Three Minnesotans Advance at USA Outdoor

Three Minnesota natives advanced to finals in their events at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa yesterday.

Minnetonka High grad Will Leer and Winona alum Garrett Heath both reached the finals in the men's 1500-meters. Burnsville alumnus Laura Januszewski grabbed one of the eight lanes in the women's 800.

Both finals are set for Sunday afternoon.

Leer (pictured above, in green singlet) ran 3:40.23 in his heat to advance as the #6 qualifier. Garrett Heath ran 3:40.54 to move forward as the #11 qualifier.

Elliott Heath, Garrett's younger brother, failed to advance, running 3:41.34 for 16th in the prelims. The University of Minnesota's Ben Blankenship was 19th overall in 3:41.69.

You can watch video of the races HERE.

Results of the 1500m are HERE.

Januszewski (pictured below) made her third-straight USA Outdoor 800m final with a runner-up 2:02.13 clocking her semifinal heat. She advances as the 5th-fastest qualifier in the final.

There's a post-race video interview with Januszewski HERE.

Results from the women's 800m are HERE.

Ewen 5th in Junior Discus ... Maggie Ewen, a 9th-grader from St. Francis High School, finished 5th in the discus at the USA Junior Championships also taking place at Drake Stadium this weekend. Ewen (pictured, bottom), the reigning MSHSL Class AA state champion in the discus, threw 161-6.

Find discus results HERE.

Class AA boys 1600m champion Jacob Sandy of Bloomington Jefferson finished 24th in the junior men's 1500m in 4;15.97.

Find his results HERE.

Stay Tuned to the Action ... Follow Saturday and Sunday action at the meet HERE (live results), HERE (streaming video), and on television.

We'll be back on Monday with a wrap-up and more photos from the meet.

Photos by Gene Niemi (Leer & Januszewski) and Becky Miller (Ewen).