WASHINGTON — US rugby star Carlin Isles advanced to the 60-meter semifinals Friday at the US Indoor Track and Field Championships, while Olympians Ashton Eaton and Bernard Lagat faltered.
At the same Portland, Oregon, venue where the world indoor championships will be staged next week, the first eight finals were staged and qualifying heats were conducted in several track events for Saturday’s final day of competition.
Isles, 26, says he hopes to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August with the rugby sevens and athletics squads.
Touted as the world’s fastest rugby player, Isles could play for the US Eagles in Brazil as rugby returns to the Olympic lineup with rugby sevens. Isles placed 12th in the 60m preliminaries in 6.68 seconds, fourth in his heat but still good enough to be among 16 semifinalists advancing to Saturday.
Mike Rodgers, a 2010 world indoor 60m runner-up, led the men’s 60m qualifiers in 6.56 seconds, .01 in front of Marvin Bracy, the 2014 world indoor 60m runner-up.
Haitian-born Barbara Pierre led women’s 60m semifinalists in 7.13 seconds. Eaton, the reigning world and Olympic decathlon champion and the two-time reigning world indoor heptathlon champion, was sixth in the long jump at 7.60m and next-to-last among 23 60m preliminary runners in 6.80 seconds as he conducted early work toward his bid to defend Olympic gold at Rio.
Millrose Games champion Ryan Hill won the men’s 3,000 in 7:38.60 with Paul Chelimo .40 behind.
Three-time world indoor 3,000m champion Lagat, the Kenyan-born 41-year-old hoping to reach his fifth Olympics this year before retiring, just missed the podium, finishing fourth in 7:41.25, .06 behind third place Eric Jenkins.
Two-time Olympian Galen Rupp finished eighth and South Sudan-born two-time Olympian Lopez Lomong did not finish.
Natasha Hastings, a three-time world outdoor champion and two-time indoor champion as well as a 2008 Olympic champion on the US 4x400m relay, led women’s 400 finalists in 51.79 seconds.
Janay DeLoach, third in the long jump at the London Olympics, led 60m hurdles semifinalists in 7.88 seconds.
Vernon Norwood, a member of last year’s US 4x400 outdoor world championship relay in Beijing, led men’s 400 finalists in 45.81.
Erik Kynard, high jump silver medalist at the London Olympics, won the US indoor crown in his specialty by clearing 2.29m.
Two-time Olympian Shannon Rowbury won the women’s 3,000 crown in 8:55.65, 1.66 seconds ahead of runner-up Abbey D’Agostino.
Michelle Carter, third at last year’s world championships in Beijing and the 2012 world indoors, won the shot put with a 19.49m effort.
Reigning US outdoor pole vault champion Sam Kendricks took the US indoor crown by clearing 5.90m and reigning US outdoor long jump champion Marquis Dendy won the indoor title by leaping to 8.41m.
