By Jack Pfeifer with reporting from Doug Binder // Photo by 

Despite a lackluster outdoor season thus far, Mary Cain, now a 19-year-old veteran, advanced to the final of the women’s 1,500 meters at the USATF Nationals on Friday evening.

Cain, who completed her freshman year at the University of Portland this spring and now is back home in Bronxville, N.Y., ran a strong straightaway to take a solid second place in Heat I of the preliminary round. The meet was held in hot conditions, with temperatures in the upper 90s, on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Ore.

The 1,500 final will be held at 2:40 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

In Friday night’s women’s 100 final, English Gardner, the New Jersey native, finished 2^nd to Tori Bowie and made the U.S. team for the World Championships later this summer in Beijing. Gardner ran 10.86, to Bowie’s 10.81. Earlier in the day in the semifinals, Gardner ran 10.79, a lifetime best and the fastest time in the world this year. Bowie ran 10.72 wind-aided to win the second semi.

Gardner’s 10.79, with a legal aiding wind of 1.5 mps, makes her equal to the 7^th-fastest American woman ever. Bowie’s time in the final of 10.81 was just off her PR of 10.80 from last season.

The surprise 3^rd-place finisher was Jasmine Todd of Oregon, who failed to make the NCAA final two weeks ago. Her Ducks teammate, Jenna Prandini, the NCAA champion, finished 6^th.

“It’s a family thing,” said Gardner, an NCAA champion herself for Oregon. “I made the team, Jasmine made the team. Hopefully, Jenna will make it in the 200.”

In the 1,500, Cain joined 11 other women in the final, including last year’s world top-ranked miler, Jenny Simpson, and another top American, Shannon Rowbury. It was Rowbury who powered to victory in the slow Heat I in 4:18, while Cain and Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State came on for 2^nd and 3^rd, both in 4:19.

“I am confident,” Cain said. “I know I can do it. “

Simpson won the fastest section, Heat II, in 4:08.55, as the three time qualifiers all came from that race. The New Yorker Kerri Gallagher fan a lifetime-best 4:08.70 to get 3^rd and make the final.

In Heat III, the high school senior Alexa Efraimson, from Camas, Wash., withered down the stretch and finished a non-qualifying 4^th. Efraimson, 18, exceeded Cain’s high school best in the 1,500 this spring. “I’m disappointed,” said Efraimson, who has turned professional and is bypassing college running, as Cain did.   

Cain had struggled all spring and in fact still has a yearly best of just 4:15 for 1,500 meters, well off her PR of 4:04, set two years ago when she made the World Championships team as a 17-year-old.

“I’m excited to see what I can do this year come August,” Cain said, “whether it’s the World Championships or not.”

Several field event finals were contested. The women’s triple jump was won in an upset by Christina Epps, of the Garden State Track Club, who jumped a lifetime-best 46-2 ¾. Keturah Orji, the New Jersey native who won the NCAA championship this spring for the University of Georgia, was 3^rd, a foot behind.

In the semifinals of the women’s 800, New Jersey’s Ajee Wilson finished 4^th in her heat but advanced to the final, which will be held Sunday at 1:48 p.m. The New Yorker Charlene Lipsey failed to advance.

In the women’s 400 semifinals, Sanya Richards-Ross, the Olympic champion, faded down the stretch and finished 5^th, failing to make the final. Among the finalists are the New Yorkers Phyllis Francis and Natasha Hastings, joining such luminaries as Francena McCorory and Allyson Felix.

In the men’s 800 Michael Rutt, of the New Jersey/New York Track Club, was among the qualifiers for the finals.

The championships resume on Saturday, with temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees or more. One of the feature events will be the men’s 1,500 final, at 2:20 p.m., the hottest part of the day.

Juniors competition is also being contested in Eugene this week. In the women’s hammer on Friday, Nyla Woods, a freshman at St. John’s, finished 3^rd, throwing 183-8, 2 feet behind the winner, Haley Showalter, of Colorado.