by Cate Westenhover

Saturday's events start at 10 AM
TV coverage on NBC : LIVE from 11:30 am to 1 pm PST

FULL START LISTS

We’re three days away from one of the fastest meets on US soil – the Pre Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Back to its early June  meet time (the meet was pushed back to early July last year), the 2011 meet is the fourth stop on the Diamond League series. It will feature distance races on Friday evening under the Hayward Field lights, with the sprints and middle-distances featured on Saturday.

The meet’s loaded across the board, with a selective schedule of events. There’s no women’s 10k, no men’s 5k, and no women’s steeple. But there will be two super heats of the men’s mile, a loaded 2-Mile race, and a great women’s 1500m. The men’s and women’s 100m, 400m and 800m races round out the schedule. 

The men’s mile field is split into two races – the Bowerman mile and the International mile. Regardless of name, both races feature American and international talent. The Bowerman mile is the faster-seeded heat, with 10 guys who have run under 3:50 (mile) or 3:33 (1500m). All of these men deserve a mention, but the biggest name is the meet’s defending champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya (mile PR 3:48). US talents Lopez Lomong and Russell Brown, along with New Zealand Olympic silver-medalist Nick Willis, could also be contenders. Is Brown ready to take the next step and become a 3:33-3:34 guy? Can Lopez get back to last year's 3:32.20 form, or is he still a few races away?

BOWERMAN MILE
Asbel Kiprop (Kenya)
Amine Laalou (Morocco)
Silas Kiplagat (Kenya)
Gebremedhin Mekonnen (Ethiopia)
Daniel K Komen (Kenya)
Nick Willis (New Zealand)
Haron Keitany (Kenya)
Caleb Ndiku (Kenya)
Lopez Lomong (USA)
Yenew Alimarew (Ethiopia)
Russell Brown (USA)
Mark Wieczorek (USA)-pace
Josephat Kiithi (Kenya)-pace 

The International mile features recent breakout Kyle Miller and Will Leer, fresh off their 3:36 and 3:37 performances at the Oxy High Performance Meet. Miller's was un unbelievable breakthrough, transforming himself from a 3:41 to a 3:36 guy. Can he run even faster? Aussie Ryan Gregson, coming back from a stress fracture after running 3:31 last year in Monaco, should also be hungry and ready to go.

INTERNATIONAL MILE
Ryan Gregson (Australia)
Gideon Gathimba (Kenya)
Alfred Kirwa Yego (Kenya)
Nicholas Kemboi (Kenya)
Will Leer (USA)
David Torrence (USA)
Evan Jager (USA)
Mohammed Geleto (Ethiopia)
Kyle Miller (USA)
Belal Mansoor Ali (Bahrain)
Ben Blankenship (USA)
Jon Rankin (Cayman Islands)-pace 

Now, about that 2 mile: Bernard Lagat, Galen Rupp and Matt Tegenkamp will face off against 14 other pros and high-school standout Lukas Verzbicas. The men's 2-mile heat sheet reads like an Olympic championship, as the slowest 5k PR in the field is a 13:16 by American Andrew Bumbalough. There are several sub-13 5k and sub 7:35 3k runners in the field, so if conditions permit, a sub 8:00 2-mile is possible. Lagat will definitely have his hands full with Ethiopian Tariku Bekele and a huge group of talented Kenyans.

This experienced field should help Verzbicas with his chances of breaking German Ferndandez’ national high school record of 8:34. Verzbicas ran 8:40 indoors at the New Balance Nationals in New York, so sub-8:34 is well within his reach. The biggest problem could be having anyone within reach halfway through the race.

2 Mile
BEKELE Tariku ETH
BETT David Kiprotich KEN
BIRMINGHAM Collis AUS
BUMBALOUGH Andrew USA
CHERUIYOT Jonas KEN
FARAH Mohammed GBR
KIPCHOGE Eliud KEN
KIPTOO Mark Kosgei KEN
KOECH Isaiah Kiplangat KEN
LAGAT Bernard USA
(pace) MCNAMARA Jordan USA
MILLER Kyle USA
NOVAK Rob USA
RUPP Galen USA
SOI Edwin Cheruiyot KEN
TEGENKAMP Matt USA
THOMPSON Chris GBR
VERZBICAS Lukas USA

Jenny Barringer Simpson heads the women’s 1500m field. Two years ago at this meet she ran an impressive PR of 3:59.90 and she is fresh off a 2:01.20 800 at the  Occidental High Performance meet. Christin Wurth-Thomas will also compete one week after running an American-leading time of 4:03 .72 in Rome. These top Americans will be joined by a slew of international women, so a world-leading time  (4:00.33) could be in danger.

