Ketchikan’s Isaac Updike places 8th in steeplechase at national championships

Isaac Updike of Ketchikan placed eighth Saturday in the men’s steeplechase at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Updike was well off the pace set by winner Hillary Bor, who finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a Drake Stadium record time of 8 minutes, 18.05 seconds.

Updike placed eighth in the 14-man race with a time of 8:43.47. He qualified for the finals by placing fifth in his heat on Thursday in 8:35.92, the 11th-fastest qualifying time.

Updike is a sponsored runner with the Hoka New Jersey-New York Track Club. He graduated from Eastern Oregon University in 2015 after winning an NAIA national champion in the steeplechase, and in 2016 he finished 12th in the steeplechase finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials.