The top sprinters have started off hot this year and have gotten a lot of press. You’d almost think there weren’t any distance runners around. But that’s because they’ve had their own gatherings on places like Eugene and Stanford – locations more conducive to distance running. This weekend we get another distance "party", but on a bit less "friendly" environment in Southern California at the Oxy High Performance Meet.

The meet will be a Who’s Who of elite American distance runners as everyone starts tuning up for the impending Trials. For example we’ll see Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegenkamp in the men’s 5000 and Deena Kastor in the women’s 5000 – and I think their performances will tell us a lot about where they’ll be in Eugene.

The men’s 800 also has several top entrants including:

• Andrew Wheating
  Tyler Mulder
  Duane Solomon
  Cory Primm
  Lopez Lamong

I’m especially curious to see how Wheating and Lamong perform. Wheating because I’d like to see him double at the Trials in the 800/1500 as he has the potential to be our best at both – the big question being can he be ready by Eugene. And after Lamong’s sizzling 5000, I’m curious as to his speed at this point – Lopez may be ready for something special this year – and could factor in the 1500, 5000 or both.

But I think the real stories will be told in the men’s and women’s 1500’s which have some pretty sterling lineups. The women’s 1500 includes:

• Morgan Uceny
  Anna Pierce
  Shannon Rowbury
  Phoebe Wright
  Amy Mortimer Garmen
  Maggie Vessey
  Sarah Bowman
  Treniere Moser
  Brenda Martinez

The men’s 1500 includes:

• Leo Manzano
  Miles Batty
  Will Lear
  AJ Acosta
  Mo Farah
  Robbie Andrews
  Galen Rupp
  Dorian Ulrey
  David Torrence
  Nick Symmonds
  Jamal Ahrass

Two very strong groups of runners with people moving up and down to work on speed and strength. I’m dying to see how these heats turn out, as each event has several heats of competitors listed. At the end of the day this meet should begin to put our distance fields into perspective. I may even take my first real shot at handicapping the Trials.

Prior to this meet, the Shanghai leg of the Diamond League should be complete