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 – 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 O’Hare (GBR) headlines the men’s 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 – Saturday, April 18, 2015
10:30 a.m. Girls’ Middle School 1,000 meters
10:40 a.m. Boys’ Middle School 1,000 meters
10:55 a.m. Girls’ Scholastic Mile
11:05 a.m. Boys’ Scholastic Mile
11:20 a.m. Men’s Invitational Mile
11:30 a.m. Women’s 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 year’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile in a time of 4:44.0; this year she’ll go for her fourth victory, with Anna Willard’s 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 women’s 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 Britain’s O’Hare, a University of Tulsa graduate who trains in Boston and is also coached by Terrence Mahon, won a bronze medal at this year’s 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.
O’Hare 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 O’Hare in the men’s professional race will be Americans Duncan Phillips and Frezer Legesse, as well as Britain’s Chris Gowell. Representing the Boston Athletic Association are Steve Mangan and Dan Lowry.
The men’s event record for the B.A.A. Invitational Mile is 4:03.3, set by New Zealand’s 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 – 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 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.’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 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.
MEDIA: For further information, please contact media@baa.org
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