Five members of the Issaquah Gliders running club qualified for the Junior Olympic National Championships held this weekend in Greensboro, N.C, and one will make the trip to represent the club.

Sophie Cantine placed second in the 1,500 meter run at the Regional Junior Olympic Championship July 11-12 at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. She beat several other top runners from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho in the bantam (9-10 year-old) division. The Glider’s 1,600 intermediate (15-16 year-old) boys relay team of Ian Gelfer, Drew Matthews, Devin Sharps and Michael Stewart also placed second overall, but chose not to make the trip to nationals.

While only the top three placers in each event qualified for the national championships, the Gliders had several other top finishers at the regional meet. Keegan Symmes placed fifth and Sharps placed seventh in the intermediate boys 1500m. Stewart placed sixth in the intermediate boys 3000m and Doyle finished sixth and eighth in the youth (13-14 year-old) 100 and 200 meters, respectively.

Doyle, Gelfer and Matthews returned to Oregon July 18-19 for another strong showing at the Track City International Invitational. Held at University of Oregon’s historic Hayward Field, and competing against track athletes from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Canada, the local athletes all advanced to the finals. Doyle took home second- and third-place medals in the 100 and 200. Matthews recorded a personal best and Glider’s team record of 53.70 seconds, taking third in the 400, while Gelfer placed seventh in the event.

All three were honored to run on the famous track known for Steve Prefontaine, NIKE and previously hosting the 2008 Olympic Trials and recent NCAA Track Championships.

“When we first got on the track for warm ups, I couldn’t wait to step on the starting line of lane 3 — to run in the lane where Tyson Gay broke the world record for the 100 meters,” Doyle said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

For more information on the Issaquah Gliders Track and Cross Country team, please contact Joanne at issgliders@comcast.net, or .