Friday, June 8
Eugene, OR
All Day
University of Oregon
vs
NCAA Championships
Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto
Prakel, Gillespie Score For UO Men
06/08/18 | Track and Field
UO senior Sam Prakel capped an illustrious career both in the classroom and on the track with a sixth-place finish in Friday's NCAA Outdoor 1,500-meter final.
EUGENE, Ore. — The last line of his collegiate résumé wasn't exactly to Sam Prakel's liking. But taken as a whole, it put the finishing touches on an athletic and academic career the likes of which few student-athletes could match.
Oregon's senior 1,500-meter runner weathered a bumpy race in rainy conditions Friday, finishing sixth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field. In the final collegiate race for Prakel, he earned his fifth career all-America honor, complementing a record of academic achievement that includes academic all-America honors for the biochemistry major.
"I'm sure all the emotions will hit me in a bit, once I realize this is my last time wearing an Oregon uniform and running at historic Hayward Field," Prakel said. "I'm lucky to come out with an all-American and some points. Just coming in with real high expectations for myself, right now in the moment it's not where I wanted to finish. But I couldn't be happier with the entire season, and my entire career here."
Prakel was one of two point-scorers for the Ducks on Friday; junior Cravon Gillespie took fourth in the 100 as well. That gave Oregon eight points in the team race, least for the UO men at this meet since 2002.
But the Oregon fans in attendance Friday had to revel in a meet that featured four collegiate records: Houston cut through the rain to win the 4x100 relay in 38.17, USC sophomore Michael Norman ran the 400 in 43.61, Trojans teammate Rai Benjamin won the 400 hurdles in 47.02, and the USC 4x400 relay finished in 2:59.00. Georgia won the men's team title with 52 points, besting pre-meet favorite Florida's 42; Oregon ended up in a tie for 35th with eight.
"Tough day for the Ducks; tough meet for the Ducks," UO coach Robert Johnson said. "Not what we're accustomed to. We need to evaluate how we can do better. This is the crown jewel of our season; not to do better is disheartening."
With little hope of impacting the team race Friday, Prakel and sophomore teammate Mick Stanovsek at least hoped to be a bigger factor in the 1,500. But Stanovsek got off to a rough start, stumbling about 150 meters in, and then got tied up again with 600 to go and faded to 12th, earning second-team all-American.
Prakel's ride wasn't quite that rough. But in a race that saw favorite Josh Kerr of New Mexico finish third, Prakel realized with just a lap to go he needed to better account for the other contenders.
He ended up sixth in 3:45.73, with Wisconsin's Oliver Hoare winning in 3:44.77 thanks to a late push past Vincent Ciattei of Virginia Tech. Prakel swung wide from the middle of the pack to give himself running room with 400 to go, but didn't make a strong enough move to be a threat.
"The whole season I've been confident in my move; maybe racing against guys like Kerr, I tried to change things up a little too much today, maybe tried to wait a little too long," Prakel said. "In theory it was going to be a good plan — if I was just a little farther up. Looking back I should have just been a little more confident, and made my move then just to get up on the shoulder of Ciattei and some of the other guys up front."
Up next for Prakel will be the USA Outdoor Championships later this month in Iowa, where he'll look to follow up last year's seventh-place finish. Then he'll embark on a pro running career — while also having a biochemistry degree to fall back on.
Prakel brought a 3.89 cumulative grade-point average into this spring. He won the NCAA's Elite 90 Award in 2016 for being the competitor at the NCAA Indoor Championships with the highest cumulative GPA, and he was also named an academic all-American that year. Last fall, Prakel was named the Pac-12 scholar-athlete of the year for cross country, and in May he was named academic all-district, putting him in contention for another academic all-America honor this spring.
"Sam is a world beater," Johnson said. "We're going to definitely miss his leadership there in the distance group next year."
Like Prakel, Gillespie was hoping for a little more Friday. The second-fastest qualifier Wednesday in an all-conditions personal best of 10.02 seconds, Gillespie ran 10.27 to take fourth in the final.
"I didn't have the start I had on Wednesday, but I can't get too down about a loss; this doesn't define me," Gillespie said. "To watch this meet on TV for years, and then be here and take fourth place? It's not first, but I'll take it."
