WATCH LIVE

Fresh off the madness at NCAAs, we’re making the short 2 hour drive over to Portland for the 2015 Portland Track Festival! With USAs just around the corner, the top pros and post-collegiates are sharpening up for the rounds of championship season, and PTF promises to be a preview of what’s to come later in the summer. Some of America’s best will be chasing standards, while others will simply look to get in a hard effort against deep competition. 

 

Here’s what’s on tap this weekend at the 2015 Portland Track Festival, LIVE on FloTrack:

 

FloTrack Men’s 1500m (Sunday, 7:25pm)

Evan Jager and Ryan Hill both enter PTF after solid races at Pre. Jager was especially impressive in his steeple opener two weeks ago, clocking an 8:05.28 4th place finish and the second fastest time of his career. It’s only a matter of time before the 26-year-old breaks his own American record (8:04.71) this season, and the next step is grabbing a medal at the World Championships in Beijing. Jager’s closing speed in the steeple has been steadily improving, and he’ll look to continue that upward trajectory with a fast 1500 on Sunday night. He ran a season’s best 3:39.40 at Payton Jordan in May.

Evan Jager and Ryan Hill are off to fast starts in 2015

Hill seems like he always flies under the radar, but the 25-year-old is downright lethal over the last lap. He scored a big win in the Payton Jordan 1500 in 3:38.79 by crushing the last 100 meters, a trait that will be so pivotal at USAs in a race that will surely be tactical. Hill isn’t incredibly flashy (his 5K PB is 13:14), but his sprinting ability means he’s never out of contention. After just missing his 5K PB with a 13:15.92 6th place finish at Pre, Hill is firing on all cylinders heading into this weekend. 

 

Women’s 5,000m (Saturday, 8:50pm) 

Former Bowerman teammates Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher will reunite in Portland in the 5K, with Flanagan racing for the first time since the Boston Marathon in April, and Goucher running her first track race since 2013. The last time the pair were in the same race was the 2013 US Championships 10K, won by Flanagan with Goucher in 5th. 

Former teammates Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan will race against each other for the first time since 2013

Saturday will mark Goucher’s first 5,000m since 2011, and her first race period since the 2014 New York Marathon in November. The 36-year-old had a tough day in NYC, finishing 14th in 2:37:03, and wound up injured shortly after. Goucher had surgery in January, so Saturday’s 5K will serve as a major rust-buster. Goucher’s 14:55 PB from 2007 makes her the 7th fastest American of all-time. 

 

Flanagan is coming off a disappointing 9th place finish in the Boston Marathon in 2:27:47, but still she is expected to dominate this race. Ironically, this too will be Flanagan’s first 5,000m since 2011, but she should have no trouble with the shorter distance after clocking a 31:09 10K at the Stanford Invite in April. Flanagan is the second-fastest American all-time with her 14:44 from 2007. 

 

Nike Oregon Project’s Jordan Hasay will make her 2015 outdoor debut in the Portland 5K. Hasay has been dealing with plantar fasciitis for the last few months, and hasn’t raced since US indoors in early March. Hasay will target the 15:26 USATF standard on Saturday night, which will be tough considering the injury and that her PB is 15:28. 

 

However, if Hasay can get the standard to qualify to USAs, she may consider running the 5,000m in Eugene given that the 5K figures to be weak this year. Although Hasay’s best event is the 10K, she would face Molly Huddle, Shalane Flanagan, and Emily Sisson among others, making it very difficult for her to make the World team. The 5K, however, appears to be wide open, so expect Hasay to be standard-chasing in Portland. 

 

Outside of these races, there’s plenty of fast races on tap in Portland. Here’s a brief look…

 

Men’s 800m

Unsigned 2015 U.S. leader Boris Berian (1:45.30) continues his meteoric rise up the 800 ranks with another test on Sunday. He’ll face 1:44 man Tyler Mulder of OTC, as well as Mulder’s 1500 specialist teammates Ben Blankenship and Pat Casey. Mulder does not have a USATF standard (1:47.50), and the clock is ticking for him to qualify with just two weeks until US Champs. 

 

Women’s 800m

Brand-new 1500m American junior record holder Alexa Efraimson will run her first race since her 4:03.39 two weeks ago at Prefontaine. The 18-year-old is rounding into form at the right time, and now is a legitimate contender to finish top 3 at USAs in two weeks. She’ll test her speed in the 800 one last time before heading off to Eugene, as she looks to lower the 2:01.13 PB she set in May at the Portland Twilight. 

 

Efraimson will face plenty of heat from NOP’s Shannon Rowbury, Brooks Beast Katie Mackey, as well as sub-2:00 performers Melissa Bishop and Phoebe Wright. Wright is coming off a 2:00.79 performance at Prefontaine. 

 

Men’s 5,000m 

NOP’s Cam Levins is fresh off his 27:07.51 Canadian record in the Prefontaine 10K, and he’ll look to carry that momentum into Portland where he’ll face Chris Derrick in the 5K. Levins is definitely in shape to run a PB on Sunday, as his 13:15.19 best has stood for two years. 

 

Derrick will run his first race since World XC in late March after an injury kept him off the track during the spring. His 13:08 PB from 2013 is the best in the field. 

 

Women’s 10,000m 

Desi Linden finished 4th and was the top American in April’s Boston Marathon (2:25:39), and now she’ll look to lower her 10K PB of 31:37 that has stood since 2011. Linden ran a solid tune-up race last week in the Adrian Martinez 5K, finishing 2nd to Abbey D’Agostino in 15:27.