Canadian Trials: Douma-Hussar Advances into 1500 FinalsSheila Reid to Bank on the 5000

In Calgary last night, former NCAA champion and 2004 Canadian Olympian Carmen Douma-Hussar was the fastest qualifier into the Canadian Olympic Trials 1500 meter finals. Douma-Hussar won heat #1 in 4:20.86, automatically qualifying for this afternoon's final. In order to make the team, however, Douma-Hussar would need to (a) finish in the top three spots in the final and (b) finish the race in under 4:06.00. Two Canadian women -- Hilary Stellingwerff and Nicole Sifuentes -- have already bettered the Olympic "A" standard of 4:06.00, while Douma-Hussar's best time in this Olympic period is the 4:11.20 she achieved in Holmdel, NJ on June 16th. While Douma-Hussar has a 1500 meter PR of 4:02.29, it was set in August 2005; she has not run under 4:06.00 since 2007. She would need to do that today, and finish in the top three, to make her second Canadian Olympic team.

Event 608  Women 1500 Meter Run Championship
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Friday 06/29/2012 - 2:25 PM
     Name                        Year Team                Prelims           
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Section 1  Finals
  1  Cliff, Rachel                 88 Speed River         4:29.01 
  2  Kasper, Kirsten               91 Unattached          4:28.96 
  3  Roy, Joanie                   91 LE Coureur N        4:28.54 
  4  Benson, Fiona                 92 BC Athletics        4:28.38 
  5  O'Connell, Jessica            89 U OF C Athle        4:28.27 
  6  Elmore, Malindi               80 Speed River         4:23.69 
  7  Jewett, Tamara                90 U of Toronto T.C    4:22.93 
  8  Van Buskirk, Kate             87 Athletics To        4:22.40 
  9  Kawamoto, Julia               83 Mercury Athl        4:22.51 
 10  Stellingwerff, Hilary         81 Speed River         4:22.10 
 11  Sifuentes, Nicole             86 Unattach MB         4:22.21 
 12  Douma-Hussar, Carmen          77 Guelph Track        4:20.86

Sheila Reid qualified for the Canadian Trials at both 1500 and 5000 meters, and in both cases she had achieved the Olympic "B" standard (in her case, with a 4:07.77 in the 1500 on June 20th in San Diego and 15:23.64 in the 5000 meters on April 20th in Walnut, California). She therefore entered the Canadian Trials just short of the needed Olympic "A" standards (4:06.00 and 15:20.00, respectively) in each event. Reid decided that her best bet to make the Canadian team was via the 5000 meter competition; therefore, she did not compete last night in the 1500 meter semi-finals. She will make or break her Olympic quest tonight in the 5000 meter finals, when she will need to (a) finish in the top 3, and (b) run sub-15:20 in doing so. Here is the start list for that race.

Event 610  Women 5000 Meter Run Championship
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Friday 06/29/2012 - 7:35 PM
     Name                        Year Team                   Seed           
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Section 1  Timed Finals
  1  Wright (Metcalfe), Megan      82 Running Room       15:15.33 
  2  Kennelly, Bevin               84 Excel Athlet       16:42.79 
  3  Thompson, Carise              92 Speed River        16:31.38 
  4  Fraser, Natasha               81 BC Athletics       16:16.89 
  5  Pfister, Caroline             92 Sherbrooke         16:49.52 
  6  Hinther, Ashley               84 PR Athletics       16:41.06 
  7  Souter, Jodi                  88 Queen City S       17:18.41 
  8  Brown, Megan                  85 Athletics To       15:33.42 
  9  Carlyle, Laura                89 Unattached B       16:05.04 
 10  Kasper, Kirsten               91 Unattached         16:13.30 
 11  Korir, Tarah                  87 Athletics To       15:49.91 
 12  Reid, Sheila                  89 Athletics To       15:23.64