Defending Champions Lipari, O’Hare Seek Repeats at HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. – With more than $20,000 of prize money on the line, as well as end-of-season bragging rights, the deepest fields in event history have been assembled for the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile, which gets underway Wednesday evening at Bay Shore High School.

The 2018 HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile will be streamed live for free beginning at 7:00pm ET with the community races, followed by the professional races starting at 8:30pm ET. Fans can watch live on RunnerSpace.

Emily Lipari, who’s been having a fine 2018 season, ran away from her Long Island Mile competition in 2017, edging Olympian Brenda Martinez at the line for the win, while finishing less than two seconds off the meet record of 4:26.87. Continuing her success into this season, Lipari won the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships in Des Moines, while running under 4:09 three separate times in the 1500m, and taking third in the Ed Murphey Memphis Mile in late August.

While Lipari returns to defend her title on the women’s side, she’s joined by 2015 and 2016 champion Amanda Eccleston. Eccleston, who holds the Long Island Mile meet record, has shown to be one of the top middle distance runners in the United States over the past few seasons. However, her 2018 has been a bit more challenging, most recently placing 11th at the Sir Walter Miler.

Last month, Shannon Osika bested Lipari at the Ed Murphey Memphis Mile, where Osika dominated the field, finishing in a meet record of 4:25.47. Osika placed seventh in the 1500m at the USATF Outdoor Championships earlier this summer, while earning a fourth-place finish at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships. Clearly in great shape, Osika should challenge throughout Wednesday.

Other notable contenders include Olympian Emma Coburn, Rachel Schneider and Ce’Aira Brown. For Coburn, the Olympic bronze medalist in the steeplechase, is coming off a fourth-place showing at the Diamond League final in Brussels last week, running just off her season best in the 3,000 steeplechase with a 9:06.51 effort. Her mile personal best is 4:29.86, which she should challenge Wednesday.

Schneider, similar to Osika, has racked up a slew of fine performances this season. The Under Armour athlete earned a fourth-place showing in the 1500m and runner-up finish in the 5000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships earlier this summer, while placing third in the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships and fourth in the 1500m at the NACAC Championships on the track. She’s a proven veteran who should be in contention in the final stages of the race.

Brown is an interesting athlete in the field. A slower early pace could play as an advantage. Brown finished third in the 800m final at the USATF Outdoor Championships and her 1:58.01 personal best ranks her eighth in the world in the event this season. Stepping up in distance will certainly be a challenge, but she did place eighth in the 1500m at the Pre Classic and went sub-4:10 at the Florida Relays.

Two other top contenders include Kate Van Buskirk and Cory McGee. Van Buskirk is coming off a fifth-place effort at the Sir Walter Miler, where she ran 4:28.67, while McGee placed third at the Sir Walter Miler in 4:27.78. Being so close to the Long Island Mile meet record should give them plenty of confidence to challenge for the win.

Young pro Danielle Aragon, Stephanie Schappert, Katrina Coogan, who placed sixth at the Sir Walter Miler, Nikki Hiltz who placed ninth at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the 1500m, Sara Southerland, who earned an eighth-place finish in the 5000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships and Helen Schlachtenhalfen, who placed eighth in the 1500m at the USATF Outdoor Championships, round out the field.

Equally as deep and talented up top as the women’s field, defending champion Chris O’Hare seems ready to challenge for the Long Island Mile title once again. The runner from Great Britain continues to showcase his success on the track, having run 3:32.11 in the 1500m this season, which currently ranks him 11th best in the world. With other big finishes to his name this season, including wins at the Bislett Games and British Outdoor Championships, O’Hare is once again the favorite entering Wednesday’s action.

O’Hare’s chief competition should come from a quartet of competitors in fellow Great Britain runner Charlie Grice, Eric Avila, Ben Blankenship and Neil Gourley.

Grice enters Wednesday’s contest coming off an 11th-place showing in the 1500m at the recent Diamond League final in Zurich. His 3:34.20 1500m season’s best ranks him 16th in the world, again showing he will be in contention from start to finish.

Avila is having a terrific 2018 season. He placed second at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships earlier this season, ran a fine 3:36.41 1500m performance in late July and is coming off a victorious effort at the Ed Murphey Memphis Mile last month, where he won in 3:55.43.

Blankenship, the wily veteran who trains with Oregon Track Club Elite, hopes to improve upon his fifth-place effort at the Sir Walter Miler last month. His 3:54.88 effort shows he’s in good form coming into Wednesday’s event.

Similarly, Gourley continues to show fine form. He owns a seasonal best of 3:35.98 in the 1500m this season, while placing third at the British Outdoor Championships earlier this season, running just behind O’Hare.

Building off a strong eighth-place showing in the 1500m at the USATF Outdoor Championships, Cristian Soratos hopes to improve upon his fourth-place showing at the Long Island Mile in 2015, as does Canadian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who placed second in 2016. Philibert-Thiboutot is coming off a third-place effort at the NACAC Championships in Toronto.

Colby Alexander is another top contender to watch. The NJNY Track Club runner placed sixth at the Long Island Mile in 2017 and fourth in 2016. With that experience, along with a 3:55.81 season’s best and being a finalist in the 1500m at the USATF Outdoor Championships, Alexander is certainly capable of a top-three finish this time.

Rounding out the field, NCAA 10,000m champion Ben Flanagan and 5000m USATF Outdoor Championships finalist Sam Parsons look to prove their speed in a shorter distance, NJNY Track Club teammates Graham Crawford and Rob Napolitano could each push for top-three finishes, Sam McEntee looks to challenge his 3:57.01 mile personal best from earlier in the season, while Daniel Herrera is ready to race, hoping to build off his fourth-place showing at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships earlier in the season.