Boerne Champion's Elizabeth Leachman's dream of reaching the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is over.
Leachman, 16, ran well enough in late May and early June to qualify for the women's 5,000 meters in the U.S. Olympic trials this week in Eugene, Oregon.
Leachman started strong and refused to fade, but came up short late, when an initial pack of eight runners separated from the pack, Leachman in the ninth spot. The group pulled away and Leachman came home 13th, with a time of 16:36.67.
Running in the second of two heats, the 16-year-old soon-to-be junior at Champion made a move with about five laps to go, breaking outside and passing three runners in search of the lead pack. But she was unable to maintain the momentum and fell back to eighth and eventually to 13th.
Heat favorite Elise Cranny -- a member of the 2021 U.S. Olympics team -- won with a time of 16:02.33. The top six in each of the two heats advance to the finals. The sixth-place time of Emily Infeld was 16:11.64, nine seconds faster than the seventh-place runner and 25 seconds better than Leachman's finish.
TV network NBC's broadcasting crew made mention of Leachman and her positioning within the lead pack of 12 runners on several occasions, while rarely mentioning any runners who were not at the front of the pack. Announcers said the pedestrian pace of the race was allowing Leachman to hang close to the lead and could enable her to make a move toward the front.
But when she did, it wasn't enough to secure a position and a spot in Monday's finals.
This was Leachman's first opportunity to race on a grand scale, against top-notch world-class athletes. She will only be 20 years old when the 2028 Olympic Games roll around four short years from now.
For more on Leachman's effort, log on Wednesday for Boerne Star sports.
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