Coconino News

A mix of five current and former Lumberjacks will compete in the 2022 World Athletics Championships, held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., over the next two weeks.

All five athletes, Brooke Andersen, Geordie Beamish, Luis Grijalva, Adam Keenan and Abdihamid Nur have been members of Northern Arizona's track and field teams within the past six years. Andersen, Beamish and Keenan competed together as Lumberjacks in the spring of 2017, while Grijalva joined the program in the fall of 2017 and Nur in the fall of 2019.

Nur, the lone current Lumberjack slated to compete at Worlds, will be joined in the 5,000-meter by Beamish and Grijalva. The trio ran together during the 2019 cross country season and the 2020 indoor track and field season, with all three qualified for the 2020 NCAA Indoor National Championships before its cancellation due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Coming off a historic season for the Lumberjacks, Nur enters Worlds following a third-place finish at the USATF Championships at the end of June. Running a 13:08.63, Nur just missed his personal record of 13:06.32 set at the Sound Running Track Meet on May 6. Nur's personal record, which broke the 44-year-old collegiate 5K time, ranks 28th in the world in 2022.

The USTFCCCA National Men's Track Athlete of the Year during the indoor season, Nur won the 2022 NCAA Indoor 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter titles in March before finishing third in the 10,000-meter at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

As for Grijalva and Beamish, the two ran their season-best times in the 5K roughly a month ago. Competing at the Diamond League in Oslo, Norway on June 16, Grijalva ran a 13:18.13 in his second 5K this year. Grijalva, representing Guatemala, set his personal best in the event at the Olympic Games last August in Tokyo, running a 13:10.09 to place 12th overall in the finals.

Meanwhile, Beamish ran a season best of 13:19.90 at the Diamond League in Paris on June 18. The time topped his previous best in 2022 of 13:29.88 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. in May. Beamish's personal record of 13:12.53 set in Boston, Mass. last December stands as the second fastest 5K by a New Zealand runner in history and is the nation's record for the indoor 5K.

On the field, Andersen and Keenan competed together as members of Northern Arizona's throws team in 2016 and 2017.

Andersen enters the World Championships as a favorite in hammer throw, with the world's best mark of 79.02 meters thrown at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson on April 30. Ranked fourth all-time in the world rankings, Andersen's personal record is the best throw in the world since DeAnna Price's 80.31-meter mark during the 2021 USATF Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Poland's Anita Włodarczyk, the world record holder in the event, and Price, who ranks second all-time, will both miss the Worlds. Last August, Andersen finished 10th at the Olympic Games in Tokyo but had ranked second following the qualifying round.

Similarly, Keenan also ranks second all-time in his nation's hammer throw following his new personal best set last month. Before winning his fifth consecutive national championship for Canada with a mark of 75.17 meters, Keenan reached 77.54 meters at the Victoria International Track Classic on June 16. Trailing only James Steacy's national record of 79.13 meters set in 2008, Keenan recorded the mark he was looking for last summer ahead of the Tokyo Games.

A downpour of rain at the Canadian Trials in Montreal last June limited Keenan to a mark of 72.87 meters, which he has since bested in all 11 of his competitions this year. While he won the national title, the Olympic Standard stood at 77.50 meters for Tokyo. Keenan's new personal record sits at 17th in 2022 and is 13th among those entered into the Worlds.

Competition and Television/Streaming Schedule

Andersen and Keenan will kick things off on Friday, with the qualifying rounds for both the men's and women's hammer throw scheduled for the opening day. Keenan will begin his qualification round at 9:05 a.m. MST/12:05 p.m. EDT with Andersen following at 12:05 p.m. MST/3:05 p.m. EDT.

Should he qualify, Keenan's hammer throw final is scheduled for Saturday, July 16 at 12 p.m. MST/3 p.m. EDT. Andersen's final is set for 11:35 a.m. MST/2:35 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 17.

As for the men's 5K, the heats for the event will be held on Thursday, July 21 at 6:10 p.m. MST/9:10 p.m. EDT with the finals on the last day of the championships on Sunday, July 24 at 6:05 p.m. MST/9:05 p.m. EDT.

Coverage throughout the championships will be carried by NBC and its family of channels, as well as on its streaming service Peacock and the NBC Sports app. All three events including the current and former Lumberjacks are scheduled to be covered by Peacock's broadcasting window.

Original source can be found here.