than it's ever been going."

On Saturday, at Mt. Hood Community College, Kenneth Rooks won the men's 3,000 steeplechase in 8:18.77. Evan Jager, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, was fourth in 8:25.77, his fastest time in two years. 

Allie Ostrander won the women's steeplechase in a personal-best 9:24.70.