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NewsPre Classic Men's 800 Meters, EUGENE VS. THE WORLD!
May 25, 2011 EUGENE VS. THE WORLD !
That headline might be a little dramatic. But certainly no race will have stronger Eugene-based representation than the men’s 800 meters in the 37th annual Prefontaine Classic at historic Hayward Field on June 4th. Two-time Pre Classic winner Nick Symmonds, the Willamette University grad running for Oregon Track Club Elite, brings his No. 6 world ranking to the race, along with a personal best of 1:43.76 set last year. He will be joined by clubmate Tyler Mulder, who made a major breakthrough last Saturday with his second lifetime best of 2011, 1:44.83. And the biggest Eugene wildcard of them all, Andrew Wheating, ranked No. 10 in the world at the 800 by Track & Field News magazine, will run either this 800 race or the Bowerman Mile, according to his coach Vin Lananna. Which race he runs will be a game-time decision based on his workouts. What isn’t in doubt is that the University of Oregon grad is in excellent shape. Under orders to cruise until the final 100 last Saturday, Wheating unleashed his patented kick to win the 1500 meters at the Occidental High Performance Meet in 3:36.46, the second-fastest clocking of his career. Who these hometown favorites race against is the second half of the story. Start with world No. 2 Abubaker Kaki of Sudan, who set a Meet and Hayward Field record in the 1000 meters last year. Kaki, still only 21, had a season best in the 800 of 1:42.23 in 2010. Follow him up with world No. 3 Boaz Lalang of Kenya, just 22 years of age. Lalang was the silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships 800 a year ago. But for honors-won, no one in the race surpasses Lalang’s countryman, Alfred Kirwa Yego, the 800-meter World Champion in 2007, Olympic bronze medalist in 2008, and World Championships silver medalist in 2009. Talk about consistency. Jackson Kivuva may be "only" a 1:43 performer, but he ranked No. 8 in the world last year, and more importantly, knows something about fast paces. He was responsible for the tempo in the second lap of last year's World Record race in the event. And don't overlook last year's top-rated U.S. miler, Leonel Manzano. The Beijing Olympian is no slouch at the two-lapper, having run 1:44.56 and rated No. 3 in the U.S. last year behind Symmonds and Wheating. Such is the quality in the race that eight entrants have broken 1:45, and three of those—Kaki, Lalang and Kirwa Yego—have broken 1:43!
800 METERS (MEN) Tickets for the Prefontaine Classic, the 4th stop on the prestigious Samsung Diamond League circuit, are available at www.goducks.com, from 1-800-WEBFOOT, and in person at the UO Athletic Department ticket office. Sponsored by NIKE continuously since 1984, the Pre Classic will be shown live to an international audience, and in the U.S. on NBC from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. ET.
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