OTC Elite athletes set for USATF Distance Classic

By Curtis Anderson | May 14, 2019

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon Track Club Elite is back in action over the next two weeks with athletes scheduled to compete at four different events – the USATF Distance Classic at Occidental College in Los Angeles on May 16; the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China on May 18; the IAAF World Challenge in Nanjing, China on May 21; and the International Flanders athletics meeting in Oordegem, Belgium on May 25.

Six OTC athletes are headed to the USATF Distance Classic:

• Hanna Green, 1,500m

• Sabrina Southerland, 800m

• Harun Abda, 800m

• Drew Piazza, 800m

• Neil Gourley, 800m

• Tom Farrell, 1500m

In addition, both Abda and Piazza are set for pacing duties in the 1,500m.

Four OTC athletes are headed overseas. Hassan Mead is entered in the 5,000m at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, while Nijel Amos and Green are on the entry list for the men’s and women’s 800m, respectively, at the World Challenge in Nanjing. Ben Blankenship is scheduled to run the 5000m at the International Flanders meeting in Belgium.

Amos, who hails from Botswana, is coming off a victory in the 800m (1:44.29) at the first Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha, Qatar on May 3. Green took first place in the 800m (2:01.61) at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University on May 2.