Tri-Cities runner making final steps toward Tokyo Olympics
Pasco High graduate Marisa (VanderMalle) Howard has spent the past few days in Eugene, Ore., relaxing, visiting friends and going out for a light run for 30 or 40 minutes each morning.
Howard is prepping for the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase final in the USA Team Track and Field Trials, and there’s not much else she needs to do.
“The hay is already in the barn,” Howard said. “I just need to make sure my body has recovered (from Sunday’s preliminary heats).”
Howard finished fifth in her heat, covering the event in 9 minutes, 30.62 seconds.
The top five in each of the two heats — plus the next four fastest runners — all advanced to the final, set for 8:47 p.m. June 24.
“I felt good out there,” said Howard, who said there was some tousling at the beginning of the race. “It was very packed at the beginning. A girl went down early, and I almost tripped over her.”
That runner was Courtney Frerichs, who would get up, recover and quickly take control of the race.
“I just jumped on her shoulder at that point and stayed with her,” Howard said. “In fact, five of us got out as a group at the first mile.”
The group took a big enough lead from the rest of the field that — barring an incident — it looked like they would all advance to the finals.
“Two women in my pack started to push harder, and that brought me along some,” Howard said. “But with 600 meters to go, I wasn’t pushing. I knew I had got through to the final.”
In fact, Howard was sitting in eighth place through lap 3 of the 7.5-lap race. But she moved into second in laps 4 through 7 before letting up.
Thursday’s final will be televised on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), which will begin coverage at 6 p.m.
Swimming
Richland High grad Lisa Bratton was brutally honest about her performance in last Saturday’s women’s 200 meter backstroke final in the USA Olympic Team Swimming Trials in Omaha.
“Honestly, I’m pretty disappointed with the outcome,” said Bratton, who finished sixth in the final. “It was not near my best time.”
But she also knew she’d given her best effort.
“I also know I did everything I could,” she admits.
Now, Bratton said she’s taking this week off from training, “to decompress,” she said, before getting back into the pool.
She’ll be prepping for the start of the third season of the International Swimming League, something she’s been a part of every season.
Bratton spent the first season with the DC Trident, and last season with the Toronto Titans. This year, she put herself back into the draft to be selected by another ISL team.
The teams will spent five weeks this fall competing against each other in Naples, Italy, each competing in five meets.
Bratton is excited.
“The gelato there is incredible,” Bratton said.
Not to mention Naples is the birth place of pizza.
She hopes to get to spend some time as a tourist.
“Last year, we were in (Budapest) Hungary,” Bratton said. “Our hotels were on an island, and they gave us 90 minutes a day to go outside the hotel, but not leave the island.”
Meanwhile, Bratton needs to finish her research and thesis to earn her graduate degree in ocean engineering.
“I’ve done a lot of the background work,” Bratton said. “I’ve designed an autonomous underwater vehicle that’s shaped like a torpedo, and I’m studying the flow around that shape.”
Other Olympic notes
Kennewick High grad Leilani Mitchell looks to be in great shape as the women’s basketball competition begins in Tokyo next month.
Mitchell will play for Australia where she holds dual citizenship, but currently she is playing for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
On Tuesday night in Everett, the Mystics — with five players out with injuries — hung on to beat the Storm 87-83. Mitchell played 31 minutes at point guard, scoring 19 points and dishing off 7 assists.