At the Pacific-10 Conference men’s track and field championships on May 17, it was only fitting that the two most exciting events shared a common link of Andy Wheating.
The junior from Norwich, Vt. joined teammates Galen Rupp and Matthew Centrowitz on the podium in the men’s 1,500 meters, an Oregon Duck sweep. Though he finished third, Wheating ran his signature race, hanging at the back of the pack until the 200-meter mark when he found his extra gear, using that to bypass most of the field on his way to the podium.
One hour later, however, Wheating had to come back for the men’s 800 meters. Of course, you know by now that Wheating was the reigning Pac-10 champion in this event, as well as a U.S. Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Noticeably more fatigued, Wheating again employed his signature kick with 200m to go, and it was just barely enough to best University of Southern California’s Irek Sekretarski.
It didn’t look it, but Wheating’s forward lean earned him the Pac-10 title by .02 seconds. Sekretarski raised his right index finger after crossing the finish line. Neither man knew the truth until the video board posted the times seconds later.
Wheating is no stranger to close calls, losing out on the NCAA individual title in the 800m last year to Texas’ Jacob Hernandez by .01 seconds. Still, the close finish of the race could be an aftereffect of a rumored increase in workload. Oregon associate athletic director Vin Lananna, the speculation goes, plans to make Wheating a dual threat, running both the 800m and the 1,500m. (Wheating has NCAA West Regional qualifiers in both events this season.)
Oregon runners under Lananna are usually held in the dark as to what they’ll race until the day of a meet, based on team needs, physical health and other minutiae. This causes stress for reporters, who try in vain to figure it out for themselves. The runners, on the other hand, are freed from pressure to a certain extent, but are also able to focus more on the tactical aspects of one race over another, prepared to run what Lananna or assistant director of track and field Dan Steele tell them to run. Wheating – and, really, any Oregon runner – will run what the coach instructs them to.
So it’s not a stretch to believe that, should the NCAA Championships come close, Wheating may be pressed into action in both the 800m and 1,500m. He is certainly capable of scoring at least 16 points, the same number he scored at Pac-10s, and maybe even more.
However, despite the increased stress on the 1,500m, I believe Lananna will keep Wheating on the 800m. The reason, as always, concerns the team structure down the road.
First of all, Wheating faces a pretty brutal schedule for the NCAA Championships if he decides to double up. He’ll run five races in four days; the two finals are within an hour of each other. That’s a lot of stress on a runner who came off a minor foot injury in the indoor season.
The second reason is, to paraphrase Lananna, it makes more sense to try the 800-1,500m double next season. Galen Rupp will have graduated, but in his place Oregon brings in a stellar recruiting class centered around Elijah Greer of Lake Oswego and Mac Fleet of San Diego, Calif., both of whom specialize in the middle distances. (Greer is the state record holder in the 800m, with a PR of 1:47.68. By comparison, Wheating won his Pac-10 title this year in a slow race of 1:49.83.) The men seem naturally inclined to shift from a long-distance power to a middle-distance power until Lananna reloads his 5,000-meters and 10,000-meters runners. (Though, let’s be honest: Rupp is irreplaceable. And the Oregon coaches know this.)
Wheating wouldn’t be exorcised from his best race for his senior year; his strengths would be complemented by other great talents, furthering the program’s goals. For now, Wheating will continue to get stronger, working toward a longer distance while improving upon his 800m tactics. Wheating has the talent to become a dual threat in the 800m and the 1,500m on the national level, but the kid who didn’t run track in high school needs more time. It only makes sense.
[email protected]