Pacific Pursuit 10K Gives Chance for USATF Outdoor Championship Qualifying Times

By Adam Kopet

The Pacific Pursuit 10K proved to be an early season opportunity for athletes to hit qualifying standards for the 10,000 meters Monday morning on the campus of UC San Diego.

Kellyn Taylor and Noah Droddy came away with wins at the event hosted by the Roots Running Project. The event was delayed by a day to avoid windy weather that would have made running fast times difficult.

Taylor won the women's race in 32:13.54, just ahead of her teammate at Northern Arizona Elite, Stephanie Bruce, in 32:15.88.

Results from the women’s 10k at #PacificPursuit10K pic.twitter.com/GAqUoYW3Uc

— Roots Running Proj. (@Roots_Running) February 18, 2019

Both athletes failed to better the IAAF World Outdoor Championships standard of 31:50, but their times should qualify them for the USATF Outdoor Championships. Taylor also broke the stadium record at UC San Diego.

Alexi Pappas, who was making her first return to the track since the 2016 Olympics, finished 11th in 33:44.68.

Droddy also broke the stadium record with his 28:32.66 win in the men's race. He beat Jarrell Mock, who finished second in 28:33.58. Five athletes finished the race after seven dropped out.

Results from the men’s 10k at the #pacificpursuit10K pic.twitter.com/UJ72jlW8BK

— Roots Running Proj. (@Roots_Running) February 18, 2019

It is unclear whether Droddy's and Mock's times will qualify them to compete at the USATF Outdoor Championships. USATF has not yet released qualifying standards for the meet, but their performances would have qualified automatically once in the past three years (2018).