Six Pro Ducks book their tickets to IAAF World Championships

In addition to the three current Ducks who earned their spot on Team USA for the 2017 IAAF Track & Field World Championships in London this summer, four Pro Ducks will also be joining them.

Devon Allen, who recently signed a professional contract with Nike, took third place in the 110 hurdles with a time of 13.34 seconds. Allen has already competed on the global stage while with the Ducks, of course, as he ran the 110 hurdles in the 2016 Rio Olympics. This is a great sign for Allen, who suffered his second major knee injury last fall while playing football for the Ducks.

In the men’s 1500, Matthew Centrowitz went out with the leaders and stayed at the front of the pack, placing second in 3:43.41, just behind Robby Andrews, who won in 3:43.29. Centrowitz covered the last 400 meters in just 53 seconds to earn his spot on Team USA.

John Gregorek also placed in the top three in the 1500, moving up from 10th to third on the final lap thanks to an equally blistering kick that took out a couple of the frontrunners.

Phyllis Francis took second in the 400 with a time of 49.96 seconds, edging out USC’s Kendall Ellis by just four hundredths of second. Francis had the third-fastest reaction time out of the blocks to help get her in good position for the race.

In the 5,000, Eric Jenkins ran strong to take second place in 13:15.74. Jenkins stayed in either second or third on every lap except one, in which he came through in fourth.

In the javelin, Cyrus Hostetler’s first throw of 79.71 meters was his best, and was good enough for second place overall. Hostetler still needs to throw 86.25m by July 23 to officially qualify.

The competition begins in London on August 5 and goes through August 13.