Watch the Star-Studded Distance Action Live on USATF.TV

By Scott Bush

The HOKA ONE ONE Middle Distance Classic, one of the premier meets in the United States each season, once again has incredible talent spread across all of the fields. On Friday night in southern California, much of the top distance talent in the United States gear up to test their fitness and position themselves against their competition, as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track and Field is now only six weeks away.

The 2016 HOKA ONE ONE Middle Distance Classic will be broadcast from Jack Kemp Stadium on the campus of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California on Friday, May 20th. The broadcast is scheduled to begin at 9:15pm ET. Watch live on USATF.TV.

Ten Athletes to Watch

Robby Andrews: The former University of Virginia standout had a fantastic indoor season, running 1:46.98 for 800m and 3:38.09 for 1500m. To cap it off, Andrews narrowly missed earning a medal in Portland at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, where he placed fourth in the 1500m. Now his attention shifts outdoors, where he’ll hope to start the outdoor season with a fast mark in the 800m, with an eye on improving his runner-up finish in the 1500m at the USATF Outdoor Championships last summer.

Emma Coburn: Where has Emma Coburn been? The multi-time U.S. 3000m steeplechase champion has been putting in the work, having not raced yet outdoors. That all changes Friday when Coburn opens her season in the 1500m. She’ll have plenty of competition, so a fast time should come, but it’ll be a challenge to run faster than her 4:05.10 PR set in Eugene last year at the Pre Classic.

Kim Conley: It’s been a quiet season for Conley, thus far, as she prepares for the U.S. Olympic Trials. She did open her outdoor season with a fine 15:12.73 5000m effort at the Payton Jordan Invitational, which placed her sixth. She’ll test her fitness over the 1500m this time around and lowering her 4:07.17 seems like a possibility.

Kate Grace: After a rough 2015, Grace has found success once again on the track. The 27-year old ran a US#1 800m performance last weekend at the Portland Twilight, where she beat a strong field in 2:00.05, just over a half second off her personal best. She ran a new 1500m indoor PR of 4:06.75 back in February and earned a new outdoor 1500m PR at Drake last month, running a 4:07.15 runner-up effort and looks to lower that mark one more time this weekend.

Evan Jager: Opening up his outdoor season at the Payton Jordan Invitational last month, Jager got off to a quick start with a 3:38.67 1500m effort. While fans shouldn’t expect a sub-8:15 effort from Jager on Friday in the 3000m steeplechase, don’t be surprised to see him work on his closing speed after working the first handful of laps with his Bowerman Track Club teammates.

Leo Manzano: It hasn’t been the smoothest of starts to 2016 for Manzano, but you can never count out the 31 year-old Olympic medalist. Manzano is entered in the 1500m Friday and will look to put up a momentum-building performance. He ran 1:50.15 for 800m indoors and 1:49.92 for 800m outdoors back in late March.

Laura Roesler: Similar to Andrews, Roesler had a tremendous indoor season, setting a new 800m PR of 2:00.49 and earning a fourth place finish at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Roesler currently ranks as one of the fastest Americans outdoors, having run 2:00.72 in Texas earlier this month, but she’ll be looking to run much faster this weekend, possibly challenging the two-minute barrier.

Shannon Rowbury: Similar to the double her Oregon Project teammates ran last weekend at the Portland Twilight, Rowbury is set to compete in both the 800m and 1500m Friday. The 31-year old is coming off a strong indoor campaign, where she nearly bested her mile and 3000m PRs, while setting a 4:07.30 1500m PR. Clearly Rowbury has aspirations of winning a U.S. title (or two) at the U.S. Olympic Trials and challenging for a medal in Rio and Friday’s contest gives fans a first glimpse of what sort of shape she’s current in.

Nicole Tully: After winning the 5000m title at the USATF Outdoor Championships and qualifying for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships last summer, Tully continues to find success on the track. After a solid indoor campaign, she debuted outdoors with a new 5000m personal best at the Payton Jordan Invitational, finishing second in 15:04.08. She competes in the 1500m on Friday and there is a realistic chance she can better her 4:05.89 best.

Andrew Wheating: After an incredible January and February of racing, in which he set new indoor PRs in the 800m, 1000m and 1500m, Wheating now looks to improve upon those performances outdoors. The two-time Olympian will test his fitness against a tremendous field of 1500m competition, as he starts to get ready for the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.

