Prep Running Star Rupp Enrolls at Oregon
Galen Rupp, who was considered to be among the nation’s top prep distance runners in the country in decades, has enrolled at the University of Oregon and will begin attending classes Monday, according to the Ducks’ current Director of Track & Field Gary Gray.
Rupp, who has been training under the guidance of former Oregon track standout Alberto Salazar since graduating last spring from Portland’s Central Catholic High School, broke the United States’ 40-year-old prep 5,000-meter record previously held by Gerry Lindgren, finishing in a time of 13 minutes, 37.91 seconds a year ago in Belgium. Rupp also holds national prep records at 2,000 (5:18.5), and 3,000 meters (8:03.67), as well as holds the nation’s fastest high school mark in the mile (4:01.8) from a year ago.
Last month, Rupp reigned as the top U.S. finisher in the Junior Men’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in St. Galmier, France, placing 20th as the only non-African runner among the top 31 finishers.
"When I came to Eugene yesterday (Friday) and met with members of the team, they made me feel welcome and I felt they were really sincere," Rupp said of his decision to begin classes at Oregon at this time. "It’s long been a dream of mine to run at Oregon and I am really excited to finally do so.
"I try not to worry about the expectations others may have for me," Rupp said. "I want to run fast more than anyone else wants me to."
The three-time Track & Field News All-American was named as the magazine’s prep boys’ Athlete of the Year following a senior season in which he won Oregon 4A state cross country, 1,500 and 3,000-meter titles. During his prep career, Rupp accumulated five state championships in the three events.
Rupp also was honored as the state’s Johnny Carpenter men’s Prep Athlete of the Year at this year’s Oregon Sports Awards.
"He’s the kind of guy who can score in the NCAA meet immediately if healthy," said the Ducks’ volunteer distance coach Pat Tyson. "That’s nothing but good news for the Oregon track program.
"I think it takes a little bit of pressure off Brett Holts and Eric Logsdon," Tyson said of Oregon’s returning All-America distance runners. "When you add Galen to the game, we can be a little more conservative at the Pac-10 meet. When you want to attempt to win that meet, we might have had to double Logsdon for example. This lets me take a little pressure off of Eric and keep him healthy and more fresh for the NCAA meet. So Galen adds so much to the whole chemistry of the team.
"I think Alberto Salazar working with him over the past couple of years has provided a great foundation of preparing him for the pressures he’s about to face," Tyson added. "Galen had quite a bit of pressure last year and he didn’t let it get to him. He carried with him quite a lot of notoriety going into the World Cross Country championships and yet he still was the top American junior. I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him but the fact of the matter is he knows he’s good. We’re going to do the best we can in allowing him to be a typical college kid and allowing him to get a degree from the University of Oregon."
