Kenyan rivals highlight ‘greatest field of milers ever’ for Pre Classic
Kenyan rivals Asbel Kiprop and Silas Kiplagat will be back at Hayward Field on June 2
By Curtis Anderson, The Register-Guard
EUGENE, Ore. - The Bowerman Mile has been called the greatest race in America.
With more sub-4-minute performances than at any other U.S. invitational track and field meet, it is the traditional closing event at the Prefontaine Classic.
The entry list for this year’s Bowerman Mile at the 38th edition of the Diamond League meeting on June 2 at Hayward Field was deemed the “greatest field of Milers ever assembled on American soil” by meet director Tom Jordan on Tuesday.
“The reason this field is superior to anything you’ll see at the Olympics or World Championships is that we have no limits on the number of entrants per country,” Jordan said. “So, if seven of the top 15 Milers are Kenyans, we get the seven best. That’s when you say, ‘this is something you won’t see in London. It will be better.’”
The Bowerman Mile features a grudge match up front between two 22-year-old Kenyans — Asbel Kiprop and Silas Kiplagat. They are the world’s top-ranked Milers, and fierce competitors on the track...
...Among the top Americans vying for a spot in the Bowerman Mile are former Oregon standout Matthew Centrowitz, the 1500 bronze medalist at the World Championships; three-time Olympian and five-time World Championship gold medalist Bernard Lagat; Oregon Track Club Elite’s Andrew Wheating and Russell Brown; U.S. record-holder Alan Webb, and Olympian Leo Manzano.
Read complete article at: registerguard.com
