Two sisters from Billings competed in the span of less than 20 minutes at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Thursday.

Christina Aragon advanced to the semifinals of the women's 1,500 meters by placing fifth in the second heat in 4 minutes, 10.04 seconds. 

The top seven finishers from each of the three heats as well as the top three fastest times advanced to the next round to be held Friday at 6:53 p.m. (MDT).

Dressed all in red and representing the Bowerman Track Club, Aragon ran much of the race from the outside while staying out of traffic. She'd moved up to third-place halfway through before fading to eighth coming down the homestretch for the penultimate lap. She surged at the bell and moved back up to fifth and eased up coming down the homestretch as she realized she'd secured one of the automatic qualifying spots.

Dani Aragon ran a season's best 4:08.44 at the U.S. Olympic Trials Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

In the subsequent heat was her older sister Dani Aragon running in what amounted to the fastest heat of the three.

Dani ran the first half of the race tucked into the rail toward the back of the pack, but started to surge with 700 meters left by moving to the outside and all the way up to fifth at the bell. Wearing the fluorescent pink and orange for Puma Elite, she faded to 11th down the homestretch, but ran a season's best 4:08.44. Hers was the top time that did not advance to the semifinal. 

When all the heats were combined, Elle St. Pierre earned the top qualifying time overall of 4:06.41 and won that third heat. Dani was 12th overall and Christina was 16th.

Both sisters were competing in the Trials for the second time with Dani advancing all the way to the finals in 2021 and Christina having advanced to the semifinals as a recent high school graduate in 2016.

They were two of the three athletes with Montana ties competing Thursday. Former Montana State Bobcat Drake Schneider ran the men's 400 hurdles.

In the fourth heat wearing a blue and white Tracksmith singlet, Schneider ran 51.5 to earn the fifth and final automatic qualifying spot from his heat. Texas Tech's Caleb Dean earned the top overall qualifying time in 49.45.

Schneider started out fast to take the lead through the first four hurdles, but he tightened up a bit coming down the homestretch. However, due to his fifth-place finish in the heat, he moved on to the semifinals scheduled for Friday at 7:39 p.m. (MDT).

Drake Schneider advanced to the semifinal of the men's 400 hurdles Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

It's the third time Schneider advanced past the first round at the U.S. championships. He was a multi-time Big Sky outdoor champion and is the Big Sky record holder in the men's 400 hurdles during his Bobcat career.

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