Mile posts: Items on Hillary Bor, Karissa Schweizer, Erik Sowinski, Isaac Basten, Festus Lagat, Eleonora Curtabbi

Hillary Bor is back where he feels he belongs, ready to challenge the best in the world at the IAAF World Athletics Championships next month.

The former Iowa State three-time All-American won his third career U.S. title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase title in record time at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., in Saturday. Bor pulled away from fellow Olympian Evan Jager over the final 400 meters to set a new championships record of 8 minutes, 15.76 seconds at Hayward Field.

For his achievement, Bor leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Bor has been motivated since failing to advance out of the first round of the 3,000 steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Bor has battled the best in the world in recent Diamond League event, running a season-best 8:12.19 at Rome on June 9.

Last year I kind of underperformed," the 32-year-old HOKA/American Distance Project athlete said of his Olympics experience. "I used it as motivation to get back here. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I am looking forward to it (IAAF World Athletics Championships)."

Bor covered the final 400 meters in 60.67 seconds to spread out a pack of four that included Worlds qualifiers Jager (8:17.29) and Benard Keter (8:19.16). Finishing 11th was former Iowa Central standout and current Nike runner Frankline Tonui in 8:37.43.

Bor and Tonui had qualified for the finals on Thursday. Bor finished third in heat 1 in 8:24.42, a race won by Daniel Michalski in 8:23.39. Tonui was the final qualifier by time, placing sixth in heat 2 in 8:29.85. He edged Minnesota's Alec Basten by .05 of a second for the final spot.

Urbandale native and former Dowling Catholic standout Karissa Schweizer qualified for her second event for the World Championships next month in Eugene by placing second in the 5,000 meters on a hot Sunday morning. Schweizer, who won the 10,000 national title on this same track May 27, was edged by her Bowerman Track Club training partner Elise Cranny by .17 of a second. Schweizer broke up a tight field by surging with a mile to go. Her laps of 1:06, 1:06, 1:06 and 1:07 after a pedestrian early pace left three other contenders for the win: Cranny, Emily Infeld and Weini Kelati.

Cranny passed Schweizer on the final strait to win in 15:49.15, with Schweizer crossing in 15:49.32 and Infeld taking the final spot on the U.S. team in 15:49.42.

Schweizer was incredibly busy over the four-day event in Eugene. The Portland resident also ran both rounds of the 1,500 meters, nearly clinching a spot for Worlds after placing fourth in the final in 4:05.40 Saturday. The Tokyo Olympian in the 5,000 and 10,000 was edged by New Balance's Elle St. Pierre by .26 after running 4:05.40. Schweizer and St. Pierre were battling for third after winner Sinclaire Johnson (4:03.29) and Cory McGee (4:04.52) had pulled away from them in the final 150 meters.

"Fun last couple of days spinning the wheels and challenging myself in a shorter distance!" Schweizer wrote on Instagram.

Schweizer likely wouldn't have run in the 1,500 at Worlds July 15-24, but the former Missouri six-time NCAA champion's attempt was impressive nonetheless. She auto-qualified for the final by placing second to Johnston in heat 2 of the 1,500 first round Thursday in 4:14.80.

Former Iowa All-American Erik Sowinski qualified for his 16th final in either a USATF Indoor or Outdoor event. Sowinski placed seventh in the 800-meter final Sunday in 1:46.01. It was the 103rd time the Iowa City resident, coached by Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody, had broken 1:47 in his pro career.

"I kind of just didn't have the legs today," the 32-year-old Sowinski said in postrace interviews. "I gave myself a shot. That was the biggest goal. I don't know what's next. We will see."

Sowinski advanced through two other rounds to get to the final. The Wisconsin native was second in heat 1 in the first round Thursday with a 1:47.23 effort. In Friday's semifinals, Sowinski was fourth in heat two in 1:46.76, but his time was fast enough to advance to the final. Sowinski was competing after a COVID-19 diagnosis eight days before the event started.

Iowa State junior Jason Gomez didn't finish the second heat of the semifinals Friday after pulling off the track after just over 400 meters. The recent fourth-place finisher at NCAA Outdoors owned the 12th-best time after running 1:47.62 in the first round. Only the top three from four heats automatically advanced to the semifinals, but Gomez's time came in the fastest heat, which was won by Donavan Brazier in 1:46.49.

Gomez's former teammate, Daniel Nixon, failed to advance out of the first round. Nixon ran 1:53.88 and finished 29th out of 32 qualifiers. He is an Atlanta Track Club athlete.

Recent Drake University second-team All-American Isaac Basten qualified for the finals of the 1,500 and placed 10th in that race Saturday. Basten was in the mix with 100 meters to go, but couldn't keep pace behind winner Cooper Teare (3:45.86), Jonathan Davis of Illinois (3:46.01) and Bowerman Track Club's Josh Thompson (3:46.07). Basten, one of only three collegians in the final, ran 3:47.19.

Basten, 10th at NCAAs earlier this month, earned a berth in the final with an impressive run Thursday. Basten ran a personal-best 3:38.92 and won heat 3, topping ASICS's Johnny Gregorek by .03 of a second and Davis by a tenth of a second with a strong lean at the finish. His time was fastest of all heats.

Also making a final was former Ballard of Huxley prep Abby Kohut-Jackson. Kohut-Jackson, who recently concluded a graduate year at the University of Minnesota and is going on to St. Louis University in the fall, placed 12th in the 3,000 steeplechase final in 9:49.70.

Kohut-Jackson might have surprised some when, on Thursday, she qualified for the final after placing seventh in the second heat of the 3,000 steeplechase in a season-best 9:47.65. Her time was 12th best and 14 made the final. It was only six weeks ago that Kohut-Jackson returned from a series of tendon injuries this spring to finish just 11th in the 3,000 steeplechase for Minnesota at the Big Ten meet in 10:36.08. This was her only previous race before USATF nationals.

Former Iowa State All-American Festus Lagat finished fourth in the men's 800 at the Kenyan Trials in Nairobi's Kasarani Stadium in Kasarani on Saturday. Lagat ran 1:44.31. The first two finishers automatically qualified for IAAF Worlds in Oregon.

"I had great opportunity to ran my Personal Best at home soil 1:44.31 for 4th position!" Lagat wrote on Instagram. "Came so close to make World Championship team!"

At the Italian national championships Saturday, former Iowa Central Community College standout Eleonora Curtabbi finished third in the 3,000 steeplechase in Rieti, Italy. The recent NCAA Division II national champion for West Texas A&M ran 10:03.64. The Italian champion was Martina Merlo in 9:51.81.

For those not running at USATF nationals, there was competition on the roads in the U.S. Former Iowa State NCAA indoor 5,000 champion Wesley Kiptoo finished 13th in a very competitive B.A.A. 10K in Boston on Sunday. The HOKA NAZ Elite athlete ran 28:48, a 4:40 pace per mile. The winner was American Leonard Korir in 28:00.

At Saturday's A Midsummer Night's Run race put on by the Iowa Trail Run Series, Bryan Petersen, 23, was the overall winner of the 10K race in 36:12. The women's winner and finishing sixth overall was Kiersten Hathaway in 40:17. Petersen earlier in the day had picked up a win in the Freedom Run 5K in Nevada in 16:51.2.

MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Hillary Bor, Karissa Schweizer, Erik Sowinski, Isaac Basten, Festus Lagat, Eleonora Curtabbi