WHEATING RUNS FIRST 800 IN TWO YEARS, FINISHES SECOND TO GARN

May 6, 2017

Covered at Oregon Twilight Meet

From jwillphotography

By Morgan Sudduth

As Olympian and former Oregon runner Andrew Wheating came around the Bowerman curve Friday night, the Hayward crowd of 4,284 burst into cheers and loud applause. Wheating was holding on to a lead in the men’s 800 meters at the Oregon Twilight Meet, and it looked like it might be his race.

But in the homestretch, Wheating lost his gap to Jesse Garn of the New York/New Jersey Track Club. Garn swooped by Wheating just before the finish to win in 1 minute, 49.31 seconds, just ahead of Wheating, who finished second in 1:49.37. The two hugged it out and both left the track smiling.

It had been two years since Wheating last ran the 800 due to his string of injuries. Wheating’s career has been plagued with injury since 2012, and he has struggled to get back to the height of his career.

Now healthy for the first time in five years, he had decided to make Friday event a true race and go out after it.

With a strong start, Wheating tucked in behind the pacer, but as the pacer stepped off at 400 meters, he caught some wind.

Link to full article below.

https://blogs.uoregon.edu/sojctrack/2017/05/06/wheating-runs-first-800-in-two-years-finishes-second-to-garn/