Despite a seventh-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic three weeks ago, former Oregon runner Matt Scherer set a personal best in the 800-meter dash at 1:46.1, the seventh-best U.S. time this year and the 10th-best time entering the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Hard to believe, then, that Scherer almost gave up on his Olympic aspirations in the 800m last summer.
Scherer, who owns the second-best 400m time in Oregon history at 45.19, took up the 800m as a means of obtaining an Olympic berth.
“You could be fourth best in the U.S. and not make the Olympic team and be top five in the world,” Scherer told the Emerald last month. “The 800 is almost kind of the opposite.”
The greater distance required a different mindset and training regimen, which Scherer, who is a part of Oregon Track Club Elite, adjusted to with help from legendary coach Frank Gagliano.
“You have to have the mentality and the heart to train and, not saying the quarter-milers don’t, but it takes a tough person to move up from 400 to 800 after he’s been running 400, 200 his whole life,” Gagliano said.
The early results were discouraging. Scherer tore a calf muscle and missed the 2007 indoor track season, and, despite having run a 1:47.08 earlier in the year, clocked a disappointing 1:49.62 at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships.
“I probably retired about four times in my head last summer,” Scherer said. “It got hard at times but this is where I want to be. I’m in a much better position now to make the (Olympic) team than I would be had I stayed with the 400.”
With Gagliano’s coaching and Scherer’s determination, a funny thing happened: Scherer’s times began improving. He followed up a 1:49.15 800m run at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 19 with a 1:48.48 at the Oregon relays a week later. In May, Scherer set a then-personal best of 1:46.61 in an exhibition race at Hayward Field, a scant 11 hundredths of a second off the Olympic Trials ‘A’ standard for the 800m. His Prefontaine Classic run solidified his spot in the Trials.
“It’s finally coming together,” Scherer said. “All I had to do was listen to Gags and believe in the system.”
And it’s coming together better than anyone anticipated. Even his coach.
“I’ve never coached a 400 meter runner who moved into the 800 and run 1:46 after two years. Not even two years,” said Gagliano, adding that no one he’s seen has taken to the transition better than Scherer.
In preparing for the Trials, Scherer is plotting possible race outcomes and determining strategy. He and fellow 800m runner Nick Symmonds competed in a 600m race at Hayward two weeks ago, a contest that Symmonds said may have strategic implications in the actual event. Scherer withstood a late push from Symmonds to win the race in one minute, 14.41 seconds.
In the 800m field, Scherer faces an uphill battle. His Pre Classic mark is a second and a half slower than the fastest qualified and declared time in the field, Khadevis Robinson’s mark of 1:44.27. (Alan Webb, who has the fastest time in the 800m for the games, has been scratched from the event.) Symmonds’ time of 1:44.69 comes in second. Current Duck Andrew Wheating and NCAA 800m champion Jacob Hernandez are also ahead of Scherer, who estimates that a sub-1:45 performance could secure an Olympic berth.
If ever there was a place to set a new personal best and garner that berth, Hayward fits the bill perfectly in Scherer’s UV-protected, sunglassed eyes.
“Every single PR I had in any distance I ran here at Hayward field and I think that’s just attributed to this place,” Scherer said. “I think (the fans) definitely get it more here and that comes from back in the day when track was gaining popularity. Those people are still around and they’ve passed that knowledge to their kids.
“I know exactly how the crowd’s going to be and how things are going to look. I’m not really worried about getting too nervous or coming out here and seeing something I don’t expect.”
Quarterfinals of the 800m dash take place at 8:20 p.m. Saturday. The final will take place at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, June 30.
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