SATURDAY’S EVENTS

Women's Pole Vault

Winner: Jennifer Suhr (USA)

“It was a good day, it was a little bit of a hard start. I had to keep moving my mark back and once I got on I took a lot of jumps. I told my husband that that’s more jumps than I’ve taken in 4 workouts, so I’m definitely tired.”

“I’ve always liked coming to Eugene, and I think this meet was really important to me because the last time I was here was in 2010. I haven’t done a Diamond League in three years, and they’re renovating the stadium so it was the last time it was going to look like this, and I just wanted good memories. I’ve had great memories here before, and I just wanted one last one.”

Notable: Sandi Morris (USA)

“In Doha, I sprained my ankle and I haven’t been able to really train since Doha, so it’s been about three weeks which is kind of training how I can. I haven’t been able to vault from full approach so I wasn't really sure what today would bring.”

“Today was a good day, really tough competition, some girls had great days, some didn’t and that’s just the sport.”

 

Eliza McCartney (NZ)

“When the wind was in the right direction, it was beautiful, war and strong tailwinds, so it was perfect.”

“It’s the first competition of the season for me, and I’ve been doing these mark in   so I know it’s there, I just needed good competition and this was a good competition with some incredible competitors.”

 

Men's Triple Jump

Winner: Christian Taylor (USA)

 

I really wanted to go out with a bang as far as the final result. I was happy with the win, but I really wanted a big, big send off.

 

This place, you know, the grandstands, the energy is unlike anyplace else in the world. They really get behind the jumps, they know track and field here. Whether it’s World Juniors, whether it’s the Olympic Trials, it’s really Tracktown USA, but I think it’s even bigger than that. This is a very special place in my heart.

 

This is my style, I like to put on a show. Will (Claye) and I have been doing this since Florida days, so that back and forth I’m really familiar with. I was hoping for a little bit more, but it was a win and I can always be grateful for that.

This is Hayward Field. There’s magic in the track, there’s magic in the stands. It’s not that you don’t have to prepare when you come here, but there’s something special about performing here.

Notable:

 

Christian Taylor and Will Claye have won seven major gold medals between them.

 

International Mile

Winner: Luke Matthews (AUS)

On running the 400th sub 4 mile at the Pre Calssic

“It means a heap for me, like I’m a bit of a running nerd, so I’ve watched about every race ever of track and field on youtube. This track means a lot and to run the four hundredth it’s really special.”

 

Notable:

 

Drew Hunter (USA)

I was planning to be patient and be patient and time that kick, but It was kind of all over the place pacing wise. Just being top 5 at the bell was good, and took the lead with about 200 to go. Unfortuately I was just passed by one guy, but I gave everything I had, and I have no regrets.

 

One of my big mindset changes this year is that I really just got back to being a competitor. Like, I go in thinking ‘I’m going to really try to compete for this race and I’m going to really try to win. I have to just let things happen.

Men's High Jump

Winner: Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar)

“I know I could have done the next height, and I was really confident, but I secured the win.”

 

On competition:

“I don’t know how they do it, I just try to focus on myself, listen to what my coach has to say and try to do that.”

Mutaz Essa Barshim - the 2017 IAAF male athlete of the year after an undefeated season.

Erik Kynard - the 2012 Olympic silver medalist and nine-time U.S. champion.

Danil Lysenko - won World Indoor gold in March.

 

Women's 400m Hurdles

Winner: Janieve Russell (Jamaica)

“I feel pretty good. I’m very confident. I’ve been racing with these ladies on the circuit since 2015, and to be very close to them has given me a lot of confidence boost.I’m really training hard and it’s showing out here today.”

 

“I was a little nervous, and I had a lot of things running through my mind, just talking to myself.”

 

“I ran here last year and was disappointed when I came in 8th, but coming out here to race, it’s amazing. The crowd is vibrant — it’s like running in Jamaica because you know the fans love track and field and you know Jamaican’s love track and field. So I just fed off the crowd.”

 

Notable: Dalilah Muhamed (USA)

“I was definitely expecting a faster time, I felt like I was ready to run something but some days are just not your best. My step pattern just wasn’t there today, I never stutter, but it was the first time I stuttered probably since I was in high school.”

Women's 800m

Winner: Caster Semenya (South Africa)

“I saw the split was 57, I tried to maintain 57 again,see what I could come up with, so it was just an amazing race.”

On staying motivated after having such a successful career:

“I think when you live life, you gain experience. I’ve been in this world almost three decades now. I am a sports science student, I’ve learned about everything since I’m in sports, and I want to inspire people and inspire the youth to show them that if you believe anything is possible.”

 

Notable: Ajee Wilson (USA)

I felt good in that last phase of the race. I know that in the begininng I was sort of falling back and trailing a bit, but it came to me and in the last 200 I was able to come away with second.

