Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Prakel's Persistence Pays Off
07/05/16 | Track and Field, @GoDucksMoseley
After scoring in the NCAA Championships, Sam Prakel raced three more times in nine days to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials 1,500 meters Thursday
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Evans
Presuming you're neither a scientist nor an elite middle-distance runner, consider a question.
For the layman starting from scratch, what would be a tougher task: completing course work toward a major in biochemistry? Or qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500 meters?
Oregon junior Sam Prakel is the rare student-athlete who can claim both. This past spring, Prakel was enrolled in a research course, CH 401, in which he chose to focus on supermolecular chemistry. That followed a fall term in which Prakel managed a course load that included BI 360: neurobiology.
Meanwhile, Prakel scored for Oregon in both the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor championship meets. And he was elite in the classroom as well, carrying a 3.97 GPA that was highest among all competitors at the NCAA Indoor meet, earning him the NCAA Elite 90 Award. His 3.95 GPA in the spring earned Prakel first-team academic all-American honors for the outdoor season.
"I'm a person who likes to stay busy," Prakel said. "I think having all those moving parts helps my running. It gives me something else to think about, and takes some of the pressure off running, not having all my eggs in one basket."
Spring term at the university ended a couple weeks ago, but Prakel remains busy. After finishing fifth in the NCAA Outdoor championships, Prakel scrambled to post a qualifying time good enough to earn a spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials field. He raced three times in nine days late last month, finally running fast enough in his last chance to make the 1,500-meter field that begins qualifying Thursday at Hayward Field.
"It was an exciting couple weeks," said Prakel, one of eight runners with UO ties in the 1,500 field along with Matthew Centrowitz, Colby Alexander, Jordan McNamara, Johnny Gregorek, Daniel Winn and, newly accepted into the field as of Tuesday, Matthew Maton and Andrew Wheating. "It was kind of stressful, but the reward was well worth it."
Prakel ran 3 minutes, 40.11 seconds to finish third at the Pac-12 championships in mid-May, shy of the automatic qualifying standard for the Trials of 3:38.00. At NCAA Outdoors, his time in the final was 3:40.84.
Thus began a frantic quest to make the Trials field, a goal Prakel first set while watching the 2012 Trials from the grandstand at Hayward Field. Ten days after the NCAA Outdoor final, on June 18, Prakel raced at an invitational in Seattle and crossed in a disappointing 3:42.11. That race was run in subpar conditions, and Prakel hoped for better weather in what he thought would be his last chance to qualify for the Trials, in Portland five days later.
"We drive up to Portland, and it's pouring down ran, just terrible conditions again," said Prakel, who would run 3:40.74 that night. "I thought that was it. I was dealing with the season being over."
Shortly after the race, however, Prakel bumped into Eric Avila of Team Run Eugene. A meet was being organized for the upcoming weekend in Corvallis. A qualifying time for the Trials needed to be submitted by 9 p.m. on Sunday, June 26; the gun would go off for the 1,500 meters in the Corvallis meet at 8:30 p.m.
The field was small and the crowd wasn't much bigger. But the conditions were more favorable than Prakel's previous two attempts, the low-key meet feeling to him like a practice session.
"You just want to get on the rail and zone out," Prakel said. "So that's what I did."
His final time: 3:38.43. Though short of the automatic qualifying time, it put Prakel safely into the field for the first round of qualifying the Trials on Thursday.
"I'm glad I stayed persistent," Prakel said. "Because I could have easily given up after Thursday (in Portland). But I like to accomplish the goals I set."
That persistence has been key to Prakel's excellence in the classroom as well. When he arrived at Oregon, he said, some in the chemistry department warned him how difficult it would be to balance his intended major with athletics. Prakel wasn't to be deterred.
Inspired to enter the sciences by teachers back at Versailles (Ohio) High School, Prakel has been a biochemistry major since he stepped foot on campus in Eugene. He's also enrolled in the UO's prestigious Robert D. Clarke Honors College.
"I came here partially because I knew this was a great track school, but I also knew I could get into the honors college, and I knew they had a good chemistry department," Prakel said. "I just like having a well-balanced experience here."
Prakel said growing up in a farming community helped instill his work ethic. His grandfather ran a tomato cannery, and in the summer of 2014 Prakel worked on a dairy farm.
"Being around people like that, seeing them in action, it's super motivating," he said. "If I set a goal, I'm going to go out and do it. That work ethic has just stuck with me throughout my life."
Clearly, Prakel isn't scared off by a challenge. He has excelled in a rigorous academic field, while blossoming into a regular contributor on the national stage for the UO track and field program.
This week, Prakel sets his athletic sights even higher, as he prepares to toe the line Thursday in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. He'll race against several men he faced in that frantic week of qualifying for a spot in the Trials, and hopes to keep running with them beyond Thursday.
"I'm going to take it day by day, just run the rounds," said Prakel, who will try to advance to Friday's semifinals, and then Sunday's final that caps the Trials. "I think I can compete with these guys."
