It’s going to be an interesting weekend for followers of track in the state of Oregon and across the country.
Galen Rupp, a week after winning the 5,000 at Cal, seems ready to challenge the U.S. record in the 10,000 meters. At some point this week, he will decide whether to make that attempt at the friendly confines of Hayward Field in Eugene, or try at Stanford, where he broke the American collegiate record three years ago.
Judging by the weather report, it seems likely he would choose Stanford. It’s been rainy and windy in the Willamette Valley this week and those conditions are expected to last through Thursday. Friday may be clearer, but I haven’t heard any of the local forecasters predicting the kind of weather that Rupp will be looking for. Twenty-five laps with a breeze in his face each time he passes the east grandstand isn’t going to do him any favors, even if there are more people clapping for him.
Plus, there is a great field assembling at Stanford.
The 13:34 he ran last week was simply a dress rehearsal. Expect that to be his pace when he runs this week.
The 10K record: 27:13.98, set by Meb Keflezighi in 2001. It’s within Rupp’s reach.
The two-day Oregon Relays will combine all sorts of events together — high school, college, some pros — and produce a number of storylines.
But another one to watch out for is coming at the 44th Centennial Invitational on Saturday, where Gresham’s Sam Crouser is likely to take dead aim at the U.S. high school record in the javelin. Again, weather could be a factor. But if it’s reasonably nice, I would expect that he has a great chance to break Tommi Viskari’s 1988 record of 241-11. Viskari was an exchange student visiting in New York when he set the record.
It’s high time an American broke it.
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I would love to see Sam unleash one at Centennial. The javelin runway is not the best at Centennial as there are always people milling around where the throwers start there approach. I would think it's a bit distracting. Will you be there, Doug, or will you be in Eugene?