 

My coach told me that with the 800, I’ve often been making my charges too early, and to just hold off, be patient and then in the last 80 meters to just try and go for it. So I was really happy to get second.

 

It’s awesome just being competitive this early in the season. When I finished, I didn’t really think it was as fast as [the time], so that’s a great sign, and it’s still early, so I’m hoping that we can continue that kind of form throughout the rest of the season.

 

Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi)

“I’m happy with my first competition of the year, so I’m happy to get third position, it’s good.”

“I ran a very good time, I’m so happy.”

Men's 100m

Winner: Ronnie Baker (USA)

“I was just really excited to be able to come out with a W, it gives me a lot of confidence going to the next race.”

On if he was surprised by the time:

“No I’m not surprised, my coach always tells me ‘go out there to win don’t run for times, if you win the time is gonna be fast.’”

 

Notable: Christian Coleman

“I felt pretty good, that was my season opener, so you know just take it from there and get better. I feel real good about it, just knocking the rust off, got a long season ahead of me, so I’m excited about it.”

Men's 3000m Steeplechase

Winner: Benjamin Kigen (Kenya)

“I was not expecting to win. This is the first time I’ve beaten Kipruto, and I was not expecting that.”

 

“I have had really good training this season, so I am feeling great.

Notable: Evan Jager (USA)

“I felt pretty good, I feel like I was in a great rhythm. Like I said yesterday, I was just focused on staying relaxed and trying not to focus on anything other than the race.”

 

“I just didn’t really want to be the one to make a move today, and see what I could do over the last 200 just conserving everything I had.”

 

“I probably could have been a little more aggressive over the last 300, but I saw how [Kipruto] was in front of me and I just wanted to use him. I was hoping he was going to make the move to stay with him but he didn’t, so I think I just hesitated a little bit to make a bigger move, but I really just wanted to focus on having a really fast last 200 and I swear I outkicked Kipruto, but they gave me third. It was fun being able to battle with him over the last 300 meters.

 

Conseslus Kipruto (KEN)

“I think it's not bad, but I’m still disappointed. I was second, I was not breathing well, but I tried my best.”

On why he ran with his sickness

“I always like to be in Portland, I always like to be in Oregon. I think this is an amazing crowd.”

 

Women's 100m

Winner: Marie-Josee Ta Lou (Ivory Coast)

After a tough start to the season, I just come to Pre and I win, so I’m very happy with that.  

 

On beating a stacked field: It meant a lot, it was good for confidence. I train hard, so if I win then I know that my training is good and it’s working. I just want to continue to better myself and keep running hard. Then when I win, I know that my training is good.

Notable: Murielle Ahoure (Ivory Coast)

It’s still early, this is only my second race of the season, to run 10.90 here, I’m really happy.

 

I felt good, the energy was good at the start. It’s always nice to run in Eugene, I love running here.

 

It was a great field. You know, at Prefontaine, the great thing about this meet is that the competition is always fierce, so it’s always great to come out here and run.

Women's 1500m

Winner: Shelby Houlihan

“I was picturing that the last few weeks, and it’s kind of surreal for it to play out in my mind the way it had previously. Going into the last 300 I was just like ‘try to switch gears every 100 meters,’ and I felt really good at that point. I was just hoping it would be enough to be able to catch them, and it was.”

 

Notable: Jenny Simpson (USA)

“It was a little windy coming around the curve on the backstretch, and you remember that only when you’re the one doing all the hard work. I just did the best I could. You open up, you run as hard as you can, you dive at the line and unfortunately, I came up third.”

 

“I’m really happy with the run. It was my first 1,500 of the season, and it was sub-four, I did a lot of the hard work and I think it’s a very different place from Jenny Simpson one year ago.”

 

Laura Muir (GB)

“I didn’t know if I was going to race this, it’s my first race of the outdoor season, and my first outdoor 1,500 since London last year, so really really happy with that. To go sub 4 on my first run, relly pleased.”

Men's Shot Put

Winner: Ryan Crouser (USA)

On his first throw

“I’m just always looking for me to open with a solid throw that will make the final, and then build on that. It was just a nice easy throw, and to throw 72 that easy early, that just gave me a lot of confidence knowing that there was more there.”

“I warmed up really well, now I just have to get to the transition between meet and warmups. I’m not traditionally a warmup guy, but today I warmed up pretty big. Once I get used to throwing hard again, and comepting again, I’m really excited because there is still a lot more potential there to improve.”

 

Men's 110m Hurdles

Winner: Omar McLeod (Jamaica)

“This is a special crowd, I’ve been racing here since high school. I knew I wanted to make it extra special by doing the three-peat. It’s going to be the last Diamond League here on this field, with the renovation and all of that, so it’s a special place to me. I really enjoy doing the victory lap and seeing the crowd and just their appreciation for the sport. I knew in order to do that I had to win, so I’m really grateful for everything.”

