OTC Elite’s Blankenship, Mead flash speed at Sir Walter Miler

By Curtis Anderson | Aug 8, 2018

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon Track Club Elite’s Ben Blankenship and Hassan Mead placed fifth and eighth, respectively, at the 2018 Sir Walter Miler in Raleigh, N.C., on August 3.

Racing through a narrow tunnel of enthusiastic fans, who lined the track outside lane three, Blankenship powered home in 3 minutes, 54.88 seconds, while Mead was a few strides back with a personal best of 3:55.91.

Each of the 13 competitors who finished the race broke the 4-minute barrier.

“Ben and Hassan are progressing every week after a delayed start to the season,” OTC Elite coach Mark Rowland said.

Mead is scheduled to be back in action on Saturday (Aug. 11) in the 5,000 meters at the 2018 NACAC Track & Field Championships in Toronto. Blankenship will resume training before heading to Europe for a series of late summer races.