Taylor, Harrison Look to Continue Success in Eugene Against Loaded Fields

By Scott Bush

Make sure to catch all the live coverage Friday evening on USATF.TV (+PLUS) and again on Saturday on NBCSN

The Prefontaine Classic is the best meet on American soil year after year. This year is no exception, and despite late scratches by Genzebe Dibaba and Allyson Felix, the action at Hayward Field should be as memorable as ever Friday and Saturday.

With so much taking place, here are eight top athletes and five top events to follow throughout the weekend. 

Eight Athletes to Watch

Christian Taylor (triple jump)

Big early-season wins for Taylor give him plenty of momentum heading into Saturday’s first event. While China’s Bin Dong has the world lead at the moment, with a 17.24 effort in Beijing earlier this month, Taylor beat Dong head to head at the Doha Diamond League meeting 17.23m-17.07m. Add in another fine performance in the Bahamas, where he jumped 17.11m, and Taylor owns two of the five furthest jumps in the world this season. Do not be surprised if he puts up a 17.50m or better winning mark.

Keni Harrison (100m hurdles)

It’s been one heck of a season for Harrison, so far. The 23-year old owns the fastest time in the world from her 12.36 performance back in April, while entering Saturday’s loaded 100m hurdle field coming off a 12.42 effort in the Cayman Islands two weeks ago. With her 12.56 Drake Relays victory in her back pocket, Harrison owns the three fastest times in the world this season.

Vashti Cunningham (high jump)

The world indoor champion gets her first true test as a pro outdoors this weekend. Cunningham dominated at the IAAF World Indoor Championships earlier this year, beating a world-class field to show the 18 year old had arrived on the global level. While she’ll certainly have plenty of fanfare revolving around her jumps Saturday, she isn’t necessarily the favorite, with proven veterans Chaunte Lowe and Levern Spencer in the field. Will she challenge the two meter barrier? We can’t wait to find out.

Joe Kovacs (shot put)

It’s been a relatively slow start to the season for Kovacs. The reigning world champion does lead the world rankings with a seasonal best toss of 21.47m, but his third place finish in Shanghai recently shows he isn’t quite in peak form yet. Obviously it’s a long season, but squaring off against fellow American Kurt Roberts and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh on Friday evening provides a big test for Kovacs once more.

Sanya Richards-Ross (400m)

It’s been a slow start for Richards-Ross. After dealing with injury early in the season, Richards-Ross is finally ready to open up the final season of her illustrious career. The veteran faces plenty of competition, whether from young American Quanera Hayes or the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller. All eyes will be on Richards-Ross and whether or not she can shine bright in this Olympic year. It all starts Saturday.

Sam Kendricks (pole vault)

After beating legend Renaud Lavillenie at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting less than two weeks ago, Kendricks came back in the middle of last week to soar to a new personal best of 5.92m in Beijing, soaring to the top of the world leaderboard and showing he’s not only a legit contender to win a medal in Rio this summer, but gold. He squares off against Lavillenie and rival Shawn Barber this weekend and hopes to use the American crowd to energize his attempts.

Jenny Simpson (1500m)

One might discount Simpson from contending for the win the women’s 1500m Saturday, considering she finished sixth in the Shanghai Diamond League earlier this month and currently ranks ninth in the field, nearly eight seconds behind world leader Faith Kipyegon on Kenya. But, you can never discount Simpson, especially in front of the Hayward Field faithful, where she’s had some tremendous performances over the years. The pace should be fast Saturday, meaning Simpson will have a shot to push the four minute barrier and challenge for the win.

Justin Gatlin (100m)

After a quiet start to his 2016 season, Gatlin is off and running. Big 9.94 second 100 meter victories in China, one at the Shanghai Diamond League and the other in Beijing, give Gatlin a boatload of momentum heading into Pre and he has a shot to take down a number of fellow medal contenders, including Tyson Gay, Mike Rodgers, Canadian Andre De Gasse, Qatar’s Femi Ogunode and Asafa Powell. Gatlin enters as the heavy favorite and fans should not be surprised to see him really challenge the 9.90 barrier on Saturday.

Five Events to Watch

Women’s 100m Hurdles

While the performances were sub-par last year at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships, no American contingent has been stronger in one event than the U.S. women in the 100m hurdles. With six legitimate medal contending athletes in Saturday’s field, this is one of the must-see events of the weekend.