1500
BARRINGER-SIMPSON Jenny USA
BELETE Mimi BRN
BOGALE Tizita ETH
BURKA Gelete ETH
FERNÁNDEZ Nuria ESP
HILALI Siham MAR
JAMAL Maryam Yusuf BRN
LANGAT Nancy Jebet KEN
SOBOLEVA Yelena RUS
UCENY Morgan USA
(pace) VAUGHN Sara USA
WURTH-THOMAS Christin USA

The OTC’s Shalane Flanagan and Sally Kipyego will face off again in the women’s 5k, run on Friday night under the lights. Kipyego got the best of Flanagan at the Payton Jordan 10k early this season. They’ll have to watch out for last year’s champ Tirunesh Dibaba, who ran away with the race in a 15 second margin of victory (14:34).

5k
ANTENEH Emebet ETH
AYALEW Hiwot ETH
(pace) AYALEW Wude ETH
CHEMTAI Esther KEN
CHEPKURUI Lineth KEN
CHERONO Mercy KEN
CHERUIYOT Vivian Jepkemoi KEN
DIBABA Tirunesh ETH
FLANAGAN Shalane USA
(pace) HINDS Korene JAM
KIBET Sylvia Jebiwot KEN
KIPYEGO Sally KEN
KORIKWIANG Pauline Chemning KEN
MALOY Elizabeth USA
MASAI Linet Chepkwemoi KEN
MURIUKI Margaret Wangari KEN
SAMITOVA-GALKINA Gulnara RUS
UTURA Sule ETH
WELLINGS Eloise AUS
WRIGHT Megan CAN

The men’s 800 will be close, with Kaki Khamis (1:42 PR), Boaz Kiplagat Lalang (1:42) Jackson Kivuva (1:43) and Americans Khadevis Robinson (he’s run at least 1:45 every year for the last fourteen years), Nick Symmonds (1:43) and Leo Manzano (1:44). The fastest time run this year is a 1:43.88 from David Rudisha back in March, so we could have a World-leader after this race.

800
KAKI KHAMIS Abubaker SUD
KIVUVA Jackson Mumbwa KEN
LALANG Boaz Kiplagat KEN
MANZANO Leonel USA
MULDER Tyler USA
RENSHAW Lachlan AUS
(pace) SCHERER Matthew USA
SYMMONDS Nick USA
ROBINSON Khadevis USA 

The women’s 800 is equally stacked. Last year, nine women broke 2:00 here. Four of those women are back (including Phoebe Wright and Anna Pierce), and look out for controversial world champ Caster Semenya! Furthermore, Oxy  800 champion and US#1 Alice Schmidt and Alysia Montano (who ran 1:57 last year as Alysia Johnson) will battle for US  800 supremacy. This is Montano's 2011 outdoor opener. 

800
JELIMO Pamela KEN
JEPKOSGEI Janeth KEN
MONTANO Alysia USA
(pace) MOORE Erica USA
PIERCE Anna USA
RUSANOVA Yulia RUS
SCHMIDT Alice USA
SEMENYA Caster RSA
SIMPSON Jemma GBR
SINCLAIR Kenia JAM
WRIGHT Phoebe USA

Finally, both 400m races have top-name talent like Olympians Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wariner and 400-meter specialist Bershawn "Batman" Jackson. Also look out for Oscar Pistorius, the South African sprinter with two below-the-knee prosthetic legs. Earlier today in Ostrava and last week in Rome, Richards-Ross struggled down the stretch and was beaten, failing to break 50 on both occasions. Conversely, Felix looked unbeatable a week ago in Rome. She cruised to a 49.81, the only sub-50 in the World so far this year.

M 400
BINGHAM Michael GBR
BORLÉE Kevin BEL
GONZALES Jermaine JAM
JACKSON Bershawn USA
NEVILLE David USA
PISTORIUS Oscar RSA
SCOTT Josh USA
TAYLOR Angelo USA
WARINER Jeremy USA 

W400
DUNN Debbie USA
FELIX Allyson USA
FIROVA Tatyana RUS
HASTINGS Natasha USA
MONTSHO Amantle BOT
RICHARDS-ROSS Sanya USA
USTALOVA Kseniya RUS
WILLIAMS Shericka JAM