By Isaac Gibson
The men’s 1,500-meter final Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials will have an unorthodox 13 men competing in it. And nearly half of those men have worn an Oregon singlet at one time in their careers.
Eight Ducks and former Ducks had advanced to Friday’s semifinals after the first round, and six of those eight Ducks made it into the final. The ones who did not make it were current Oregon athletes Matthew Maton and Sam Prakel.
“It really felt like a Pac-12 race out there,” said Andrew Wheating, who ran 3 minutes, 44.73 seconds to advance on time after becoming a late addition to the field. “In the back of our minds, we are all thinking, ‘We got to beat all of you.’”
Matthew Centrowitz, who qualified second behind Ben Blankenship, is the only Oregon athlete among the four runners with the Olympic standard. If no one runs under 3 minutes, 36.2 seconds in the final, he will be the only one from Oregon that has a chance to make the Olympic team.
However, for the other former Ducks competing, placing in the top three will be for bragging rights.
“The mentality for me is that making top three without the standard is virtually the same achievement as being an Olympian,” said Daniel Winn, who was a walk-on at Oregon and graduated last year. “I feel like to be top three in America you have to be in A-standard shape. And I might go without the moniker; I would still love that achievement.”
Jordan McNamara, a 2010 graduate and star miler at Oregon, was initially disqualified because he impeded another runner with 200 meters to go, but after review, he was reinstated to the final.
Johnny Gregorek, who transferred from Columbia to use his fifth year of eligibility at Oregon last year, qualified even though he was the third fastest non-qualifying time because of McNamara’s reinstatement.
With making the Olympic team now on the line, the camaraderie that was present in the qualifying rounds has all but disappeared.
“Yesterday, it was a lot of fun because the intensity was not as high,” said Wheating. “Today, everybody knew what the job was, and went out to try and get it done. The humor has dissipated since yesterday.”
However, for Winn and Colby Alexander, the camaraderie will never go away.
“Colby and I were a duo last year, even if the bigger group split up — we always stuck together every day, 365 days a year,” said Winn. “Running right behind him was the most natural and relaxed thing in a situation that would have otherwise been really stressful.”
