Former Eielson High star Janay DeLoach delivered a personal-record in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday, but it wasn't fast enough to qualify for the final at the USA Track & Field Outdoor National Championships in Sacramento, California.
That's because American women are ocean-deep when it comes to depth in the 100 hurdles — so deep they swept the podium at the Rio Olympics.
DeLoach, 31, clocked 12.83 seconds in her semifinal heat to edge her previous best of 12.84, set in 2015. Still, that only placed DeLoach sixth among eight runners in her heat. The top four women in each of two semifinal heats qualified for the final later Saturday, when world record-holder Kendra Harrison (12.20, 2016) won in 12.60.
DeLoach clocked 13.03 into a slight headwind in her opening-round heat Friday. She won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics in the long jump, but did not compete in that event in Sacramento. She still holds the Alaska high school record in the long jump.
Kodiak's Trevor Dunbar on Friday night took seventh among 17 finishers in the 5,000 meters. The former University of Oregon All-America crossed in 13:30.89, less than five seconds off his PR of 13:26.47, run earlier this month at the Portland Track Festival in Oregon.
Dunbar, 26, is the only Alaskan to crack the four-minute barrier in the mile. He improved his PR at that iconic distance to 3:55:54 at a meet near Boston earlier this month.
Steeplechaser Isaac Updike of Ketchikan was also scheduled to run at nationals but did not compete because of injury. Updike fell negotiating the water jump at the Portland Track Festival and suffered a partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He said it appears he will be able to avoid surgery by undergoing medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Updike, 25, last summer finished 12th at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
DeLoach, Dunbar and Updike all make their home, and training base, Outside. DeLoach resides in Fort Collins, Colorado; Dunbar in Boulder, Colorado; and Updike in Eugene, Oregon.
The U.S. national meet is a qualifier for the world championships later this summer in London.