Junior Ben Milligan and freshman Cooper Teare earned honorable mention all-America honors Friday. Milligan cleared the opening height of 6 feet, 9.75 inches in the high jump, and Teare finished 17th in the 5,000 in 14:08.18.
Oregon's senior 1,500-meter runner weathered a bumpy race in rainy conditions Friday, finishing sixth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field. In the final collegiate race for Prakel, he earned his fifth career all-America honor, complementing a record of academic achievement that includes academic all-America honors for the biochemistry major.
"I'm sure all the emotions will hit me in a bit, once I realize this is my last time wearing an Oregon uniform and running at historic Hayward Field," Prakel said. "I'm lucky to come out with an all-American and some points. Just coming in with real high expectations for myself, right now in the moment it's not where I wanted to finish. But I couldn't be happier with the entire season, and my entire career here."
Prakel was one of two point-scorers for the Ducks on Friday; junior Cravon Gillespie took fourth in the 100 as well. That gave Oregon eight points in the team race, least for the UO men at this meet since 2002.
But the Oregon fans in attendance Friday had to revel in a meet that featured four collegiate records: Houston cut through the rain to win the 4x100 relay in 38.17, USC sophomore Michael Norman ran the 400 in 43.61, Trojans teammate Rai Benjamin won the 400 hurdles in 47.02, and the USC 4x400 relay finished in 2:59.00. Georgia won the men's team title with 52 points, besting pre-meet favorite Florida's 42; Oregon ended up in a tie for 35th with eight.
"Tough day for the Ducks; tough meet for the Ducks," UO coach Robert Johnson said. "Not what we're accustomed to. We need to evaluate how we can do better. This is the crown jewel of our season; not to do better is disheartening."
With little hope of impacting the team race Friday, Prakel and sophomore teammate Mick Stanovsek at least hoped to be a bigger factor in the 1,500. But Stanovsek got off to a rough start, stumbling about 150 meters in, and then got tied up again with 600 to go and faded to 12th, earning second-team all-American.
Prakel's ride wasn't quite that rough. But in a race that saw favorite Josh Kerr of New Mexico finish third, Prakel realized with just a lap to go he needed to better account for the other contenders.
He ended up sixth in 3:45.73, with Wisconsin's Oliver Hoare winning in 3:44.77 thanks to a late push past Vincent Ciattei of Virginia Tech. Prakel swung wide from the middle of the pack to give himself running room with 400 to go, but didn't make a strong enough move to be a threat.
"The whole season I've been confident in my move; maybe racing against guys like Kerr, I tried to change things up a little too much today, maybe tried to wait a little too long," Prakel said. "In theory it was going to be a good plan — if I was just a little farther up. Looking back I should have just been a little more confident, and made my move then just to get up on the shoulder of Ciattei and some of the other guys up front."
Up next for Prakel will be the USA Outdoor Championships later this month in Iowa, where he'll look to follow up last year's seventh-place finish. Then he'll embark on a pro running career — while also having a biochemistry degree to fall back on.
Prakel brought a 3.89 cumulative grade-point average into this spring. He won the NCAA's Elite 90 Award in 2016 for being the competitor at the NCAA Indoor Championships with the highest cumulative GPA, and he was also named an academic all-American that year. Last fall, Prakel was named the Pac-12 scholar-athlete of the year for cross country, and in May he was named academic all-district, putting him in contention for another academic all-America honor this spring.
"Sam is a world beater," Johnson said. "We're going to definitely miss his leadership there in the distance group next year."
Like Prakel, Gillespie was hoping for a little more Friday. The second-fastest qualifier Wednesday in an all-conditions personal best of 10.02 seconds, Gillespie ran 10.27 to take fourth in the final.
"I didn't have the start I had on Wednesday, but I can't get too down about a loss; this doesn't define me," Gillespie said. "To watch this meet on TV for years, and then be here and take fourth place? It's not first, but I'll take it."
Junior Ben Milligan and freshman Cooper Teare earned honorable mention all-America honors Friday. Milligan cleared the opening height of 6 feet, 9.75 inches in the high jump, and Teare finished 17th in the 5,000 in 14:08.18.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track and Field
J
/ Track and Field
MD
/ Track and Field
MD
/ Track and Field
Distance
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