By Bryce Dole
Walk-on turned three-time All-America Mick Stanovsek was one of three Ducks who set the pace in the men’s 800 meters Saturday at the Pepsi Invitational in trying conditions of rain pushed sideways by winds averaging upwards of 20 mph.
He ended up in second place with a time of 1 minute, 52.21 seconds, just .17 seconds behind Brigham Young runner Abraham Alvarado.
“We’re in a hard block of training, so I think we got as much as we could out of it,” said Stanovsek. “Obviously, whenever you toe the line you want to win. That’s why we run at Oregon.”
“The goal was just to win,” agreed Alvarado, whose time was 1:52.04 and who hopes to challenge for an NCAA title in the 800 or 1,500 this season. “We didn’t care about the time today, so we’re pretty happy with it.”
Stanovsek thought he had a chance to win, but he couldn’t keep up with Alvarado in the homestretch.
“Eighty (meters) to go is what I’ve been working towards,” Stanovsek said. “I just told myself if you don’t catch him in the first 20, then just keep your form like coach tells you and try and catch him in the last 80 … He’s a very strong runner and today just turned out the way that it did.”
Stanovsek is coming off a promising indoor season that included a personal best for the mile in 3:57.90 in January at New York’s Columbia Challenge, which placed him ranked all-time for the indoor mile at Oregon. When asked if he would be pursuing the 800 this season, Stanovsek said, “We’re definitely looking for some fast times, but the focus is the 1,500 meter.”
Despite a fall during preliminary rounds of the men’s mile at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in March, Stanovsek came back with an impressive 1:47 800-meter split in the men’s distance medley relay, helping his team to a third-place finish.
This team aspect also pushed Stanovsek in Saturday’s race when teammate Sam Prakel took the lead at the bell lap. Prakel pressed a hard pace down the back stretch and around the Bowerman curve until being passed by the top two finishers, placing third in 1:52.48.
“Sam is an awesome guy and a really good friend,” said Stanovsek. “It kind of made it feel a bit more like practice.”
Next stop for the mid-distance men of Oregon is the Bryan Clay Invitational in Los Angeles, where Stanovsek will be running his second 1,500 of the outdoor season.
