AFTER THURSDAY’S SEMIS, the leading suspects for a shot at Saturday’s NCAA title race all advanced unscathed, led by collegiate leader Rosemary Longisa of Washington State, who led all qualifiers with a 4:06.41 to win the first heat. Hayley Burns of Northern Arizona won heat 2 in 4:09.28.
Both time qualifiers for the finals came out of Longisa’s heat. The two most significant non qualifiers were Washington’s Chloe Foerster, who was 8th in last year’s meet. She finished 10th in heat one. The other notable non qualifier was Florida’s Claire Stegall, who placed 6th in heat 2. The Florida coaching staff hoped to have a second runner in the 1500 final, knowing that she would give the Gators a potential scorer in the team race alongside Tia Wilson, who finished 4th in heat 1.
In the final, Longisa got to the front early and stayed there, covering the first 400 in 72, though she probably ran more than 1500 after positioning herself on the outside so as not to get trapped on the rail. A group of women, including Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen, her Duck teammate Juliet Cherubet, Hayley Burns of Northern Arizona, and Salma Elbadra of South Carolina stalked Longisa in anticipation of any moves by the Kenyan, who had been the runner up indoors to Nielsen. Another 72-second 400 did little to separate the field, despite Longisa sharing the front with Nielsen.
Approaching the kilometer, Wilson moved into 3rd alongside Longisa and Nielsen. With this development, Longisa tightened the screws on the field, but not before a big push by Burns just before the bell.
As the field charged down the windy backstretch, Burns began to fade from her attempted get-a-jump surge, while Cherubet drew almost even with Nielsen. Meanwhile, Elbadra, who was 10th last year, swung wide to make a late charge on Longisa, who had about a 2-step lead on Nielsen entering the final straight.
The Kenyan stretched her lead on the field over the last 100 meters to win in 4:12.10. Longisa ran her last 400 in 59.08 to give Washington State its first women’s individual title since 2003, when Whitney Evans won the high jump.
Elbadra and Cherubet finished 2-3 in 4:12.89 and 4:12.99, while Nielsen faded to 4th in 4:13.40. Oregon, which had three runners in the final, scored 11 points altogether, as Şilan Ayyıldız was 9th in 4:15.47. Florida’s Wilson earned 2 team points for the Gators, finishing 7th in 4:15.20.
Winner Longisa said that the wind was formidable on the backstretch, and that others were using her as a shield from its force. “This win was tough. I was expecting the race to either go fast or go slow. I was ready for anything.” She also praised the help of Washington State women’s distance coach Laura Harmon, especially in preparing for championship racing.
When asked if she had ever closed a 1500 or mile in 59 seconds or faster, the answer from Longisa, who is a 1:59.71 performer at 800, was, of course, yes, for she had closed in 58.96 at the NCAA indoor meet in March. She also revealed that she was gifted Faith Kipyegon’s race kit worn when she set the World Record of 3:48.68 at last year’s Prefontaine Classic. A lucky charm?
Longisa, who represented Kenya at this winter’s World Indoor Championships in the 800, will now fly home for a pre-Kenyan nationals training stint as she intends to vie for a possible Commonwealth Games berth.
WOMEN’S 1500 RESULTS
FINAL (June 13)
1. **Rosemary Longisa’ (WaSt-Ken) 4:12.10 (53.16, 74.08 [2:07.24], 65.78 [3:13.02], 59.08) (59.08, 2:04.86, 3:18.94);
2. *Salma Elbadra’ (SC-Mor) 4:12.89 (59.34, 2:05.16, 3:19.23);
3. *Juliet Cherubet’ (Or-Ken) 4:12.99 (59.59, 2:05.55, 3:19.74);
4. Wilma Nielsen’ (Or-Swe) 4:13.40 (60.29, 2:06.08, 3:20.18);
5. Carlee Hansen (BYU) 4:13.66 (60.32, 2:06.13, 3:20.20);
6. *Emmaculate Jemutai’ (Ks-Ken) 4:14.75 (60.76, 2:07.19, 3:21.27);
7. Tia Wilson’ (Fl-GB) 4:15.20 (61.78, 2:07.71, 3:21.42);
8. Carmen Alder’ (BYU-Ecu) 4:15.26 (61.08, 2:07.29, 3:21.37);
9. Şilan Ayyıldız’ (Or-Tur) 4:15.47 (61.80, 2:07.82, 3:21.93);
10. *Hayley Burns (NnAz) 4:15.81 (62.61, 2:08.10, 3:22.39);
11. ***Sadie Engelhardt (NCSt) 4:16.96 (63.17, 2:09.10, 3:23.11);
12. Elizabeth Whaley (WF) 4:18.49 (63.86, 2:10.62, 3:24.78).
HEATS (June 11)
I–1. Longisa’ 4:06.41; 2. Engelhardt 4:06.65; 3. Nielsen’ 4:06.78; 4. Wilson’ 4:06.81; 5. Hansen 4:07.08 PR; 6. Jemutai’ 4:08.33 PR; 7. Whaley 4:08.52 PR; 8. **Allie Zealand (Lib) 4:11.21; 9. **Elizabeth Khatevi’ (AMCC-Ken) 4:11.93; 10. Chloe Foerster (Wa) 4:13.02; 11. ***Dylan Mcelhinney (Harv) 4:30.87; 12. Aniya Mosley (OhSt) 5:40.02.
II–1. Burns 4:09.48; 2. Cherubet’ 4:09.54; 3. Ayyıldız’ 4:09.58; 4. Elbadra’ 4:09.70; 5. Alder’ 4:09.88; 6. ***Claire Stegall (Fl) 4:10.04; 7. Mena Scatchard’ (Stan-GB) 4:10.20; 8. Charlotte Tomkinson (Gtn) 4:11.16; 9. Kaiya Robertson’ (Boise-Can) 4:11.81; 10. *Imogen Gardiner’ (BC-Aus) 4:13.08; 11. ***Mary Ogwoka’ (Tn-Ken) 4:14.27; 12. *Tatum David (Va) 4:15.25.
