OTC Elite Recap: Wheating wins the 1,500 and Mulder dips below ‘A’ Standard at Oxy Invite

The time of one minute, 45.40 seconds – which is the IAAF World Championships ‘A’ Standard – has been teasing OTC Elite’s Tyler Mulder since he sniffed it, but didn’t quite break through it, in an early March season opener in Melbourne.

Over two months later at the Oxy High Performance Meet just east of Los Angeles, Mulder breezed right by that time, and broke 1:45 for the first time in his career, to take second in the fastest men’s 800-meter race ran in America this year.

Mulder’s time of 1:44.83 was second only to UCLA senior Cory Primm’s 1:44.71.

“We knew he was physically in shape to run well, how fast weren’t sure,” OTC Elite head coach Mark Rowland said. “It came down to executing, and he did.”

In the same race, Russell Brown placed fourth in a huge, 2-second PB of 1:45.83. Brown’s previous best in the two-lap race was 1:47.96 and was set in 2007.

Brown, who is still the American leader in the 1,500 meters, nearly saw his best mark of 3:35.71 bettered by training partner Andrew Wheating. Running in the final race of the night, Wheating kicked past Nike’s Kyle Miller on the home stretch to win his first open race of the season in 3:36.46.

“It was a great PR for Russell and with Andrew I couldn’t be happier to see him run his second fastest 1,500 time ever,” Brown and Wheating’s coach Vin Lananna said. “(Wheating’s) just a winner and I’m very proud of him.”

Only two seconds behind Wheating was OTC's three-time US 800-meter champion Nick Symmonds, who clocked a huge lifetime-best in the 1,500 of 3:38.18. He placed eighth in the fast field, but was elated to see a previous best of 3:40.33 (which was set over two years ago) bettered.

“The race helped him to run the time he did, but no matter what, I would have taken that time any day,” Rowland said of Symmonds. “We know he is strong and his training’s going well.”

Also in the 1,500, Jordan McNamara won the ‘B’ section with a time of 3:42.26.

On the women’s side, Jemma Simpson, who was running her first race in over two months, nabbed sixth in the 1,500 with a mark of 4:10.29. Bridget Franek set a lifetime best and took fourth in the ‘B’ section – running a 4:17.10.

In the 800, Geena Gall took third with a seasonal best of 2:00.86. Gall ran her fastest time since the summer of 2009.

In the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, Stephen Pifer was second with a time of 9:02.19.

“We came down here for a purpose,” Rowland said of the Oxy meet. “Jemma looked a little rusty, Russell and Andrew ran well, Jordan took another step forward, Geena looked great and Bridget prepared well for her steeple in Rome. Even with Pifer, everyone has something to take from being here at this time of the year.”

Becky Radliff

Oregon Track Club Elite

becky.otcelite@gmail.com