During day seven and eight, the men’s 1,500 at the U.S. Olympic Trials has acted more like a homecoming for many of the competitors than a professional track and field meet.
Eight racers represented the Oregon Ducks in the first round of the 1,500 on Thursday. The former Ducks included: Matthew Centrowitz, Jordan McNamara, Daniel Winn, Johnny Gregorek, Colby Alexander and Andrew Wheating. The two current Ducks are freshman Mathew Maton and Sam Prakel.
With two or three Oregon related runners in each heat and some rain pouring down, the ex-Oregon stars felt at home.
“You should have seen us warming up, it was so great,” Wheating said when speaking to reporters on Thursday. “Matt and I were cracking jokes back and forth, giving Mathew Maton crap for his long hair… It is like a family.” 
In the first round, that family succeeded, advancing all eight runners into the semi-final. With all of the Ducks advancing, that meant that one third of all runners in the semi-final had Oregon ties.
“I would hate not to be an Oregon guy in this field because all the other guys did not look like they were having fun,” Maton said on Thursday, “Nobody is too serious, which is weird in a sport like this.”
What is also weird is how dominant one program can be in a single event. At the U.S. Olympic Trials four years ago, six of the twelve 1,500 finalists all wore the O on their chest in college. The experience of running at Hayward Field throughout their career has helped, along with the cheers of the hometown crowd urging them on as they round each corner.
On Friday, two heats of 12 runners took the track in the semifinals of the 1,500 to determine the 12 runners to advance to Sunday’s final, and eventually the Olympics. The top five in the two heats advanced plus the next two fastest times.
Alexander, Winn and Prakel ran in the first heat. Alexander and Winn both qualified for finals with a time of 3:47.77 and 3:48.31, respectively. Prakel was one spot behind an auto-qualification with a 3:48.55.
“I’m very motivated going into next year knowing I’ve raced against these top guys,” Prakel told reporters on Friday. “Whenever I go into those high level NCAA races, I can look on this experience and draw confidence from it.”
The second heat was stacked with professional talent. Centrowitz, Wheating, Gregorek, McNamara and Maton were all featured against each other.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to do a final two days early’,” Wheating said to reporters on Friday. “I sent that to my coach, ‘Mark, I did not realize the final was today’.”
Centrowitz is the strong favorite to win the 1,500 final and holds a season-best time taht is over four seconds faster than any other American. He advanced to the final with a time of 3:44.73. Wheating, Gregorek and McNamara also advanced to Sunday’s final, but not without controversy.
After initially qualifying for the final, McNamara was temporarily disqualified for impeding another runner, so Gregorek was assigned his spot. 90 minutes and one protest later, McNamara was officially re-entered into the final.
Gregorek kept his spot, meaning six of the 13 finalists will be ex-Oregon athletes.
All the love and hugs between the Oregon runners began to dissipate after their competitiveness began to kick in and as the stakes were raised.
“Yesterday it was fun because it was not so high intensity,” Wheating said “But today everybody knew what the job was and went out to try and get it done.”
“In the back of your mind you’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to beat all of you’. It’s guy love.”
The ex-Ducks enjoy the challenge of racing against friends and familiar opponents but they do not let it get in the way of the ultimate goal. Don’t expect any of the runners to have mercy on their fellow alum’s on Sunday.
For Duck fans, getting to see so many alums race at such a high level is a treat, and it must make for an easy recruiting pitch for Oregon head coach Robert Johnson.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917