 

“When you go in the blocks and they say ‘set, go,’ I just remember nothing. All you remember is crossing the finish line and that’s my aim to cross it first.”

 

“I really want to break the world record this year. I’ve had a lot of setbacks with injuries, I’ve never had so many setbacks in my career, but I know that this is the year to have them. So I’m going after that, and I know I can be optimistic and I’m still training hard.”

Notable: Devon Allen (USA)

“I think they put me in lane 8 to say ‘Hey, no Oregon bias in this meet.’ It’s a random lane draw, so that’s how it is. You can’t really beat the atmosphere, I was a little bit closer to the crowd than everybody else, so I think that’s a big advantage.”

 

“I ran pretty well. I’m feeling good just getting back into training and just getting a good block in. I’m feeling good.”

 

Sergey Shubenkov (Russia)

“What can I say. I expected to go fast, I’m doing my season best, it’s actually my best timing for all of the Pre Classic’s I’ve ever competed. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in May before.”

 

“But I can not do anything with McLeod, he is just too good. He’s just faster, and that’s all. All I can do is like spread my hands, like how? I think I will get him one day, probably, hopefully.”

 

“I’ve been preparing a little bit differently for the season. Doing more running exercises over developing strength. As a result, at this moment I do feel a little bit less fast, but I can not say that I’m not fast because the timing was awesome for me.”

Omar McLeod: Going for 3rd straight Pre Classic win

Devon Allen: Former Duck, Crowd Favorite.

Aries Merrit: (32 years-old) American world-record holder

Sergey Shubenkov: 2017 Diamond Trophy Winner

Women's 5000m

Winner: Genzebe Dibaba

I’m happy, I am winner. I am in good shape, the training is going well.

 

On running a faster time:

Yes I can run faster, it just depends on the pacemakers and their speed.

 

Notable: Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia)

 

On the race: It was good, I felt very good. The country is very good, very nice, I will come again.

Women's 400m

Winner: Shaunae Miller-Uibo (Bahamas)

On difference between win now and win in 2016:

“It was a little bit different, this is my fourth time to Eugene and the crowd is always really great and supportive. Overall the race just felt really good.”

 

“I felt pretty good. I feel like I’ve gotten really strong this year and just overall, like I said the race just felt really great for me. There are a few things I need to work on but overall this was really great.”

 

“I’m pretty happy with [the time]. I’ll live with it. There are some things to work on going forward but for this early in the season I will take that.”

Notable: Phyllis Francis

On feeling nostalgic: Now it’s starting to hit me, yes. It’s just so great to be out here with the fans, and it brings back such great memories of my college years.

 

I’m not too stoke about the time, but it’s an opener and I’m trying new things, so I’m just glad that I actually executed a little harder from the start rather than just being kind of chill.

Men's 200m

Winner: Noah Lyles (USA)

“Finishing is my strong suit, so when I came off and saw I was ahead of the pack I was really excited, and I knew this was gonna be a fast time.”

“I knew once I crossed that line the crowd would be excited, they would be just as excited as I was, and when I heard that it was tied with the fastest time in the world, it just made it that more exciting.”

 

Men's Bowerman Mile

Winner: Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN)

“I like being in Eugene, everytime I come here I improve my time.”

On his goal for this season.

“My goal is to run under 3:28 at Monaco.”

 

Notable: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)

“It felt really good. I wasn’t expecting the race to be that fast, of course the pace was a bit breaky the first couple of laps, but then I had a lot more to go the last lap, so it felt really good coming into the home stretch.”

“My goal was to take Alan Webb’s record, I knew of course it was going to be tough, but I had a PB in mind. Today felt really good and I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

 

Clayton Murphy (USA)

“”It was good, it was a lot windier this year, not as warm, so not as fast. The meet is really good for where I’m at cause I’ve been doing a lot of eight (hundred) based stuff along with more 5K stuff, so I haven’t done much in the middle lately, just trying to get ready for Doha, Shanghi, get back on my feet.”

 

“I think I could have ran a little better, but for the conditions and how I’m training, it’s a huge step in the right direction.”

 

FRIDAY’S EVENTS

Men's Pole Vault
Winner: Sam Kendricks (USA)
“Victory, yes! I took my victory lap, and nobody specifically said to do so, I kind of just took it, because this is possibly my last chance to run around Hayward. I’ve won here 5 different major competitions. It was the sight of one of my first great victories at the NCAA Championships in 2013, 2014 again, the Olympic Trials in 2016, Prefontaine in ‘17 and again in ‘18. This has been the place I’ve grown with over the years. It will change here in the future, hopefully for the better, so I’m glad I was here and able to put a little punctuation on my own career here at Hayward, because it’s kind of like my home away from home.”

