On Saturday, May 22, four Bay Area Track Club athletes will toe the line at the USATF High Performance Meet at Occidental College. Set just outside of Los Angeles in Eagle Rock, California, the meet is gearing up to be one of the highlights of the spring track season. Middle distance events, the 800m and 1500m, will be the focus of the meet with heats consisting of Olympians, National Champions, All-Americans, and other world-class runners. 

On the men's side, the BATC's David Torrence is entered in the 800m, and Garrett Heath and Bolota Asmerom are entered 1500m. Torrence will go up against US 800m Olympian Christian Smith as well as a slew of other top-notch middle distance athletes. Fresh off of an 800m personal best at the May 1 Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, Torrence has an opportunity to establish himself as a one of the best middle distance competitors in the country. 

In the 1500m, Heath and Asmerom will have the chance to test themselves against some world-class athletes. Olympians Ian Dobson and Leo Manzano are entered, as well as a gang of Oregon Track Club members and other professional runners. The race is shaping up to be one of the best 1500m heats of the year. 

On the women's side, Olympian and BATC member Shannon Rowbury will toe the line in the 800m. She faces an extremely competitive field consisting of Olympians Jenny Barringer, Erin Donahue, and Anna Pierce, as well as professionals Treniere Clement Moser, Geena Gall, Morgan Uceny, and Alice Schmidt. Expect to see some fast times out of this heat of women. 

Check here for live results on the day of the meet.  The order of events is as follows: 

Six Bay Area Track Club athletes took to the roads this past weekend at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL. The race is the annual USATF 15k Road Championship and always features top notch competition given its timing in the lead-up to the outdoor track season. The BATC women's team finished first in the team competition while the men finished third.

 

The women's team was led by Madga Lewy Boulet's third place finish overall, in a time of 50:39. Blake Russell also cracked the top 10 with a stong 7th place finish, in 51:46. In her BATC debut, Clara Horowitz-Peterson finished 18th overall in a time of 53:41. The team narrowly beat out a very strong challenge from Team USA Minnesota, which featured the overall winner, Katie McGregor (49:51).

On a wet and rainy Sunday morning in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Tom Kloos of the Bay Area Track Club placed 2nd overall in the Pacific Association Cross Country Championships, covering the hilly 6.09 mile race in 30:31.

Kloos, competing for Adidas Transports, placed 2nd in last year's PA Championship and aimed to better that at this year's event. However, after getting out to a big, early lead, Kloos was eventually caught and overtaken by Phil Reid of the ASICS Aggies.

Alysia Johnson and Shannon Rowbury were spotted on the course cheering on the runners, as were David Torrence and Bolota Asmerom.

Additional coverage of the race can be found here.