Leading the way is Keni Harrison, who seems nearly unstoppable this season, owning the three fastest marks in the world this year, including her world-best of 12.36. She’s focused and seems to be taking aim at Brianna Rollins’ American record of 12.26. Rollins obviously won’t go quietly, also entered, and owns a 12.65 seasonal best this year, second fastest in the field.

Add in Great Britain’s Tiffany Porter, Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper-Nelson, Jasmin Stowers who went 12.35 last year, Sharika Nelvis who went 12.34 in 2015 and two-time world indoor hurdle champion Nia Ali, and it’s easy to see why this is one of the most talked about fields of the weekend.

Men’s Pole Vault

On paper, the men’s pole vault has three men who should vie for the win, but what a trio it is. World record holder Renaud Lavillenie will look to stamp his dominance on the field, which he seems to do nearly every time he competes. He awed the Portland crowd at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, easily beating runner-up Sam Kendricks and reigning world outdoor champion Shawn Barber.

Those two other men are in the field and looking to unseat Lavillenie. Barber has cleared 5.91m this season, just off his PR from last year of 5.93m. However, Kendricks is the one to watch, having beating Lavillenie in Shanghai earlier this month, while setting a new personal best of 5.92m in Beijing.

While it seems unlikely any of the three will truly challenge the magical six-meter barrier, all it takes is one perfect day to do something special and all three of these men are capable.

Women’s Long Jump

The top four women from the IAAF World Indoor Championships are set to compete in the women’s long jump Friday evening, along with reigning world outdoor champion Tianna Bartoletta and world outdoor silver medalist Shara Proctor of Great Britain. This is a truly remarkable field, with five of the seven women owning PRs of 7.02m or further.

Leading the charge is Brittney Reese. Reese won the world indoor title in Portland on her last leap, soaring out to a huge indoor best of 7.22m, besting runner-up Ivana Spanovic, who had cleared 7.07m for the lead on her second to last attempt. Those two battle again, along with third place Lorraine Ugen, Janay DeLoach and Christable Nettey.

Do not be surprised if this event goes down to the final jump and we see one or more athletes challenge the seven-meter mark.

Men’s 400m

It’s not a Diamond League race this weekend, but a true fan can never resist a LaShawn Merritt v. Kirani James match-up. The two Olympic gold medal threats square off once again. Who can forget their unbelievable race in 2014, where James narrowly edged Merritt for the win, both finishing in 43.97.

Then last year, James came out and dominated, winning 43.95-44.51 over runner-up Merritt. Merritt is running lights out right now, having won Diamond League contests in Doha and Rabat, as well as owning the top 200m mark in the world with his 19.78 performance in the Bahamas last month. However, James edged Merritt at the Drake Relays, 44.08-44.22 last month and owns three of the top six times in the world this season.

They are both in tremendous form and as expected, they should battle stride for stride all the way to the line Saturday in Eugene.

Men’s 400m Hurdles

Talk about close, the men’s 400m hurdles will see all nine entries coming in with seasonal bests within .66 of one another. Three of the top four finishers from last year’s IAAF World Outdoor Championships are entered in this race. Nicholas Bett of Kenya, who won gold in Beijing last year, clearly has a target on his back. While he only owns the sixth fastest seasonal best in the field, everyone wants to take down a defending champion.

Americans Kerron Clement, Michael Tinsley and Bershawn Jackson will look to challenge for the win. Tinsley has the fastest time in the field this season, with his 48.90 victory at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting two weeks ago, while last year’s bronze medalist Jeff Gibson of the Bahamas has the second fastest with a 48.96.

It’s not unreasonable to think this field could have all eight men under the 49-second barrier, see two or three dive across the finish hoping for victory, while loading up the world top ten list with a half dozen performances. This is going to be good.

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The 2016 Nike Prefontaine Classic will be broadcast from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Friday & Saturday, May 27-28 via USATF.TV (Friday) and NBCSN, NBC (Saturday) & NBC LIVE Extra online. The Friday night broadcast is scheduled to begin at 11:20 PM ET / 8:20 PM PT and will be avaialble for viewers worldwide - Watch Friday night's active LIVE.