Eugene gets a peek at some of the best athletes in the world when the Prefontaine Classic comes to Hayward Field, and records on the track may be broken.
Without a doubt, the sprints on both the men’s and women’s sides will be races to watch. The men’s 200 meters, in particular, has a stacked field. Tyson Gay, the U.S. record holder and gold medalist in the event in the 2007 World Championships, will run against Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, and Walter Dix and Shawn Crawford of the U.S.
Crawford has won an Olympic gold and silver in the event, while Edward has a World Championships silver, Dix has an Olympic bronze and Thompson has an Olympic silver in the 100 meters. Dix is tied with world-record-holder Usain Bolt in the Diamond League points standings in the 200 meters. Bolt will not race at the Prefontaine Classic.
On the women’s side, the 100 meters has some big names. All three medalists from the 2009 World Championships will be in the field. Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica, Kerron Stewart of Jamaica and Carmelita Jeter of the U.S., the gold, silver and bronze winners, respectively, should provide a show for the sellout Hayward Field crowd.
The men’s 5,000 meters will almost certainly break a U.S. record. Never before has a sub-13-minute performance been achieved on U.S. soil, but no less than 10 competitors have sub-13-minute times on the season. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Imane Merga are considered the meet favorites with the lowest times of the season, but Americans Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Solinsky also have sub-13-minute times and could have a shot. The women’s steeplechase should also break the U.S. record of 9 minutes, 25.54 seconds, as the top three all have sub-9:10 times.
The meet is part of the International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League, which just took the place of the 12-year-old IAAF Golden League. It is a series of 14 track meets featuring 32 events in global locales such as Doha, Qatar; Zurich, Switzerland; New York City and London. Winners of each individual event receive prize money and points towards an overall score. After the 14 meets are finished, the athlete with the most points in their respective discipline is the IAAF Diamond League champion.
“The Diamond League has the potential to bring a coherence to the sport as a whole, and for the Pre meet to be invited to be a part of it, is recognition that we are, in fact, one of the best meets in the world,” meet director Tom Jordan said to the Register-Guard.
In addition to the Prefontaine Classic, the Nike Track Nationals will be held on July 2. Nike Track Nationals is the final meet in an attempt to crown the best high school track and field program in the country. High schools sign up online and post scores of their athletes, which are then calculated into points. The top school from each of eight regions is invited to the meet at Hayward Field, and the next four schools with the highest amount of points, regardless of region, are also invited.
Teams will compete in 10 events, including 100 meters, high hurdles, 400 meters, 800 meters, mile, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put and discus.
The Sam Barlow High School boys, of Gresham, are the No. 3 track club in the nation and the top seed in the Northwest Region, while the Kentwood High School girls, of Covington, Wash., are the top seed in the Northwest Region, but are only 31st in the national rankings.

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