Kodiak's Trevor Dunbar finished 11th in a field of 16 runners in the 5,000 meters Thursday night at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Ore.
Dunbar, 21, clocked 13 minutes, 40.66 seconds, about four seconds off his personal record (13:36.86) in the event.
The race at Hayward Field, Dunbar's home track as a University of Oregon athlete, produced a Trials record. Galen Rupp, after last week setting the Trials record in winning the 10,000 meters, was passed by Olympic and World Championship medalist Bernard Lagat in the home stretch, but repassed Lagat to win in a Trials record 13:22.67.
That broke the legendary Steve Prefontaine's 1972 Trials record of 13:22.80. Lagat (13:22.82) and Lopez Lomong (13:24.47) also qualified for the Games in London.
Dunbar, a multiple Alaska state champion at Kodiak High while running under the coaching of his father Marcus, a former U.S. indoor mile champion, qualified for the 5,000 final by running 13:49.19 on Monday to finish third in his preliminary heat.
Dunbar earlier this season finished sixth in the 5,000 at the NCAA Division I championships.
Earlier in the Trials, former Bartlett High thrower Jordan Clarke, who competes at Arizona State, finished eighth in the men's shot put.
Neither Dunbar nor Clarke, 21 and a three-time NCAA shot put champion, was expected to contend for a spot in the Olympics. But their first taste of the Trials gained them valuable experience in a meet that brings together the nation's best track and field talent.
One more Alaska connection will compete at the Trials. Former Eielson High long jumper Janay DeLoach, 26, who earlier this year won silver at the World Indoor Championships, competes Friday in the preliminaries.
And there's an Alaska connection at the Canadian Trials. UAA javelin thrower Cody Parker, who finished third at the NCAA Division II outdoor championships, is scheduled to compete today in Calgary. Parker, 20, of Comox, British Columbia, enters with the sixth-best mark (241 feet, 1 inch, or 73.50 meters) in the field of 15.
Anchorage Daily News