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Evans
Presuming you're neither a scientist nor an elite middle-distance runner, consider a question.
For the layman starting from scratch, what would be a tougher task: completing course work toward a major in biochemistry? Or qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 1,500 meters?
Oregon junior Sam Prakel is the rare student-athlete who can claim both. This past spring, Prakel was enrolled in a research course, CH 401, in which he chose to focus on supermolecular chemistry. That followed a fall term in which Prakel managed a course load that included BI 360: neurobiology.
Meanwhile, Prakel scored for Oregon in both the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor championship meets. And he was elite in the classroom as well, carrying a 3.97 GPA that was highest among all competitors at the NCAA Indoor meet, earning him the NCAA Elite 90 Award. His 3.95 GPA in the spring earned Prakel first-team academic all-American honors for the outdoor season.
"I'm a person who likes to stay busy," Prakel said. "I think having all those moving parts helps my running. It gives me something else to think about, and takes some of the pressure off running, not having all my eggs in one basket."
Spring term at the university ended a couple weeks ago, but Prakel remains busy. After finishing fifth in the NCAA Outdoor championships, Prakel scrambled to post a qualifying time good enough to earn a spot in the U.S. Olympic Trials field. He raced three times in nine days late last month, finally running fast enough in his last chance to make the 1,500-meter field that begins qualifying Thursday at Hayward Field.
"It was an exciting couple weeks," said Prakel, one of eight runners with UO ties in the 1,500 field along with Matthew Centrowitz, Colby Alexander, Jordan McNamara, Johnny Gregorek, Daniel Winn and, newly accepted into the field as of Tuesday, Matthew Maton and Andrew Wheating. "It was kind of stressful, but the reward was well worth it."
Prakel ran 3 minutes, 40.11 seconds to finish third at the Pac-12 championships in mid-May, shy of the automatic qualifying standard for the Trials of 3:38.00. At NCAA Outdoors, his time in the final was 3:40.84.
Thus began a frantic quest to make the Trials field, a goal Prakel first set while watching the 2012 Trials from the grandstand at Hayward Field. Ten days after the NCAA Outdoor final, on June 18, Prakel raced at an invitational in Seattle and crossed in a disappointing 3:42.11. That race was run in subpar conditions, and Prakel hoped for better weather in what he thought would be his last chance to qualify for the Trials, in Portland five days later.
"We drive up to Portland, and it's pouring down ran, just terrible conditions again," said Prakel, who would run 3:40.74 that night. "I thought that was it. I was dealing with the season being over."
Shortly after the race, however, Prakel bumped into Eric Avila of Team Run Eugene. A meet was being organized for the upcoming weekend in Corvallis. A qualifying time for the Trials needed to be submitted by 9 p.m. on Sunday, June 26; the gun would go off for the 1,500 meters in the Corvallis meet at 8:30 p.m.
The field was small and the crowd wasn't much bigger. But the conditions were more favorable than Prakel's previous two attempts, the low-key meet feeling to him like a practice session.
"You just want to get on the rail and zone out," Prakel said. "So that's what I did."
His final time: 3:38.43. Though short of the automatic qualifying time, it put Prakel safely into the field for the first round of qualifying the Trials on Thursday.
"I'm glad I stayed persistent," Prakel said. "Because I could have easily given up after Thursday (in Portland). But I like to accomplish the goals I set."
That persistence has been key to Prakel's excellence in the classroom as well. When he arrived at Oregon, he said, some in the chemistry department warned him how difficult it would be to balance his intended major with athletics. Prakel wasn't to be deterred.
Inspired to enter the sciences by teachers back at Versailles (Ohio) High School, Prakel has been a biochemistry major since he stepped foot on campus in Eugene. He's also enrolled in the UO's prestigious Robert D. Clarke Honors College.
"I came here partially because I knew this was a great track school, but I also knew I could get into the honors college, and I knew they had a good chemistry department," Prakel said. "I just like having a well-balanced experience here."
Prakel said growing up in a farming community helped instill his work ethic. His grandfather ran a tomato cannery, and in the summer of 2014 Prakel worked on a dairy farm.
"Being around people like that, seeing them in action, it's super motivating," he said. "If I set a goal, I'm going to go out and do it. That work ethic has just stuck with me throughout my life."
Clearly, Prakel isn't scared off by a challenge. He has excelled in a rigorous academic field, while blossoming into a regular contributor on the national stage for the UO track and field program.
This week, Prakel sets his athletic sights even higher, as he prepares to toe the line Thursday in the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. He'll race against several men he faced in that frantic week of qualifying for a spot in the Trials, and hopes to keep running with them beyond Thursday.
"I'm going to take it day by day, just run the rounds," said Prakel, who will try to advance to Friday's semifinals, and then Sunday's final that caps the Trials. "I think I can compete with these guys."
Players Mentioned
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