Willard runs into steeplechase final Eastler winds up 43rd in racewalk

BEIJING – Anna Willard of Greenwood qualified for the final in the inaugural Olympic women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday by placing sixth in her heat.

Willard, a 2002 graduate of Telstar High School in Bethel who now lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., was timed in 9 minutes, 28.52 seconds, just off her personal best of 9:27.59 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., last month.

Willard’s Olympic Trials time stood as the American record for just 17 days until Jenny Barringer of Boulder, Colo., ran a 9:22.73. Barringer will join Willard in the Olympic final after finishing third in her heat with a time of 9:29.20.

The women’s steeplechase final is scheduled for Sunday.

In the men’s 20-kilometer racewalk, Kevin Eastler of Farmington finished 43rd among 51 competitors.

Eastler was timed in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 44 seconds over the 12.4 miles.