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Rupp is Ready to Rip a 10k at Pre Classic

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Eugene Diamond League - Nike Prefontaine Classic   May 27th 2014, 6:57pm
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May 27, 2014
For Immediate Release

 

Rupp is Ready to Rip a 10k at Pre Classic

 

            Eugene, Oregon – Galen Rupp has already set two American records this year, and with good conditions, his own American 10k best of 26:48.00 could be in jeopardy Friday night at the Prefontaine Classic.

            The landmark 40th Pre Classic will be held May 30-31 at historic Hayward Field.  The men’s 10k is the final event of a Friday night session known as Distance Night in Eugene, which is free to all, thanks to long-time sponsor NIKE.

            Rupp, a 27-year-old Portland native, has asked for a fast pace on a track where he has won on the high school, collegiate, and professional level.  He set the current AR in 2011, and has since earned silver at the 2012 Olympics.  In January, he ran away from the field at shorter distances to set indoor ARs at 2 miles (8:07.41) and 5k (13:01.26).

            Rupp will be racing with a world-class field, including 23-year-old Kenyan Paul Tanui, the bronze medalist from last year’s Moscow World Championships.  He won silver at the 2011 World Cross Country Championships and set his best of 26:50.63 in the 2011 Pre Classic.

            Bedan Karoki is another 23-year-old Kenyan with great Pre Classic memories.  He finished 3rd in the 2012 10k, which served as the Kenyan Olympic Trials.  He finished 5th in London, the best of the Kenyan trio, and sixth in the Moscow World Championships.

            Kenneth Kipkemoi and Emmanuel Bett are two more world-class Kenyans.  Kipkemoi, 29, is a sub-27 runner who made the Moscow World Championships final after winning the 2012 African Championships.  Bett, 29, set his sub-27 best in 2012 when he won the Van Damme Memorial.

            A slew of young world talent is led by reigning World Junior champ Yigrem Demelash of Ethiopia, who is 20 years old. As is Eritrea’s Goitom Kifle, winner of the 2009 World Youth bronze who finished 7th in the last year’s World Cross Country Championships.  Add in 19-year-old Ethiopian Birhan Nebebew, who was 5th in last year’s Pre Classic.

 

Men’s 10,000 Meters

Personal Best

Galen Rupp (USA)

26:48.00

 

Paul Tanui (Kenya)

26:50.63

 

Emmanuel Bett (Kenya)

26:51.16

 

Kenneth Kipkemoi (Kenya)

26:52.65

 

Leonard Komon (Kenya)

26:55.29

 

Yigrem Demelash (Ethiopia)

26:57.56

 

Bedan Karoki (Kenya)

27:05.50

 

Samuel Chelanga (Kenya)

27:08.39

 

Birhan Nebebew (Ethiopia)

27:14.34

 

Teklemariam Medhin (Eritrea)

27:16.69

 

Leonard Korir (Kenya)

27:29.40

 

Timothy Toroitich (Uganda)

27:31.07

 

Bob Tahri (France)

27:31.46

 

Goitom Kifle (Eritrea)

27:32.00

 

Aaron Braun (USA)

27:41.54

 

Girma Mecheso (Ethiopia)

27:52.38

 

El Hassan Elabbassi (Morocco)

28:12.40

 

Wilson Kiprono Too (Kenya)

none (27:39 road)

 

 

            A USATF High Performance women’s 800 meters welcomes back American prep sensation Mary Cain, who set a national high school record in last year’s race at 1:59.51.  A number of other sub-2 Americans include World Indoor champion Chanelle Price (1:59.75), Maggie Vessey (1:57.84), and Phoebe Wright (1:58.22).

            An International men’s 800 is looking to match its older brother, the International Mile.  The field includes two sub-1:44 runners in Kenya’s Job Kinyor (1:43.76) and Great Britain’s Michael Rimmer (1:43.89). America will be well represented by Tyler Mulder (1:44.34), Erik Sowinski (1:44.58), Charles Jock (1:44.67), Elijah Greer (1:45.04), and Michael Rutt (1:45.08).

 

            Fans can follow the event lineups as all announced fields are posted at PreClassic.com.  The direct link to current start/entry lists is HERE and will include updates to all announced fields.

            Tickets for the 40th annual edition of the Prefontaine Classic, to be held May 30-31 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., are available now from PreClassic.com and from 1-800-WEBFOOT.  Sponsored by NIKE continuously since 1984, the Prefontaine Classic will be shown live to an international audience on NBCSN from 12:00-1:30 p.m. PT and by NBC Sports from 1:30 till 3:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, May 31.

            The Prefontaine Classic is the longest-running outdoor invitational track & field meet in America and is part of the elite IAAF Diamond League of meets held worldwide annually.  Last year’s Pre Classic was scored highest in the world by All-Athletics.com, the official data partner of the Diamond League.

            Steve Prefontaine is a legend in the sport of track & field and is the most inspirational distance runner in American history.  He set a national high school 2-mile record (8:41.5) while at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay, Oregon, that is still the fastest ever in a National Federation-sanctioned race.  While competing for the University of Oregon, he won national cross country championships (3) and outdoor track 3-Mile/5000-meter championships (4), and never lost a collegiate track race at any distance.  As a collegiate junior, he made the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team and nearly won an Olympic medal, finishing 4th in the 5K at the 1972 Munich Olympics, at age 22.  After finishing college in 1973 and preparing for a return to the Olympics in 1976, he continued to improve, setting many American records.  His life ended tragically on May 30, 1975, the result of an auto accident, at age 24.  The Pre Classic began that year and has been held every year since.

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