EUGENE, Ore. — Bryn Morley of Bigfork finished third in a preliminary heat of the 1,500-meter run at the USA Track & Field Junior Championships on Saturday, keeping pace with some of the best athletes under the age of 20 in the country. Morley, an incoming freshman for the Valkyries, was the youngest athlete in the field, outpacing five college runners.

Morley finished near the front of a tight heat in four minutes, 36.23 seconds. She was just a shade behind second place, crossing the line a hundredth of a second after Allendale, N.J.’s Catherine Pagano and a step behind heat winner Elise Cranny of Niwot, Colo., who will run at Stanford in the fall. Cranny clocked in at 4:35.43.

The top four runners from each of the two heats, along with the next best four times advanced to the final. The finals will be run at 3:30 p.m. today and will be streamed online at USATF.tv.

USATF Junior Championships

Saturday

Hayward Field

Eugene, Ore.

1,500 Meter Run

Prelims

Elise Cranny, Niwot, Colo.    4:35.43

Catherine Pagano, Allendale, NJ    4:36.22

Bryn Morley, Bigfork    4:36.23

Kieran Gallagher, Harvard    4:37.34

Tabor Scholl, Colorado Springs, Colo.    4:38.66

Alexa Efraimson, Camas, Wash.    4:38.97

Ali Teliha, St. Mary’s (Calif.)    4:39.45

Elizabeth Ramsey, Greensboro, NC    4:40.23

Rebekah Topham, Griswold, Iowa    4:40.59

Janelle Noe, Toledo    4:41.04

Lucy Vankleunen, Brown    4:41.20

Rylee Bowen, Santa Rosa, Calif.    4:43.13