Mutola, Runyan face speedy Pre challenges.An international field of the world's fastest women will take on two hometown favorites in the 800 and 1,500 at the 32nd annual Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. History The first annual Prefontaine Classic took place in 1974. at Hayward Field For other uses of "Hayward", see Hayward (disambiguation). Hayward Field at University of Oregon is one of the most well-known historic track and field stadiums in the United States. It has been the home to the University of Oregon Track and Field teams since 1919. on Sunday, May 28. The two races will include runners from Mozambique, Bahrain, Guyana, Australia, China, Ethiopia, Russia ... and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Maria Mutola Maria de Lurdes Mutola (born October 27, 1972 in Maputo) is an athlete from Mozambique who has specialised in the 800 m. Teenage years Mutola was born in the Chamanculo district of Maputo. Her father was employed by the railways and her mother was a market vendor. , who lived and trained in the Eugene-Springfield area for a decade, will be shooting for her 14th consecutive win in the 800 at the Pre Classic. For the first time since she competed in the meet as a high school athlete in 1991, the 33-year-old Mutola does not come into the race with the fastest time in the field from the previous year. That distinction belongs to Hazel Clark of the U.S., who clocked 1 minute, 57.99 seconds compared with Mutola's 2005 outdoor best of 1:58.96. Jamaica's Kenia Sinclair Kenia Sinclair (born July 14, 1980) is a Jamaican athlete competing over 800 metres. Kenia first broke onto the international scene in 2005. On June 12 Sinclair broke Inez Turners 10 Year old record to become the 5th Jamaican woman to go under two minutes. (1:58.88), China's Qing Liu (1:59.74) and American Alice Schmidt (1:59.29) are also expected to challenge Mutola's dominance at Hayward Field. The rest of the field includes Canada's Diane Cummins, Guyana's Marian Burnett, and Americans Francis Santin and Kemeisha Martin. The 1,500 will be led by Bahrain's Maryam Jamal, the top-ranked runner in the world at that distance last year by Track & Field News magazine, and world champion Tatyana Tomashova Tatyana Tomashova (born July 1, 1975 in Perm) is a Russian middle distance runner. At the 2000 Summer Olympics she competed in 5000 metres, but she has participated in shorter races since, now competing mainly in the 1500 metres. of Russia, who was ranked No. 2. They will be challenged by Eugene's Marla Runyan Marla Runyan, born January 4, 1969 in Santa Maria, California, is a marathon runner who is legally blind. After graduating from Camarillo High School in 1987, Ruyan went on to study at San Diego State University, where she began competing in several sporting events: the , a two-time Olympian who is returning from maternity leave maternity leave n → baja por maternidad maternity leave maternity n → congé m de maternité maternity leave maternity n this season. It will be Runyan's third race at Hayward Field this season. She opened with a 32:11.92 clocking in the 10,000 on a cold and windy night at the Oregon Invitational on April 21, followed by a 15:15.00 time in the 5,000 at the Oregon Twilight Meet on May 5. Other top contenders include ninth-ranked Hind Dehiba of France, 10th-ranked Gelete Burka of Ethiopia, Sarah Jamieson of Australia, who has posted the fastest time in the world this year, and Treniere Clement and Jen Toomey, who were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the U.S. last year. The rest of the 1,500 entries include Benita Johnson of Australia, Mestawat Tadesse of Ethiopia, Huina Zing of China, Suzy Walsham of Australia and Americans Tiffany McWilliams and Christin Wurth-Thomas. Tickets for the Pre Classic are on sale in-person at the UO athletic department ticket office, by phone at 1-800-WEBFOOT or online at www.goducks.com. CAPTION(S): Marla Runyan will go against the world's top two 1,500-meter runners at the Prefontaine Classic on May 28. |
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