Oregonians rule the 10k


EUGENE – Oregonians took over the 10,000-meter championship races Thursday night at Hayward Field, winning both races and taking five of the six berths at stake for this summer’s World Championships in Berlin.Distance running has long been king here in Eugene, but this time the realm extended north to Portland, which produced three of the top five and may now be able to claim title as the nation’s distance-running capital.
Galen Rupp, completing his career at the University of Oregon, won the men’s race in 27:52.53, defeating Dathan Ritzenhein and Tim Nelson. Ritzenhein recently moved to Eugene, while Nelson moved to Portland last year from Wisconsin along with Coach Jerry Schumacher.
In the women’s 10k, Amy Yoder Begley upset last year’s Trials champion, Shalane Flanagan, in a final sprint, running 31:22.69, a lifetime best and taking the Hayward Field record away from Flanagan.
Begley runs for the Oregon Track Club and lives in Portland, where she trains with Nike’s Alberto Salazar, while Flanagan has announced that she will now split her time between residences in North Carolina and Portland, where she trains under Schumacher.
And Rupp, of course, is a Portland native, and he could be expected to return there after graduation to continue training with his coach there, Salazar.
In a surprise development, Oregon’s star halfmiler, Andrew Wheating, was unable to compete. He withdrew from both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs. It was reported that he was still suffering from a calf injury that first flared up at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago in Arkansas, where he won the 800 by a narrow margin.
In his absence, Nick Symmonds, winner of the Olympic Trials a year ago, won his heat of the 800 and advanced to the semifinals. “I feel great,” Symmonds said. “I’ve been working out twice a day, every day. That’s what it takes.”
In the 1,500, Ducks Wheating and Matthew Centrowitz were both missing due to injuries, but their unsung teammate, Jordan McNamara, advanced to the final on time, running 3:41.15 in the final heat.
In the Junior boys’ pole vault, Oregon prep Jared Hippler, of Oregon City, finished 6th, clearing 16-4 ¾. Charlie Beard of South Eugene failed to clear the opening height.
A Duck-to-be, Jordan Hasay, the tyke from California with the long blonde ponytail, was unable to match the success she had a year ago at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Hasay finished last in her heat in 4:19.61; a year ago she set the national high school record, running 4:14.50.

Hasay is also entered in the Juniors 1,500 scheduled for Sunday.