Isaac Updike
Although it required slightly more energy than he hoped, Ketchikan’s Isaac Updike advanced through his preliminary heat in the men’s steeplechase Thursday night at the USA Track & Field Championships in hot conditions in Eugene, Ore., and seized a spot in Saturday’s final.
Updike finished third in the second of two heats run in 85 degrees at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, clocking 8 minutes, 29.23 seconds. That placed him ninth overall among the 14 athletes who advanced to the final.
“It was pretty toasty,’’ Updike said by cell phone while sitting in a post-race ice bath. “I think Eugene is kind of cursed. As long as I’ve been doing this – and (nationals) have been five weeks apart on different years — it seems like it’s always hot here.’’
Of course, as Updike noted, things could have been worse – the temperature in Eugene hit 97 on Wednesday.
Updike, 31, who delivered an 8:17.47 personal-best last month in Nice, France, said his biggest goal Thursday was simply qualifying for the final. He reported he felt a little flat in the prelim, which turned out to require slightly more work than he anticipated over 3,000 meters of barriers and a water jump.
“I went in pretty confident,’’ he said, “but, honestly, I kind of undersold it. It was harder than I thought it would be.’’
Still, when he needed to surge in the race’s last 20 meters Thursday to ensure he placed among the top five to be an automatic qualifier for the final, Updike said he had no problem finding another gear. He closed the final 400 meters in 1:01.97, the sixth-fastest time among the 25 totals runners in two heats.
The top three finishers in Saturday’s final qualify for the World Championships, provided they meet World Athletics criteria based on time and world ranking. Updike has not yet hit the 8:15.00 standard as a time qualifier for worlds, but he entered Thursday ranked 27th in the world, which should suffice to qualify him for Worlds provided he finishes in the top three Saturday.
Updike, who finished fifth in the 2021 Olympic Trials, is enjoying a strong season. He has cranked out PBs in the steeplechase, 1,500 meters, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters this calendar year.
He is sponsored by Under Armour and is training under Dark Sky Distance coach Stephen Haas in Flagstaff, Ariz., after a long stretch of being coached by Tom Nohilly as part of the East Coast-based Empire Elite Track Club. He said Nohilly and Haas talk frequently – they were in conversation after Updike’s race, the runner said – and the situation is like having two high-level coaches.
“It’s a good mutual arrangement,’’ Updike said. “They both want what’s best for me.’’