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Colleen Quigley narrowly defeated a pair of former Bowerman Track Club (BTC) teammates in the 3000m. However, she finished second to one of the newer BTC recruits in Gabriela DeBues-Stafford at the inaugural Prickly Pear Invitational, Saturday.

The meet in Scottsdale, AZ, was dominated by the Portland-based club’s athletes.

DeBues-Stafford lining up beside Letesenbet Gidey during the 2019 Brussels Diamond League meet, where she set the national 5000m record.

DeBues-Stafford carried on from where she left off during her stunning 2019 and 2020 seasons. At the time, the London, ON native was training in Scotland with Laura Muir and company. She didn’t skip a beat moving to Portland, as she won the 3000m event in the time of 8:38.51, a new personal best.

DeBues-Stafford kept the race civilized for the pack of four which included Quigley, Karissa Schweizer, and Elise Cranny. But during the final lap, she scattered the field. On the home straight, she dropped the pace further and the race was clearly hers.

Quigley finished in the time of 8:40.23, Schweizer 8:40.25, and Cranny 8:40.33 in a very close three-athlete race for second place. All are Bowerman Track Club athletes except Quigley who recently left and shared a heartfelt letter on her website of her tenure with the club.

During 2019 and parts of 2020 the 25-year-old DeBues-Stafford set at least nine new personal bests and six national indoor and outdoor track records. She captured the 1500m (3:56.12), mile (4:17.87) and 5,000m (14:44.12) national outdoor records. She also took the same three national indoor distance records with times of 4:00.80, 4:19.73, and 14:57.45.

Quigley, a St. Louis, MO native was a nine-time NCAA All-American before signing with BTC at the age of 22. The now 28-year-old competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the 3000m steeplechase event racing to a strong eighth-place finish in 9:21.10. Her personal best is 9:10.27 from 2018. In 2020, she was a member of the 4 x 1500m world record team, clocking a 16:27.02.

In the men’s 3000m, Marc Scott led a BTC sweep of the podium with a 7:36.09 performance. Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty finished second and third. The was also a pair of 800m races to complete the docket.

Full results from Prickly Pear Invitational are here>>