By Jake Willard
Coming around the final curve with the lead, Washington’s Colby Gilbert quickly figured out he had a Duck on his tail. As the fans of Hayward Field roared for their home athlete, Gilbert responded with a move on the field: “I was like, ‘Oh, no. This isn’t my crowd. They’re not cheering for me.’”
Oregon’s James West was right on Gilbert’s heels until strong gust of wind knocked him wide into Lane Two on the final straightaway. “At 200 I kind of thought I might get him,” West said.“The wind hit us both and we both slowed. Then he went again. He’s a good athlete.”
The Husky ultimately held off the Duck at the line in the men’s 1,500-meter run Saturday at the Pepsi Invitational. Gilbert took the victory with his time of 3 minutes, 48.64 seconds. West finished just 0.28 seconds behind.
While the conditions in Eugene were not ideal on Saturday, race strategy became an important factor for Gilbert. A tailwind on the back stretch provided the best opportunities for the indoor national’s qualifier to execute his race plan. “It wasn’t too bad over there, so I went and made my moves for positioning to get where I wanted to be,” he said. The winner was happy with how the race plan worked out.
Even though he finished in second, this race was a special one for West, who made his Hayward Field debut. Battling Gilbert to the line, he couldn’t help but hear the passionate track fans welcome him to Oregon. “It was really loud,” he said. “It was great to run here today, and the crowd was amazing down the home straight.”
Both Gilbert and West were pleased with their finishes and are looking forward to races coming up later this season. Gilbert wants to get his 5,000-meter NCAA outdoor qualifying mark as early as possible and plans to focus his energy on that, while West has his mind set on the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 19-20.
