Eugene, Oregon (5/28/08)
At the risk of sounding repetitious, the greatest field ever assembled at historic Hayward Field will toe the line on Sunday, June 8th, this time in the women's 1500 meters. Led by 2007 World Champion Maryam Jamal, who ran 3:58.75 in Osaka last summer to turn back all comers, Jamal is one of four athletes in the field who were ranked in the top 10 in the world by Track & Field News magazine. Besides Jamal (at No. 1, of course), these include Yuliya Fomenko at No. 6, Sarah Jamieson at No. 7, and Gelete Burka, last year's Pre Classic winner, at No. 8. Add into the mix America's best from last year, Treniere Clement, and the sensational U.S.-leader for 2008, Shannon Rowbury, who has improved from 4:12.31 to 4:01.61 this season, and you have a field unsurpassed in Pre Classic history. The meet record of 4:00.48 was set by Burka in 2007, and the Hayward Field record of 3:59.19 was set by the incomparable Mary Slaney in 1984. Both are in jeopardy in this race.
Tickets for the 34th annual Prefontaine Classic are on sale from goducks.com, from 1-800-WEBFOOT, and in person at the Casanova Center.
1500 METERS (WOMEN)
Maryam Jamal (Bahrain)
Yuliya Fomenko (Russia)
Gelete Burka (Ethiopia)
Christin Wurth-Thomas
Lauren Fleshman
Shannon Rowbury
Sarah Jamieson (Australia)
Erin Donohue
Treniere Clement
Carmen Douma-Hussar
Tatyana Tomashova (Russia)
Lisa Corrigan (Australia)
Meskerem Assefa (Ethiopia)
