Team Run Eugene member Aaron Evans didn’t finish in front of the men’s 1,500 meter B run at the Oregon Relays on Friday — but he wasn’t last either.
Evans, the Bermuda national record holder in the 800 meter, has been training for his return to the track after undergoing surgery on a fractured heel back in August. Although he finished 12 seconds behind the leader for 13th place, the race was nothing short of a success.
“I’ve only been training for about three months,” said Evans. “Right now I’m just trying to get some rust busters and running the slow 1,500 was part of that ‘rust breaking’ point. The goal is to go out there and just simulate racing for common races in the future.”
Freshman David Thor from Carroll held off Montana senior Ben Williamson by .5 seconds to win the race, posting a season best time of 3 minutes and 53.33 seconds. Williamson’s time was also a season best, finishing with a time of 3 minutes and 53.83 seconds, about six seconds faster than his time in the Montana State Open two weeks ago.
Now that the ankle is fully recovered, Evans is looking to reach the standard time to qualify for the men’s 800 meter at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He’s is currently two one-hundreths off the standard and has over a year left to make his mark.
“I have until July of 2016 to get it,” said Evans. “I’m hoping to get it this summer. It’s not going to take me too long to get into shape and I have a lot of races coming up in May, June and July, so before the summer’s out, I look to have it. The foot is better and now it’s about getting race fit, sharpening up and getting fast so I can hit the time for Rio.”
— by Bryan Holt
