Luke Puskedra Joins the Nike Oregon Project
 | Scott Bush Feb 1st 2013, 5:11pm | PrintReport |
As 2012 college graduates signed with various training groups in the summer and fall, one top-level distance runner in particular kept his options open, holding off on signing with a training group. That athlete, Luke Puskedra, the multi-time All-American from the University of Oregon, seemed poised to join a marathon training group, as he debuted in the half marathon early in 2012 with a 61 minute clocking at the Houston Half-Marathon.
On Friday morning, Puskedra announced his decision, as he joins the Nike Oregon Project, coach Alberto Salazar and Olympic medalists Mo Farah and Galen Rupp.
Puskedra tweeted:
Super excited to have the opportunity to take the next step in my running career with Nike Oregon Project: aurumsportsgroup.com
— luke puskedra (@lukepuskedra) February 1, 2013
In addition, Puskedra's agent Dan Lilot released a press release, where Puskedra was quoted saying,"I'm really looking forward to joining the Nike Oregon Project and training under Alberto [Salazar]. I think it will be a smooth transition, as my coach at Oregon, Andy Powell, has learned a lot from Alberto, and I've already been doing some of the same workouts as the guys in the group."
Puskedra's move makes sense, as Salazar has established a terrific group of long distance runners with a tremendous amount of financial and resource backing by Nike. While Puskedra will unquestionably train with Farah and Rupp, Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein seems like the most appropriate training partner for Puskedra, as Ritzenhein focuses on the 10,000m, half-marathon and marathon, which seems to be where Puskedra is heading as a professional.
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