On making it exciting:
“You know, I think it was ‘little Mondo’ (Duplantis) that made it exciting today. Pressure is always served best from the bottom. I’m not saying by any means that Mondo is from the bottom, he is a world-class jumper, we treat him as a veteran. I think that we learned today he is a jumper here to stay. He’s a good jumper and he put us all in peril. If I didn’t get the chance to jump a 5.81 on my first attempt, it would have been a different day. Everyone had to come to terms with their own struggles with the wind and what not,, and everyone had different successes.”

On the wind:
“At this high level, a little wind can mean a lot of changes, especially if the wind is switching, back and forth. When you get yourself in a groove to jump into a headwind, you have to make a lot of changes on the fly. It takes a really experienced set of vaulters to do that.”

2nd Place: Armand Duplantis (Sweden)
“I didn’t think the conditions where that terrible, but for sure not ideal by any means. I think this was a great preparation from Stockholm, which usually doesn’t have great weather.”

“I wanted to make my first couple of bars on my first attempts, which I did. Of course, going into every competition you want to be the last man standing, and I was close.”

“Sam (Kendricks) is so hard to beat and it irritates me a lot. I just know that him being so hard to beat will just make that victory so much sweeter.”

“I talk to him (Sam) about it all the time. I told him today, I was like ‘Today, I think I’ve got you.’ I was close, I was right there.”

“He would never saying anything unkind back; he lets his vaulting do the talking.”

Men's Javelin Throw
Winner: Thomas Rohler (GER)
On being the premiere competition for the night:
“We are really happy and we really appreciate it, and the fans were really behind it and it was fun to throw today.”

On dealing with such high level competition 
“Well we are athletes and we are doing this because we want to throw far because we have the passion for the sport, and if the fans get behind it it is even more fun.”

Notable: Johannes Vetter (GER)
“I feel good. After I had the last two competitions and training back home I felt good, so I was really pleased today to throw like 88 and 89. It’s a little bit of pity that Thomas was throwing a bit farther but I can handle that we have good competitors and good teammates.”

“The wind is changing a lot, sometimes it is from the front, sometimes to the head, but you have to deal with that.”

“If somebody throws 91 in the first attempt, then you have to come back and throw 92.”

On Germans getting 1-2-3:
“It was great. Anybody has to beat us, so it’s good. Hopefully we hold it through the rest of the season.”

Women's 800m USATF High Performance
Winner: Natoya Goule (JAM)
“I’m very confident because I can run from the back and still win, so you know it was a great race. A little bit cold, but I just have to give God thanks always because it could have turned out a different way, but I feel good.”

“I just have to go back and train, I haven't gotten a solid training in since I don’t even know when because everytime I’m about to race.

Women's 1500m USATF High Performance
Winner: Dani Jones (USA)
On Redshirting:
“It just spaces out my seasons nicely, and I wanted to take a fifth year so that I could be around the Trials in uniform. After a tough indoor season, being injured, I thought it was the perfect time.”

“I’m not injured anymore, I’m feeling really good. It’s going to be hard to watch the NCAA’s without being in it.”

“I wanted a PR, but I think I’m in a lot better shape than 4:07. I ran pretty gutsy I think, and I took it at 400, so I’m happy with how it all went.”

Notable: Alexa Efraimson (USA)
“First 1,500 of the year, I still have some speed to develop, but overall a pretty decent season opener.”

Men's 800m
Winner: Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir (KEN)
“It was good, but you know there were some challenges. Someone spiked me from behind, but it was good.”

Notable: Nigel Amos (BOT)
“I’m pleased with the race, I’m basically healthy, my calf is in a bit of pain, but I don’t think it’s anything that will take me back. I’m looking forward to the next race and going out and follow the pacer and see what happens.”

Men's Two-Mile
Winner: Selemon Barega (ETH)
“It felt easy. I train at high altitude, and this area is very low altitude and cold.”

Notable: Paul Chelimo (USA)
“Conditions were not that great today, and I just didn’t feel my legs. But it was a good race, you know, coming in second… I can’t complain.”

Eric Jenkins (USA):
“I was happy with how I felt. It was a really back and forth race, and I think I made a few too many moves and didn’t hold it. It’s a good learning experience and there’s some stuff to take away from it.”

“We all come out here and we hear what the pace is going to be. You’re kind of gearing up to just sit and kind of work for it for a while, and I think that’s always when it kind of does the opposite. So it was a bit of a surprise, but not completely flooring.”

“I’m fit, I’m very happy with how the workouts have been going and how the last few months of training have been going, so I know that I’m ready to go, it’s just going to take a few races to get that flow back.”