Isaiah Harris of Lewiston, who earlier this month won the NCAA Division I outdoor track championship in the 800 meters, is now chasing another national title in the same event.
Harris, who recently completed his junior year at Penn State, is among at least four Mainers competing at this weekend’s USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Harris won his semifinal heat of the men’s 800-meter run Friday evening, surging over the final 200 meters to post a time of 1 minute, 47.07 seconds.
Harris, who placed second in the 800 at the 2017 USATF outdoor championships, will race in this year’s final at 4:13 p.m. Sunday.
The Lewiston High School graduate is one of three Mainers who already have competed at this year’s outdoor nationals.
Matthew Forgues, a 26-year-old native of Boothbay who now lives in Chula Vista, California, placed fourth in the final of the men’s 20-kilometer race walk, the last event of the opening day of competition Thursday.
Forgues recorded a personal-best time for the distance of 1 hour, 31 minutes and 50.35 seconds. Nick Christie was the race winner in 1:24:53.37.
Earlier this year Forgues finished second in the USATF men’s 50-kilometer race walk held in San Diego with a time of 4 hours, 23 minutes and 28 seconds.
Matt McClintock of Athens, a graduate of Madison Area Memorial High School and Purdue University who now runs for ZAP Fitness, placed sixth in the men’s 10,000-meter run, also on Thursday.
The 24-year-old McClintock, who finished 10th in the same event a year ago, was timed in 29 minutes, 11.47 seconds. Lopez Lomong won the race in 28:58.38.
At least one other Mainer, Bangor High School graduate Riley Masters, is set to compete at nationals. He will run at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the men’s 5,000 meter final.
The 28-year-old former University of Maine and University of Oklahoma All-American, who now runs for Nike, won the USATF 1-mile road race championship in Des Moines, Iowa, earlier this year in a time of 4 minutes, 3.12 seconds.
