Watch out: Montaño has a baby on board
SACRAMENTO — Alysia Montaño took two laps at nationals while pregnant with her first child. It was only fair she do the same with baby No 2.
Five months pregnant, the 800-meter runner finished more than 19 seconds behind the winning time Thursday night in a qualifying race at the U.S. track and field championships in extreme heat.
The Cal alum never felt better.
“Amazing,” said Montaño, who chased her nearly 3-year-old daughter around after the race.
Wearing a customized Wonder Woman top and the trademark flower in her hair, Montaño finished in 2 minutes, 21.4 seconds to eclipse her previous-best pregnancy time by nearly 11 seconds. Of course, she was eight months pregnant when she completed the race in 2014 at the same track.
She said she wasn’t worried about the 110degree heat. She hydrated before the race and stayed in the shade until it was time to take the track. Too hot: Women’s triple jump winner, Keturah Orji of Georgia, said, “I was very confused as to how to stay warm because you are already so hot, but you also want to stay warm so I was confused.” Orji’s winning mark was 46 feet, 9½ inches. Fast 100s: Tennessee’s Christian Coleman (9.93 seconds) was one of four men under 10 seconds in first-round qualifying for the 100 meters. Isiah Young, Justin Gatlin and Mike Rodgers also broke 10. American recordholder Tyson Gay stumbled and did not advance. Winners: Thursday’s other winners were Alex Young in the men’s hammer (241-11), Kara Winger in women’s javelin (206-0) and Gia LewisSmallwood in women’s discus (205-6).