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Defending Champion Nick Willis and Two-time Champion Morgan Uceny Highlight B.A.A. Mile on Saturday, April 19

Published by
RunnerSpace.com/RoadRacing   Apr 17th 2014, 1:50pm
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For Release: Thursday, April 17, 2014
 
Defending Champion Nick Willis and Two-time Champion Morgan
Uceny Highlight B.A.A. Mile on Saturday, April 19
 
Invitational races feature start/finish on Boylston Street at Boston Marathon® finish line and $14,500 (USD) prize purse.
 
BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced an elite field of Olympic
Games medalists, returning champions, and world class competitors for the 2014 B.A.A.
Invitational Mile, to be held on Saturday, April 19, two days prior to the 2014 Boston Marathon®.

Defending champion Nick Willis (NZL), a silver medalist at 1500 meters in the 2008 Olympic
Games, highlights the men’s field. Two-time B.A.A. Invitational Mile champion (2010, 2012) and
2012 Olympian Morgan Uceny (Boston, MA) will look to win a third title. 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 – Saturday, April 19, 2014
11:45 a.m.
Girl’s Middle School 1,000 meters
Boy’s Middle School 1,000 meters
 
12:00 p.m.
Girl’s Scholastic Mile
Boy’s Scholastic Mile
 
12:15 p.m.
Men’s Professional Mile
Women’s Professional Mile
 
Willis, 30, holds a 1500 meter personal best of 3:30.35, the fastest in the field. His winning time
of 4:03.3 in last year’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile set a new event record. Leo Manzano (Austin,
TX), silver medalist at 1500 meters at the 2012 London Olympic Games, will look to challenge
Willis in this year’s race. Manzano’s one mile personal best of 3:50.64 is the fastest in the field.
BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
185 Dartmouth Street, 6th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
617-236-1652
www.baa.org
 
Also competing in this year’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile are Peter van der Westhuizen (RSA), 2013
B.A.A. Invitational Mile third place finisher; De’Sean Turner (Bloomington, IN), a six-time NCAA
All-American who represented the U.S. at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in the 3,000
meter steeplechase; Craig Miller (USA), 2012 U.S. Road Mile national champion and eight-time
NCAA All-American; two-time Irish national champion Paul Robinson (IRL); 2013 British national
champion Chris O’Hare (GBR); and NCAA All-American Rob Finnerty (Greenville, SC).
 
Uceny, 29, who was ranked first in the world at 1500 meters in 2011, will look to win her third
B.A.A. Invitational Mile title this year. Sara Hall (Redding, CA) and Kalkidan Gezahegne (BRN)
will look to challenge Uceny. Hall has won the 2011 Grand Blue Mile (Des Moines, IA), 2011
U.S. Road Mile Championships, and 2006 Fifth Avenue (New York, NY) Mile. She is married to
Ryan Hall, who is racing in the 2014 Boston Marathon as part of the John Hancock Elite Athlete
Team. Gezahegne is the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medalist at 1500 meters.
 
Also competing on the women’s side are 2012 U.S. Road Mile champion and 2013 B.A.A.
Invitational Mile third place finisher Heather Kampf (Minneapolis, MN); Chelsea Reilly (Colorado
Springs, CO), 3000 meter champion at the 2013 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships; Brie
Felnagle (Tacoma, WA), 2007 NCAA 1500 meters champion; Laura Crowe (IRL), 2013 Irish
1500 meter national champion; and Violah Lagat (KEN), fourth place finisher at the B.A.A.
Invitational Mile and the Fifth Avenue Mile in 2013 and the sister of four-time Olympian Bernard
Lagat (USA).
 
The B.A.A. Invitational Mile includes six races, held shortly after the 2014 B.A.A. 5K. The first
two races feature middle school age students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston
Marathon course – Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and
Boston. The girls’ and boys’ 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 girls’ and
boys’ 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 Men’s Field (as of Thursday, April 17, 2014)
NAME COUNTRY AGE MILE* / 1500m BEST
Nick Willis NZL 30 3:50.66 (3:30.35)
Leo Manzano USA (TX) 29 3:50.64 (3:32.37)
Chris O’Hare GBR 23 3:52.98i (3:35.37)
Craig Miller USA (WI) 26 3:53r (3:35.48)
Peter van der Westuizen RSA 29 3:54.90 (3:35.33)
Paul Robinson IRL 22 3:56.18 (3:35.22)
De’Sean Turner USA (IN) 25 3:58.27i (3:39.06)
Rob Finnerty USA (SC) 24 3:59.42 (3:38.34)
 
 
 B.A.A. Invitational Mile Women’s Field (as of Thursday, April 17, 2014)
NAME COUNTRY AGE MILE*/ 1500m BEST
Morgan Uceny USA (MA) 29 4:24r (4:00.06)
Kalkidan Gezahegne BRN 22 4:24.10i (4:00.97)
Sara Hall USA (CA) 30 4:23.9r (4:08.55 )
Brie Felnagle USA (WA) 27 4:30.44 (4:05.64)
Heather Kampf USA (MN) 27 4:30.14i (4:08.37)
Chelsea Reilly USA (CO) 24 4:30.18 (4:08.77)
Violah Lagat KEN 25 4:35.50i (4:05.66)
Laura Crowe IRL 26 4:39r (4:11.49)
* Mile personal bests denote outdoor track performance
r – indicates road mile performance
i – Indicates indoor track performance
( ) – Indicates 1500m outdoor track performance
 
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Prize Purse
PLACE MEN WOMEN
1 $3,000 (USD) $3,000 (USD)
2 $2,000 (USD) $2,000 (USD)
3 $1,000 (USD) $1,000 (USD)
4 $750 (USD) $750 (USD)
5 $500 (USD) $500 (USD)
TOTAL $7,250 (USD) $7,250 (USD)
 
GRAND TOTAL $14,500 (USD)
 
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Event Records
 TIME NAME YEAR
Male 4:03.3 Nick Willis (NZL) 2013
Female 4:38.6 Anna Willard (USA / CA) 2009
 
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.’s 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 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 2014. The 118th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, 2014. For
more information on the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.
 
MEDIA: For further information, please contact [email protected].
 
 
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