A race to be remembered
It was all there if you were a
diehard Oregon track fan — the
rain, the cold, a dual meet and
Alberto Salazar in the thick of a
hotly contested 10,000-meter
race.
And as befits the world
record holder in the marathon,
Salazar jumped to center stage
Saturday at Hayward Field,
challenging a world-class field
to stay with him as he reeled off
lap after lap on a record pace
In the end, it was another
record-holder by the name of
Henry Rono who surged past
Salazar to win in history’s
fourth-fastest 10,000-meter time
— 27:29.90 — with Salazar fin
ishing in 27:30.0, just short of
Craig Virgin s American record
of 27:29 16
Before Salazar and Rono
faced one another in the 10,000,
the Oregon men’s team easily
defeated a thin Louisiana State
dual squad. 93-60 The Ducks
won 10 events, including an
NCAA-qualifying time of
13:30.52 by Jim Hill in the 5,000
meters
The special 10,000-meter
race was Salazar’s idea, an out
growth of his desire to return to
Oregon track some of the sup
port he received while running
for the Ducks
He assembled one of the most
impressive 10,000-meter fields
ever seen on United States soil
and announced that he would
run as hard as he could, daring
the rest of the field to stay with
him
Most of the field did, at least
for a few laps. Then they began
dropping off, until only three
time NCAA champion Michael
Musyoki, 12-time NCAA
champion Suleiman Nyambui
and outstanding Englishman
Adrian Royle remained with
Rono and Salazar.
“People in Eugene have
never seen a field like this
before," Oregon coach Bill Del
linger said, watching as
Musyoki, Nyambui and Royle all
finally dropped off the pace,
leaving Rono and Salazar to
battle themselves and one
another
Story by
John Healy
Photos by
Bob Baker
and
Mark Pynes
Rono finally took the lead with
600 meters remaining, and it
appeared that the hex he seems
to hold over Salazar would once
again work
Salazar didn't fold, though,
instead trying three times to
push past the Kenyan, who
holds world records in the
steeplechase, 3,000-, 5,000-,
and 10,000-meters
"I didn't think anyone was
confident enough to run that
hard the whole way,'' said
Salazar in reference to Rono
Salazar's final attempt to pass
Rono came over the final 100
meters. He pulled alongside
Rono, got a step ahead, then fell
even with the eventual winner
before Rono was able to pull
ahead.
"I respect him greatly as a
runner but the win was so
close,” said Salazar, pulling on
his sweats while sitting in the
equipment shack at the south
end of Hayward Field
"It’s only a matter of time and
it (Salazar's 10,000 time) will be
faster. I still have a lot of years
ahead of me." he said "But
today, I ran as fast as I could "
Royle finished third in
27:47.16; Dan Dillon fourth in
28:05.75; Nyambui fifth in
28:07 09; Musyoki sixth in
28:13.86
In the Oregon-LSU dual, the
Ducks outscored their oppo
nents 23-4 in the weight events
and 26-10 in the middle and
long distances, plus winning
both relays, to notch their first
home dual meet victory this
spring
The brothers Crouser swept
the weights, with freshman
Brian winning the javelin with a
throw of 230-10 and Dean
taking first in the shot put
(63-0%) and discus (197-3);
John Brauer won the stee
plechase in 9 13 40; David Mack
moved up to the 1,500 and won
in 3:45.11; Don Wright cruised
to a 14 21 win in the high hur
dles; Brett Tate leaped 46-10%
to win the triple jump, and Hill
won the 5,000
Henry Rono and Alberto
Salazar challenged each other
and the record book Saturday at
Hayward Field. The duo
clocked the fourth and fifth
fastest 10,000 meter times in
history, with Rono winning,
27:29.90 to 27:30.0. Rono
shadowed Salazar for all but the
last 600 meters, when he moved
around the former Oregon star
and into the lead (top). The pair
were never more than a step
apart in the final 100 meters.
Rono barely outleaned Salazar
at the tape (middle left) and
then congratulated him after
the race (bottom left). In the
Oregon-Louislana State dual
meet preceding the 10,000,
Oregon’s Jim Hill ran an
NCAA -qualifying 13:30.52 in
the 5,000 (bottom right).