Three-Time Champion & 2012 Olympian Morgan Uceny Highlights 2015 B.A.A. Invitational Mile on April 18
Invitational races feature start/finish on Boylston Street at Boston Marathon® finish line and $14,500 (USD) prize purse.
BOSTON ÛÒ The Boston Athletic Association
(B.A.A.) today announced an elite field of world class competitors for
the 2015 B.A.A. Invitational Mile, to be held on Saturday, April 18, two
days prior to the 2015 Boston Marathon®. Three-time
B.A.A. Invitational Mile champion and 2012 Olympian Morgan Uceny (USA)
will look to win her fourth title, while European Championships medalist
Chris OÛªHare (GBR) headlines the menÛªs field. The B.A.A. Invitational
Mile will also include Middle School 1,000
meter races and Scholastic Mile races featuring youths from the eight
cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course.
A $14,500 (USD) prize purse will be distributed to the top professional finishers in the B.A.A.
Invitational Mile. The male and female champion
will each receive $3,000 (USD) in prize money. Prize money awards are
equal for men and women.
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Schedule of Events ÛÒ Saturday, April 18, 2015
10:30 a.m. GirlsÛª Middle School 1,000 meters
10:40 a.m. BoysÛª Middle School 1,000 meters
10:55 a.m. GirlsÛª Scholastic Mile
11:05 a.m. BoysÛª Scholastic Mile
11:20 a.m. MenÛªs Invitational Mile
11:30 a.m. WomenÛªs Invitational Mile
Uceny, 30, who was ranked first in the world at
1500 meters in 2011, will look to win the fourth B.A.A. Invitational
Mile title of her career. Uceny lives and trains in Boston under B.A.A.
High Performance coach Terrence Mahon, and broke
the finish tape first on Boylston Street in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
Uceny is coming off of a stellar indoor season
which saw her set a personal best of 4:29.39 for the mile in New York
City. Uceny won last yearÛªs B.A.A. Invitational Mile in a time of
4:44.0; this year sheÛªll go for her fourth victory, with
Anna WillardÛªs event record of 4:38.6 within reach.
Fellow Americans Heather Kampf and Gabe
Grunewald aim to claim their first B.A.A. Invitational Mile title, both
having run the race before. In 2014 Kampf finished a close second to
Uceny, while Grunewald was runner-up in 2013. Kampf is
the reigning USA Road Mile National Champion.
Also competing on the womenÛªs side are Ethiopian
Dawit Seayum, the 2014 World Junior champion at 1500 meters, and
Americans Brie Felnagle, Rachel Schneider, and Emily Lipari. Lipari is a
member of the B.A.A.
Great BritainÛªs OÛªHare, a University of Tulsa
graduate who trains in Boston and is also coached by Terrence Mahon, won
a bronze medal at this yearÛªs European Indoor Championships 1500m. He
also owns a bronze medal from the 2014 European
Outdoor Championships 1500m, and won the 2012 NCAA Indoor Mile national
title.
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OÛªHare looks to continue a strong British
tradition at the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, as fellow countryman Andy
Baddeley won a pair of titles in 2010 and 2011.
Facing off against OÛªHare in the menÛªs
professional race will be Americans Duncan Phillips and Frezer Legesse,
as well as BritainÛªs Chris Gowell. Representing the Boston Athletic
Association are Steve Mangan and Dan Lowry.
The menÛªs event record for the B.A.A. Invitational Mile is 4:03.3, set by New ZealandÛªs Nick Willis in 2013.
The B.A.A. Invitational Mile includes six races,
held shortly after the 2015 B.A.A. 5K. The first two races feature
middle school age students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston
Marathon course ÛÒ Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham,
Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston. The girlsÛª and boysÛª
Middle School 1,000 meter races include runners between sixth and eighth
grade and finish at the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston
Street.
Following the Middle School 1,000 meter races is
the Scholastic Mile, which features girlsÛª and boysÛª races for high
school students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon
course. The Scholastic Mile follows the same three-lap,
USATF-certified course the professional mile athletes run, finishing at
the Boston Marathon finish line.
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Elite Fields
MEN
Name Country Age Mile Personal Best
Chris O’Hare GBR 24 3:52.98i
Duncan Phillips USA 25 3:56.10
Frezer Legesse USA 24 3:57.48i
Chris Gowell GBR 29 3:57.29i
Steve Mangan USA (B.A.A.) 22 3:58.24
Dan Lowry USA (B.A.A.) 25 3:58.52
WOMEN
Name Country Age Mile Personal Best
Heather Kampf USA 28 4:30.07i
Morgan Uceny USA 30 4:29.39i
Gabe Grunewald USA 28 4:27.94
Brie Felnagle USA 28 4:29.83
Dawit Seayum ETH 18 3:59.53 (1500 meters)
Rachel Schneider USA 23 4:30.62i
Emily Lipari USA (B.A.A.) 22 4:35.24i
i = indicates indoor track performance
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Prize Purse
Place Men Women
1 $3,000 $3,000
2 $2,000 $2,000
3 $1,000 $1,000
4 $750 $750
5 $500 $500
GRAND TOTAL: $14,500
About the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic
Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting a
healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A.Ûªs
Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and
the organization manages other local events and supports comprehensive
charity, youth, and year-round running programs. Since 1986, the
principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John Hancock
Financial. The Boston Marathon is part of the Abbott World
Marathon Majors, along with the international marathons in Tokyo,
London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City. More than 60,000 runners
will participate in B.A.A. events in 2015. The 119th Boston Marathon
will be held on Monday, April 20, 2015. For more information
on the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.