"JEOPARDY!"
THE ANSWER: MEET RECORDS COULD GO
IN PRE CLASSIC MIDDLE DISTANCES - PreClassic.com
Eugene —In the
storied 35 year
history of the Prefontaine Classic, never have the meet records in the
middle
distances been more in jeopardy across the board than at this year’s
meet on
June 7th in Eugene .
In the
men’s 800, Beijing
bronze medalist Alfred Yego returns
seeking to break the meet and Hayward Field record of 1:44.01 that he
set at
last year’s Pre Classic. Ranked No. 1 in
the world by Track & Field News magazine,
Yego will be be matched with Olympic silver medalist Ahmad
Ismail of Sudan, the Oregon Track Club Elite’s Nick
Symmonds, ranked No. 1 in the U.S. ,
and world-rankers Gary Reed of Canada
(No. 5) and Amine Laalou of Morocco
(No. 10). Add in 2004 Olympic gold
medalist Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia ,
and you have the best 800 field in Prefontaine Classic history.
Last year,
Maria Mutola retired after 17 straight victories, with her 1:57.57
still
intact. Call it a bittersweet scenario,
but Maria’s mark which has stood since 1997 has a real chance of being
broken
the very first year after her retirement.
Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo of Kenya
has been nothing short of spectacular in her brief career.
The 19-year-old phenom was undefeated last
year, her first-ever in the event, and ran faster than the Pre
Classic meet record eleven times! Jelimo
won’t be running a solo time-trial, however, as No. 2 in the world,
countrywoman Janeth Jepkosgei, is in
the race, as well as No. 8 Kenia
Sinclair of Jamaica. And in case you
missed it, Jepkosgei was the Olympic silver medalist behind Jelimo in Beijing .
In the
women’s 1500, surprise Olympic gold medalist Nancy Lagat of Kenya
returns the venue where she began her run-up to Beijing success. With just a 4:08
seasonal-best coming into last year’s Prefontaine Classic, Lagat
improved to
4:03.80 to take second. She then went on
to improve another 3 seconds in Beijing
and take home the gold in 4:00.23. The
meet record? 4:00.44 set by Geleta Burka of Ethiopia …who
just happens to also be in the race. Not to be forgotten is No. 1
American Shannon Rowbury, who ran 4:00.33 last
year and ranked No. 6 in the world, and Spain ’s Nuria
Fernandez, who ranked No. 10.
Finally,
the Bowerman Mile will feature a field capable of taking down Daniel K.
Komen’s
2007 meet record of 3:48.28, which is also the fastest ever run on U.S.
soil. Led by No. 1 in the world Haron
Keitany and No. 3 Asbel Kiprop, both of Kenya,
the large
field includes five men who have run under 3:50 for the mile
or its
metric equivalent. American recordholder Alan
Webb, Bahrain ’s
Belal Mansoor, and Kenya ’s Shedrack
Korir join Keitany and Kiprop in the sub-3:50 club.
Another Pre Classic milestone which may go is
the all-time record of 13 finishers under 4-minutes. Every
entrant in the field has been well
under that mark within the past year.
The NIKE Prefontaine Classic will be shown live on
NBC, from
2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets may be purchased by calling
1-800-WEBFOOT or
going online to www.goducks.com.
800 METERS (MEN)
**Nick Symmonds
**Khadevis Robinson
**Gary Reed (Canada)
**Alfred Yego (Kenya)
**Yuriy Borzakovskiy (Russia)
**Amine Laalou (Morocco)
**Ahmad Ismail (Sudan)
**Boaz Lalang (Kenya)
**Christian Smith
**Matt Scherer--pace
800 METERS (WOMEN)
**Pamela Jelimo (Kenya)
**Hazel Clark
**Janet Jepkosgei (Kenya)
**Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica)
**Alysia Johnson
**Tatyana Andrianova (Russia)
**Jemma Simpson (Great Britain)
**Jesse Carlin--pace
1500 METERS (WOMEN)
**Nancy Lagat (Kenya)
**Gelete Burka (Ethiopia)
**Anna Alminova (Russia)
**Shannon Rowbury
**Christin Wurth-Thomas
**Nuria Fernandez (Spain)
**Erin Donohue
**Meskerem Assefa (Ethiopia)
**Anna Willard
**Jenny Barringer
**Nikeya Green--pace
**Shayne Culpepper
**Shalane Flanagan
**Treniere Clement
BOWERMAN MILE (MEN)
**Haron Keitany (Kenya)
**Shedrack Korir (Kenya)
**Asbel Kiprop (Kenya)
**Belal Mansoor (Bahrain)
**Alan Webb
**Lopez Lomong
**Juan van Deventer (South Africa)
**Leonel Manzano
**Nicholas Kemboi (Kenya)
**Josephat Kithii (Kenya)
**Moise Joseph (Haiti)--pace
**Nate Brannen (Canada)
**Jackson Kivuna (Kenya)--pace
**Evan Jager
**Peter van der Westhuisen (S Africa)
**Henok Legesse (Ethiopia)
**Steve Sherer--pace