Lagat qualifies in 5000 meter

EUGENE, Ore. — WSU’s Bernard Lagat won the men’s 5000m at the USA Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and will make his third trip to the Olympic games but only his first time competing as an American citizen.

Lagat won the 5000m in a time of 13 minutes, 27.47 seconds. He is also competing for a trip to Beijing in the men’s 1500m race which has a quarterfinal race Thursday evening.

In post-race quotes posted on the USA Track & Field website, Lagat said, “You know I am feeling good right now. There is no pressure right now and I am going to go rest up and train again. I am glad that we have two rest days because there is one down.
 
“I start the 1,500 on Tuesday and then we will see on Sunday. Being on the inside, sometimes you can get tripped and I don’t want that to happen, so that’s why I stayed towards the outside.
 
“I have been training for this meet for so long, the Eugene `08 Olympic Trials. I have been looking forward to it and it is very exciting for me. The atmosphere was amazing. The fans here are incredible. You could hear them as you crossed the finish line, and we just had so much support tonight. After the 800, the crowd was already excited and the energy was so good that I knew we would keep that excitement up for our race.
 
“The Olympics are the biggest meet. Everyone dreams about going to the Olympics, and to be here on Team USA is unbelievable. I’m going to take the same hunger I had in 2004 and try and bring home the gold.”

Rickey Moody, a 2008 WSU graduate from Puyallup, Wash., finished 14th in the men’s decathlon after scoring 7,512 points. Moody, who finished second at the 2008 Pac-10 decathlon and took eighth place at the NCAA Championships, started the second day of the 10-event competition running the 110m hurdles in a time of 14.88 seconds. He threw the discus 142-feet, 10 inches (43.54m), pole vaulted 13-1 1/2 (4.00m), threw the javelin 180-3 (54.95m), and ran the 1500m in a time of 5:09.89.

Diana Pickler, former WSU track and field stand out, has also qualified for the U.S. Olympic heptathlon team. Follow link below for more information:
http://www.king5.com/sports/stories/NW_063008OLY_diana_pickler_profile_TP.e2a79b9.html
 
The Olympic Trials take Tuesday and Wednesday, July 1 and 2 off and resume competition Thursday, July 3.

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