Five Events to Watch

Women’s 1500m

This event is simply loaded with talent. With so much depth, there will be fast performances in multiple heats and do not be surprised to see a bevy of runners beating the 4:10 barrier.

Olympians Shannon Rowbury, Emma Coburn, Kim Conley and Nicole Sifuentes lead the way, each hoping to run a sub-4:10 effort, while starting their build-up to their respective Olympic Trials. For Coburn and Rowbury, Friday’s contest opens up their outdoor seasons, while Conley and Sifuentes look to build upon strong early season efforts at the Payton Jordan Invitational and Drake Relays respectively.

Outside of those notable veterans, reigning USA 5000m champion Nicole Tully, Canadian Fiona Benson, along with veterans Cory McGee and Katie Mackey should each challenge for top three finishes.

Coburn’s fellow steeplechase standouts Ashley Higginson and Stephanie Garcia are also entered. Keep an eye on Garcia, who owns a 4:05.39 1500m best. She’s got speed that’s often overlooked.

Not to be outdone, Kate Grace is coming off a fantastic 2:00.05 800m effort last weekend at the Portland Twilight. Healthy and ready to challenge America’s best once again, Grace has some big momentum to ride heading into Friday’s action.

The addition of Rachel Schneider gives the women’s 1500m event six of the 13 finalists in last year’s USATF Outdoor Championship final, while the addition of Sheila Reid makes the Canadian contingent strong as well.

Men’s 1500m

Similar to the women’s race, the men’s 1500m field is hands down the deepest of the meet. Fans can follow top international runners in Mo Ahmed, Cam Levins and Tom Farrell. They can cheer on Olympians Leo Manzano, Andrew Wheating and Diego Estrada and they can cheer on young standouts in Mac Fleet, Chad Noelle and Daniel Winn.

If that wasn’t enough, Oregon Track Club Elite’s Hassan Mead joins the field, along with always-in-contention Garrett Heath, Mead’s OTC Elite teammate Jordan McNamara and Heath’s Brooks Beast teammate Riley Masters.

There are a lot of 5k/10k guys moving down to test their speed and a handful of top contenders who haven’t raced at all outdoors, all of which makes the men’s 1500m races on Friday well worth the watch.

Women’s 800m

Look at this showdown In the women’s 800m…

Laura Roesler – fourth at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and former NCAA champion

v.

Shannon Rowbury – American 1500m and two-mile record holder and World Championship medalist

v.

Brenda Martinez – Olympian and bronze medalist in the 800m at the 2013 IAAF World Outdoor Championships

v.

Jessica Smith – 2012 Canadian Olympian and sub-2 minute 800m runner

Wow! Those four, along with veteran Phoebe Wright, Bowerman Track Club’s Shelby Houlihan, Wright’s fellow 2015 USATF Outdoor Championship 800m finalist Mckayla Fricker and Oiselle’s Lauren Wallace give this field depth and plenty of potential fireworks

Men’s 800m

Not as stacked up top as the women’s 800m, but equally as deep, the men’s 800m field should shine on Friday evening. Robby Andrews leads the way, coming off an impressive indoor season. He’s joined by David Torrence, who has run 3:36.06 for 1500m this season and finished fifth in the 5000m at the USATF Outdoor Championships last summer. Torrence has tremendous range.

Add in young pros Cas Loxsom, who looks to find the form that earned him third place and a spot on Team USA at the USATF Outdoor Championships last summer, along with OTC Elite teammates Harun Abda and Charles Jock.

Not to be overlooked, Michael Rutt of NJNY*TC and Brandon Johnson, who ran a fine 1:46.12 800m earlier this month, should both be in contention for top five times.

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

It’ll be interesting to see how fast this race goes out, but don’t be surprised to see all four Bowerman Track Club teammates up front setting the early pace. Evan Jager, Dan Huling, Matt Hughes and Andy Bayer all get a chance to test their steeplechase fitness, and their expected team tactics should make this an intriguing event to watch.

Add in Cory Leslie, who placed sixth at the USATF Outdoor Championships last year, along with Donald Cowart (8^th), Craig Forys (9^th), Canadian Olympian Alex Genest and Ben Bruce, and this event should see some surprise finishes and maybe a few sub-8:20 times.