EUGENE, Ore. — Youth seemed to be the theme of this year’s Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field.
Sunday, 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin had earned an Olympic berth in the women’s 400 meter hurdles.
Would Sunday’s women’s 1,500 meter race follow suit, as the old guard is swept aside to make way for a generation of new runners?
That was the possibility hanging in the air as 19-year-old Alexa Efraimson, just two years removed from setting a high school national record while running for Camas High School, lined up against veteran runners such as Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury, both two-time Olympians.
Efraimson had the third-fastest qualifying time from Friday’s semifinals, just behind Simpson and Rowbury. Brenda Martinez, a bronze medalist in the 2013 World Championships, had the fourth fastest time.
It was not to be, however, as the more experienced Simpson, Rowbury, and Brenda Martinez broke away from Efraimson in a thrilling final stretch to earn the three Olympic spots on this final day of competition in the Olympic Trials in Eugene. Efraimson, in a strong effort, finished sixth.
Afterward, Efraimson said she was satisfied with her performance in the race.
“I thought I had positioned myself really well,” she said. “I made sure I didn’t get boxed in. I moved with the girls when I needed to move and fell a little short on the kick, but overall I’m happy with it.”
Asked if she thought about waiting more conservatively before starting her final kick, Efraimson said, “I wanted to be in a position to make the team. I have no regrets.”
As the race began, Efraimson ran in the middle of a tight pack as runners jostled for position. Martinez, who had already stumbled and fell with a disastrous result in the 800-meter race, got hit and almost fell again.
This final featured a deep and competitive field, with only two seconds separating the qualifying marks of the 12 competitors’ semifinal times.
And so the pack of runners ran the next two laps at a cautious pace, with Efraimson in the middle of it.
Starting the final lap, Efraimson was still in fifth place. As the runners came down the backstretch, however, Simpson and Morgan Uceny took off, and Efraimson followed, edging past Rowbury, the American record holder in the event, and into third place.
With 200 meters left, Efraimson was still running strong in third. Coming around the final turn, though, Rowbury pulled ahead of Efraimson on the inside, and then Martinez, from her outside, began to gain as well.
With the Hayward crowd on their feet and cheering, Simpson and Rowbury raced down the final 100 meters, pulling away, and this time, Efraimson was unable to keep up.
Simpson finished first (4:04.74), Rowbury took second (4:05.39), and Martinez (4:06.16) dove at the finish line to grab the third and final spot on the team, inches ahead of Amanda Eccleston (4:06.19). Uceny faded to fifth in 4:06.94, just ahead of Efraimson, in 4:07.34.
With the race completed, Efraimson was asked to assess her week in Eugene, running for an Olympic berth.
“I put no pressure on myself in this race,” she said. “I think that this was a really good experience and it’ll help me in the races to come. Especially this weekend, I really tried to focus on being calm and not getting emotional or nervous when girls begin to pass me in the prelims.”
What’s next for Efraimson? This Friday, she will be getting on a plane to Bydgoszcz, Poland, where the U-20 World Championships will be held, July 19-24.
“I’m really excited for it. I think it’s going to be good. No American has ever medaled in the 1,500 (at that race) before so I want to be the first.”
