SPOKANE, Wash. -- (LIVE VIDEO STREAM) Gonzaga's Brandon Pollard will run for the United States in the men's 1,500 meters at the Pan American Junior Championships on Saturday. He is one of two runners that will represent the United States in the event at the Foote Field Sports Complex in Edmonton, Canada.

Pollard, who will be a sophomore this upcoming year, will run in the finals Saturday at 4:45 p.m. Pacific Time. The final includes 10 runners from six countries. Pollard's U.S. teammate, Blake Haney of Oregon, Canada's Braydon Rennie, and Jose Maria Martinez Meraz of Mexico will be among the tough competition.

The Pan American Junior Athletics Championships are a biennial sports event for track and field organized by the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) open for junior (under-20) athletes from member and associate member associations. They were first held in 1980.

Pollard placed fifth at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships with a 3:59.47 finish in the men's 1,500 meters at Historic Hayward Field on June 27. He was only 1.37 seconds from the victory and 0.99 seconds from second place. Oregon's Blake Haney (3:58.16) won the race and will be the other U.S. representative. Pollard was named the first alternate to the team, and after some scratches, received the news that he would represent the country at the games.

"I'm pretty excited," Pollard said. "Since I was a kid, I always dreamed of being able to run with the USA jersey, and this is such an exciting experience I get to have. I can't really put into words exactly how I'm feeling."

In the USATF preliminaries, Pollard ran a 4:00.05 to qualify for the junior national final. He qualified by taking second in a slow tactical heat. He ran the fastest last lap of any of the 16 competitors competing in the two heats, closing in 54.77.

During his freshman season, Pollard ran a 3:48.85 at the Portland Twilight on May 17. That time ranks fourth in program history.

On June 13, Pollard ran the fastest 800-meter time in Gonzaga history winning his heat at the Portland Track Festival in 1:49.88. It was a lifetime best by six seconds.

"This is very very cool," Director of Gonzaga Track Pat Tyson said. "This is unprecedented in Gonzaga running history! I am so happy for Brandon. Being only 18 years old and wearing the USA jersey is such a rare thing. There are literally hundreds of 19-and-under middle-distance runners in the United States and Brandon now represents Gonzaga University and the United States on the highest stage of the 2015 track and field post-competitive season."

A live video stream of the race is available HERE or by visiting http://edmonton2015.ca/live-stream

Event 10 Men 1500 Meter Junior (10)

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WJR Leader: 3:30.10 7/17/2015 Robert Kiptoo BIWOTT, KEN

JR World Rec: 3:28.81 7/18/2014 Ronald KWEMOI, KEN

Meet Record: 3:45.72 2005 Mike WOODS, USA

Name Year Team

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1 Blake Haney 96 United States

2 Braydon Rennie 97 Canada

3 Jose Maria Martinez Meraz 96 Mexico

4 Brandon Pollard 96 United States

5 Alexander James 96 Canada

6 Daniel Nascimento 98 Brazil

7 Rodrigo Silva 97 Brazil

8 Fabian Zayas 96 Puerto Rico

9 Santiago Andrey Peña Rubiano 96 Colombia

10 Ivan David Moreno Villamil 97 Colombia