The first night of the Prefontaine Classic was filled with top women’s competition. Hayward Field spectators were treated with free admission, the honoring of 1984 Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, Olympic gold winners looking to defend their crown and former Ducks returning to their college home.
The crowd was alive and ready as the first race kicked off.
The event has many Olympians, but the Pre Classic started its track competition with runners who haven’t gone to college yet.
The runners in the girls 200 meters had mixed emotions as they were rushed into their lanes.
“It’s fun, but it’s kind of nerve-wracking at the same time.” said Symone Mason, who finished fourth. “We’re the first people on the track. We’re not pros, we’re high school, but it’s a great experience.”
And they were in front of the biggest crowd some of these girls have competed in front of.
Mason, Twanisha Terry, Karimah Davis and the winner of the race, Tamari Davis, all hail from Florida. The one difference that separates the runners, besides their times, is that three are seniors in high school, while Tamari Davis is just in eighth grade.
The winner of the race was not shy about wanting to beat the older runners from her state.
“I finally got a chance to race those top high school girls,” Tamari Davis said. “This feels amazing. Me coming as a middle schooler out here and this big crowd and running this crazy time and beating all the high schoolers. This is a really great experience for me.”
That great experience, which included a new personal best of 23.21, wasn’t limited to the 14-year-old winner.
Mason, a favorite to win, finished fourth with a time of 23.49, 0.49 seconds slower than her personal best. As the only returning runner from the 2015 Prefontaine Classic, Mason came in with high hopes, hoping to break her PR of 23.00.
“At least 22.99, at least,” Mason said. “I just took it as another race. This is a big disappointment knowing I came a few years ago and got the same place, but I feel like every loss, I just learn something from it. I just gotta keep working from now.”
That work will need to be at the collegiate level as Mason, Terry and Karimah Davis all look to continue to their careers after all three have secured Division I scholarships.
