press release provided by Jeff Merrill of Portland Track
Presented by Portland Track
The 2022 Portland Track Festival will take place on June 10th and 11th at the world-famous Griswold Stadium on the campus of Lewis and Clark College. The flagship event of Portland Track, this will be the 14th time it has been held, dating back to its first staging in 2008 (event not held in 2020). Age group and open events will take place starting at 5:30pm on Friday, June 10th and 3:30pm on Saturday, June 11th.
High Performance Sections or what locals call: ‘The Hot Window’:
The High Performance sections of the Steeplechases and 10,000m races will take place between 7:30pm and 9:20pm on Friday evening.
The High Performance sections of the 800m, 1500m and 5000m races will take place between 6:50pm and 9:10pm on Saturday evening.
Portland Track is proud to welcome some of the world’s best middle and long distance athletes to compete in the stadium that has commonly become known as ‘The Electric Forest’. Numerous Olympians and Olympic medalists will challenge for the win in events from the 800m to 10,000m and we will pay particular attention to wins by teams. Portland’s home teams are the Nike Bowerman Track Club and Nike Union Athletics Clubs and the Brooks Beasts from Seattle and Nike Oregon Track Club from Eugene have called the Electric Forest their home away from home. Although many athletes come to the Portland Track Festival to secure World and USA Championship standards due to the prime set-up and atmosphere, it has become increasingly meaningful for athletes to secure passionate wins at Griswold Stadium, bringing pride to their teams and fanbases. An emphasis is put on racing and competition at the Portland Track Festival, setting it apart from other contemporary meets.
In the Men’s 800m, 1500m Olympic Bronze medalist and Brooks Beast, Josh Kerr will face off against a stellar lineup which includes Beasts teammates, Isaiah Harris and Brannon Kidder, Olympic 1500m finalist, Cole Hocker and training partner, Cooper Teare, and Australian Olympian and Union Athletics Club athlete, Charlie Hunter.
June 8 Update: Cooper Teare is a scratch. Brooks Beast and World Indoor Silver Medalist Drew Windle has been moved up to the top heat
In the Women’s 800m, sub 2 minute runners, Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts, Sabrina Southerland and Hanna Green of the Oregon Track Club and 2021 NCAA Champion and Nike athlete, Michaela Meyer highlight the field among others.
June 8 Update: Olympic Bronze Medalist and Nike UAC athlete Raevyn Rogers has joined the field
UAC’s Craig Engels looks to defend his title in the Men’s 1500m and make it 3 wins in a row in the Electric Forest. Last year he ran 3:33.64 to lead a host of men under the World Standard. One of those runners was high school senior Hobbs Kessler who took nearly 4 seconds off Alan Webb’s High School record, running 3:34.36. Kessler, now representing Adidas and the Very Nice Track Club is back this year to recapture the magic. Newly minted 10,000m World Team members, Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty of the Bowerman Track Club will compete against them as will their teammate’s Lopez Lomong, Amos Bartelsmeyer and Josh Thompson. Olympian Yared Nuguse is in the field as well as many others including USA Olympic Steeplechaser, Mason Ferlic.
June 8 Update: Craig Engels is a scratch
In the Women’s 1500m, USA 10,000m champion and 4:00.02 1500m runner, Karissa Schweizer will try to keep the title in the Bowerman Track Club’s hands after the race was won last year in a meet record of 4:02.62 by Elise Cranny. Schweizer will face World Championship finalist Nikki Hiltz, New Balance’s Dani Jones, Canadian Olympians, Natalia Hawthorn and Lucia Stafford and former BYU standouts and Adidas athletes, Anna Camp-Bennett and Whittni Orton Morgan. World Champion Steeplechase Emma Coburn will also be in the mix and so will local legend and forest favorite, Eleanor Fulton, coming off her 9:20 performance in the Pre Classic 2 Mile.
Olympians and BTC athletes, Woody Kincaid and Marc Scott will toe the line in the Men’s 5000m, facing Australian Olympian and Puma athlete, Patrick Tiernan, Tinman Elite’s Sam Parsons, Dillon Maggard, Sam Chelanga and the Brooks Beasts’ David Ribich, who nearly pipped Lopez Lomong in last year’s contest.
June 8 Update: Under Armour Dark Sky’s Weini Kelati has been added to the field
Nike’s Emily Infeld will face former BTC teammate, Vanessa Fraser in the Women’s 5000m along with Allie Buchalski and the UAC’s Ella Donaghu.
Last year’s PTF Steeplechase champion and Olympic Silver medalist, Courtney Frerichs returns to defend her title, and Olympian Colleen Quigley will make her season debut. Australian Olympian Amy Cashin returns after hitting her Olympic standard in Portland at last year’s event.
In the Men’s Steeplechase, Olympian and 2019 PTF winner, Benard Keter returns after taking runner-up honors to Mason Ferlic last year. He’ll square off against Canadian Olympian, John Gay and meet record holder, Stanley Kebenei (8:18.55).
June 8 Update: American Record Holder, Olympic Silver Medalist and Nike BTC athlete Evan Jager has joined the field
In the 10,000m races, Wesley Kiptoo and Alex Masai of the NAZ Elite headline the men’s field as well as Gladys Tejeda and Fatima Gardadi on the women’s side.
Portland Track is providing an initial purse of $22,400 spread across 13 events and is implementing Tracklandia’s pay-per-view broadcast revenue sharing model, which will add $3 of every $5.99 PPV purchase into the overall prize purse. Last year, Tracklandia’s model contributed $30,000 to the overall prize purse of the 2021 Portland Track Festival. Portland Track and Tracklandia are committed to providing creative and meaningful revenue streams for athletes in the arena.
In person tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for under 18 and free for kids under 12.
Live-stream tickets and In-person tickets can be found here: https://tracklnd.com/meet/ptf
All Portland Track Festival Athlete Entries can be found here: https://www.portlandtrack.com/entries
Official heats will be available for viewing on the morning of Tuesday, June 7th.
