Thomas Pollard made an early surge, breaking away from the pack early in the 5,000 meters at the US junior championships in Eugene, Ore. But after moving back and forth from second place to first several times early, the recent Gilbert graduate wasn’t able to hang on late, finishing 10th in a time of 15:03.84.
In his first ever 5,000 on a track, Pollard hoped to finish in the top two to qualify for the Pan American games. He hung in third with two laps of the 12-and-a-half lap race as future Oregon runner Matthew Maton and Oklahoma State rising sophomore Cerake Geberkidane pulled away.