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Eight Olympians Set to Square Off at Long Island Mile

Published by
DyeStatPRO.com   Aug 30th 2016, 3:43am
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Watch Wednesday’s Race Live and for Free on RunnerSpace

By Scott Bush

Fields rich with talent and built for speed convene in New York Wednesday for the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile, as defending champions David Torrence and Amanda Eccleston seek to repeat and bring home the $3,000 first place prize, part of an event prize purse of over $20,000.

Fans can watch live on RunnerSpace, with community races beginning at 7pm ET, while the professional races get underway at 8:30pm ET.

On the men’s side, a total of six Olympians are set to compete for the title. Torrence enters as the pre-race favorite, having won in 3:53.91 last year and qualifying for the 5000m final in Rio earlier this month. Torrence is known for his range, consistently competitive in race distances from 800m to 5000m, which makes him a contender in nearly every race he’s entered in.

Torrence should find himself with plenty of competition up front from the gun, joined by 2012 Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano and 2016 Olympians Julian Matthews (NZL), Chris O’Hare (GBR) and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (CAN), all three qualifiers in the 1500m, with O’Hare and Philibert-Thiboutot both qualifying for the semi-finals.

Race director Kyle Merber enters Wednesday’s contest hoping to improve upon his third place finish in 2015. While Merber dealt with injury part of the year, he’ll lead the chase back at his event. He’s joined by Long Island Mile veterans Riley Masters and Ford Palmer, the fifth and sixth place finishers at last year’s event.

Rounding out the field is two-time Olympic steeplechase finalist Donn Cabral and Belgium’s Peter Callahan. In addition, a quartet of 1500m finalists at this year’s U.S. Olympic Trials are set to push for the win, including Johnny Gregorek (6th at the Olympic Trials), Colby Alexander (7th), Daniel Winn (8th) and Eric Avila (11th).

On the women’s side, Eccleston narrowly missed making the Olympic Team after finishing a narrow fourth in the 1500m final, as Brenda Martinez edged Eccleston at the line, 4:06.16-4:06.19. It was a rough finish for Eccleston, but the 26-year old enters Wednesday’s contest as defending champion, having won last year in 4:29.99.

Eccleston’s chief competition could very well come from fellow Olympians Ajee’ Wilson and Marielle Hall. While neither is considered a mile specialist, both have plenty of talent to challenge for the win. Wilson qualified for the Olympic semi-final in the 800m and owns a 1500m personal best of 4:12.10, while Hall owns a 1500m personal best of 4:14.29 and looks to bounce back after a tough performance in the 10,000m final in Rio.

Equally as capable to come away with the win, 2015 U.S. 5000m champion Nicole Tully, 2015 World Championship 1500m qualifier Lauren Johnson and 2015 U.S. indoor 1000m champion Lauren Wallace have all shown plenty of speed and fitness over the past year to take the victory. While Tully and Wallace struggled at the Olympic Trials, Johnson placed eighth in the 1500m final.

Rounding out the women’s field are Boston Athletic Association teammates Emily Lipari and former NCAA champion Emma Bates, as well as Rachel Schneider, Lianne Farber, Shannon Osika and Stephanie Schappert, adding plenty of depth to what should be an incredibly fast and competitive race.

Watch the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile live on RunnerSpace: http://hoka-one-one-long-island-mile.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=11220&do=videos&video_id=185772



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History for HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile - Cancelled for 2020
YearResultsVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2020     1    
2019 1 21 7 131  
2018 1 25 9 80  
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