Prefontaine Classic 2015 Results: Daily Updates and Standings

Some of the best track and field stars in the world descended upon Eugene, Oregon, for the 2015 Prefontaine Classic.

The 2016 Olympics will be here before you know it, so plenty of athletes around the world are right in the middle of preparations as they look toward Rio de Janeiro.

Of course, a strong showing at the Prefontaine Classic won't mean a ton in the grand scheme of things, but it's always nice to build some positive momentum and test yourself against some of the stiffest competition the globe has to offer.

Here's a look at how the weekend's events have unfolded in Eugene.

Saturday Results

Track Events	Winner	Time/Distance
Women's Triple Jump	Caterine Ibarguen	15.18 Meters
Men's Pole Vault	Renaud Lavillenie	6.05 Meters
Men's Mile Run	Ben Blankenship	3:55.72
Women's 400 Meters	Allyson Felix	50.05
Men's 800 Meters	Mohammed Aman	1:44.92
Men's High Jump	Mutaz Essa Barshim	2.41 Meters
Men's 400 Meter Hurdles	Johnny Dutch	48.20
Men's 300 Meter Steeplechase	Ezekiel Kemboi	8:01.71
Women's 100 Meters	English Gardner	10.84
Women's Javelin Throw	Christina Obergfoll	63.07 Meters
Women's 100 Meters	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce	10.81
Men's 100 Meters	Tyson Gay	9.88
Men's 400 Meters	Kirani James	43.95
Women's 800 Meters	Eunice Jepkoech Sum	1:57.82
Men's 110 Meter Hurdles	Pascal Martinot-Lagarde	13.06
Women's 5000 Meters	Genzebe Dibaba	14:19.76
Men's 200 Meters	Justin Gatlin	19.68
Women's 1500 Meters	Jenny Simpson	4:00.98
Men's Mile Run	Ayanleh Souleiman	3:51.10

Saturday Recap

Things shortened up considerably on Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic. The day was highlighted by the one-mile run that the legendary Olympic runner and event namesake was so famous for, but there were a total of 19 events involving everything from distance running to javelin throwing. 

Starting with the main event, Djiboutian star Ayanleh Souleiman eked out a win over Matthew Centrowitz by one-tenth of a second in the Bowerman mile run. This marks his second consecutive win in this event, though his time last year was slightly faster (3:47:32). 

After the race, Souleiman didn't seem to be very winded based on his comments, via ESPN's Chris Chavez:

Those are only the things a professional runner could say, since the rest of us would be down on the floor in heap trying to push ourselves to break a four-minute mile. 

Right before Souleiman was busy with his "easy" run, the women's 1500 meters brought two notable performances. American Jenny Simpson had the time that ultimately mattered, winning in just over four minutes. 

In seventh place, Alexa Efraimson shined with a time of 4:03.39 to set a new high school record, per the Prefontaine Classic's official Twitter:

That's not a bad way to start the summer vacation from school, though it also builds a lot of pressure for Efraimson moving forward. Based on this result, the 18-year-old has a bright future in front her with plenty of wins to come. 

Also on the women's side of things, Allyson Felix got to taste victory in the 400-meter run by finishing nearly one-quarter of a second in front of Sanya Ross-Richards. The four-time Olympic gold medalist has to finish in the top three of the 400-meter race at the U.S. Championships in June to qualify for the same event at the World Championships later in the summer. 

In the men's 200 meters, Justin Gatlin continued his late-career renaissance with another dominating victory. The 33-year-old set a new course record with his 19.68-second march around the track, which can be seen in the video embedded below:

Gatlin is always going to be under a microscope because of his failed doping tests, but as long as he remains clean and continues to put together performances like the one on Saturday, his career can return to the zenith it reached in the 2004 Summer Olympics. 

As noted by ESPN's Mark Jones, Gatlin's performance was particularly encouraging because his season is just getting underway:

Usain Bolt has dominated men's sprinting for years, but Gatlin's run does make things more interesting over the track-and-field season this summer. 

Gatlin is certainly aware of this, as his comments after the run suggest, via Chavez:

Saturday was a thrilling day of action for all the competitors and it provided some insight as to what will happen later this summer during the United States and World Championship events. Gatlin was the big winner in his quest to take out Bolt, but so many of the winners have to be encouraged by their efforts. 

The Prefontaine Classic served as the perfect warm-up for the coming track and field season. With just one year until the 2016 Olympics, everyone is looking to make an impact for the right to represent their country on the world's grandest stage. 

Friday Results

Track Events
Field Events
Event	Winner	Time
800m Women (USATF HP)	Maggie Vessey	2:00.07
200m Women (Girls High School Elite)	Candace Hill	23.64
200m Men (Boys High School Elite)	Ryan Clark	20.77
1 Mile Women (Girls High School Elite)	Ryen Frazier	4:39.84
1 Mile Men (Boys High School Elite)	Carlos Villarreal	4:05.25
5,000m Men	Yomif Kejelcha	13:10.54
10,000m Men	Mo Farah	26:50.97
Event	Winner	Best Mark
Discus Throw Men	Piotr Malachowski	65.59
Long Jump Women	Tianna Bartoletta	7.11
Shot Put Men	Joe Kovacs	22.12

Friday Recap

With Friday night belonging to the distance runners, the men's 10,000 meters got prime placement as the last event of the evening. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah headlined the field, and the Oregon resident was certainly the fan favorite at Hayward Field. 

Farah withstood a tough battle from Kenyans Paul Tanui and Geoffrey Kamworor, but he was simply much faster and had more energy than anybody else on the track. Alan Abrahamson of 3 Wire Sports argued the gulf in class between Farah and the rest of the competition was evident as the race wrapped up:

The British national seemed determine to make a statement right from the outset. Rather than simply sitting back and conserving his stamina, he was determined to stay near the pacesetter.

Some likely wondered whether Farah was burning himself out too early, but he never looked to be laboring, instead presenting a calm, cool facade. He had more than enough left in the tank, finishing with a sub-minute final lap, per Mario Fraioli of Competitor:

According to Abrahamson, Farah now owns the fourth-fastest 10,000 time in Hayward Field history.

Whereas Farah helped conclude the first day of the Prefontaine Classic, Maggie Vessey kicked off the track portion of the night with a victory in the women's 800 meters. Dominant is the word that comes to mind as she finished 0.72 seconds ahead of Phoebe Wright.

Vessey wasted little time getting out ahead of the competition, and nobody could touch her from there.

After the race, the 33-year-old mugged for the camera:

The only disappointing aspect of her performance was that she failed to match last year's rather garish Prefontaine Classic outfit.

The craziest finish of the night belonged to Carlos Villarreal, who captured the high school boys' one-mile race. Fresh off being named the best male track star in the state by the Arizona Republic, Villarreal dug down deep to unleash a torrid finishing kick to shock the Eugene crowd and narrowly beat out Mike Brannigan for first place, per FloTrack:

Abrahamson feels that Villarreal has a bright future ahead for himself:

The race that directly preceded the boys' mile race featured a breathtaking conclusion of its own. Ryen Frazier edged out Danielle Jones by a mere 0.04 seconds to place first in the girls' mile race. The head-to-head battle between Jones and Frazier down the final stretch was something to behold. Texas MileSplit provided the photo finish:

The Prefontaine Classic has served as a great proving ground in the past for some of North America's most promising runners. Based on their performances Friday night, both Villarreal and Frazier will be promising talents to follow in the years to come.

Meanwhile, race veterans Farah and Vessey laid down major markers with the 2015 World Championships rapidly approaching.

Note: Results are courtesy of DiamondLeague.com.