Stanislaus’ Alvarado charges to second in 800 at NCAAs

Abraham Alvarado, bidding to become Cal State Stanislaus’ fifth men’s national track champion, fell less than a half-second short.

The sophomore from Atwater placed a fast-finishing second in the 800 meters Saturday at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at Grand Valley State. A late charge on the final lap produced a time of 1 minute, 49.29 seconds, just behind Drew Windle of Ashland at 1:48.89.

Alvarado, who turned in the top qualifying time from Friday’s trials, was stuck in the middle of the pack until halfway through the second and final lap. He then passed five runners in the back stretch but couldn’t overtake Windle, the nation’s top-ranked runner this season, who led from start to finish.

The Stanislaus standout continued the Warriors’ tradition of having at least one All-American, male or female, at the outdoor nationals since 1999. The last Stanislaus All-American in the 800 was Terrence Ellis in 2013.

Alvarado nearly became the first Stanislaus male to win a national title on the track since Geoff Bradshaw in the decathlon in 1994. Kasey Burlingham won the pole vault title in 2009. The Warriors’ other national champions were high jumper Undrae Walker and triple jumper Jomal Bush, both in 1994.

Last year, Courtney Anderson (1,500) became the first Stanislaus female to win a national title since Chaunte Mitchell’s wins in the pole vault in 2004 and ’05.

Also, Gary Randolph placed 14th in the shot put. Randolph threw 54-91/2. The transfer from Santa Rosa JC competed in three events over three days. He placed 13th in the discus with a personal best of 171-3 and 12th in the hammer throw with a 187-7.

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Stanislaus’ Alvarado charges to second in 800 at NCAAs."