Coming into Sunday’s 1,500 meter final, each of the men in the 13-man field was prepared for a fast pace.
Only five of the runners had achieved the Olympic qualifying standard prior to Sunday, and each of the eight men on the outside looking in were aware that their finish position didn’t matter if they didn’t hit the standard.
Six of the runners in the field had University of Oregon ties, and Sunday represented their last chance of the season — and for some of them, the last chance of their career — to grasp an Olympic berth.
In the end, Matthew Centrowitz of Nike Oregon Project sat patiently and survived a torrid opening pace before he turned on the jets with 200 meters to go and buried a group of runners he has been racing against since his college days.
Centrowitz won in a season-best time of 3:34.09 to capture his fourth U.S. title in the past six years. The victory also provided a personal milestone for the former University of Oregon star: with the win, Centrowitz matched his father, Matthew Centrowitz Sr. in both U.S. titles and Olympic appearances.
“It’s awesome,” Centrowitz Jr. said after the race. “I finished second here in 2012. I was joking with my dad last night… he was a two time Olympian, and I am now. So he can’t really have that over my head.
“Kind of a cool stat was that his first team he made, he finished second, and his second team he won as well. Just another reason for me to follow in his footsteps. Like father like son.”
As soon as the starting gun went off, any idea of running a slow pace went out the window for the 13 competitors. Nike Oregon Track Club Elite’s Jordan McNamara took the race out at a 42.95 300 meter pace with the idea to reach the qualifying standard or die trying.
By the 800 meter mark, McNamara, a former UO standout, had faded to sixth place and would go on to finish last.
Centrowitz jockeyed for position with a group of frontrunners, and by the 1,100 meter mark, had worked his way into second. Then, just before passing the East Grandstand, he was gone. Centrowitz tore through the final 400 meters in 53.95 seconds and unleashed a signature flamboyant celebration as he crossed the finish line.
“For me, personally, I like to prepare for a little bit faster race,” Centrowitz said. “If it turns tactical or slow, for me it feels a little bit easier versus preparing for a tactical race and feeling like I wasn’t prepared for it.”
Centrowitz was one of only two runners who ran the last 400 meters in under 56 seconds. The other was Robby Andrews, who moved from fifth to second on the last lap and careened down the backstretch to pass Ben Blankenship to finish second in 3:34.88.
“Matthew likes to be in the front to see where he’s going,” Andrews said. “I’m more at ease when I can see where everybody else is going… For me, I get more confidence if I can just sit in the back and relax for a little bit.”
Blankenship, another OTC Elite athlete, finished third and also qualified for Rio. The 26-year-old Blankenship missed out on the 2012 trials while recovering from injury. While Centrowitz was competing in London, Blankenship was working an excavation job.
Blankenship used a late surge to hold off 2012 U.S. gold medalist Leo Manzano and claimed the last qualifying spot in 3:36.62.
“Somebody once told me you have to have three gears on the last 200,” Blankenship said. “One to go, another to go and one to maintain.”
Former Ducks Johnny Gregorek, Colby Alexander and Daniel Winn finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
The Last Oregon alum, Andrew Wheating, placed 12th in what could potentially be his last Olympic Trials appearance. Wheating reached the Olympics in the 800 in 2008 and in the 1,500 in 2012, but has struggled to find his form over the past few season as he’s endured a series of injuries.
“I had the perfect mentality,” Wheating said. “I had it exactly where I wanted to be in my head. It was the body that was kind of missing a bit of training.
“Hayward has this unbelievable draw; this attraction this magic. It doesn’t matter how out of shape I am, I can find the confidence just by walking around this track.”
Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney