Olympic Trials: Former Tipton runner Miller makes 1,500m semifinal

EUGENE, Ore. – The opening round of the 1,500-meter run was just what Ashley Miller needed.

The former Tipton state champ ran a comfortable, confident race and qualified for today's semifinal round at the US Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field.

From the gun, Miller went straight to the back and stayed there almost the whole race until the final 150 meters when she sprinted home to finish with a time of 4:15.3x. That was good enough for eighth in her heat, finishing one spot ahead of former Dowling state champ Katie Flood.

Both Miller and Flood will be part of the 24 running in today's semifinal, where the top 12 will qualify for Sunday's final. On Sunday, the top 3 finishers will represent the US in London at the Olympics.

“It was nice to not have to kill my legs to move on,” Miller said. “It was good enough. It felt really comfortable. I just wanted to secure my spot.”

Thanks to some late scratches, only 28 women toed the line, as the field trimmed just four runners on day 1 of the 1,500m.

-- Uhl not a double-qualifier: Lisa Uhl's hopes of making it to London in two events came to a halt Thursday night. The former Fort Dodge prep and Iowa State national champion finished sixth in the 5,000m run.

The top three runners, including American record holder Molly Huddle, will represent team USA in London at the Olympics. Uhl's time of 15:24.17 was five seconds away from the third place spot. Third through fifth was decided by .19.

Earlier in the week, Uhl qualified for the London Olympics by placing fourth in the 10,000m run. Shalene Flanagan finished third, but because she will be running in the marathon she surrendered her spot to Uhl, who also had an Olympic “A” qualifying standard.