Galen Rupp

Galen Rupp (born May 8 1986 in Portland, Oregon) is an American cross-country and track and field athlete who competes for the University of Oregon.

Early career

Rupp set junior national and American high school records while competing for Portland, Oregon's Central Catholic High School. Originally a soccer player, he caught the eye of American marathon legend Alberto Salazar, who coached him to great high school success. In 2004, he broke Gerry Lindgren’s revered 40-year old U.S. high school record for 5,000 meters by almost seven seconds, running 13:37.91 for the distance. Rupp also broke the U.S. high school record for 3,000 meters at 8:03.67 (since broken by German Fernandez).

After high school, Rupp went on to run track and cross country for the University of Oregon.

College cross-country career

In the 2006 NCAA cross country season, he defeated two-time Pac-10 champion Robert Cheseret of the University of Arizona to become Oregon's 10th male runner to win a Pac-10 Conference title, and led a young Oregon team to victory over the Stanford Cardinal, who had won the previous six titles in a row.

Following a sixth-place finish in the 2006 NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship, Rupp finished in second place (1 second behind the champion, Josh McDougal) and led the Oregon Ducks to the 2007 NCAA men's cross country team championship.

College track and field career

In 2005, as a freshman, he placed 2nd in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. He also broke the U.S. junior record (19 & under) for 10,000 meters with a time of 28:15.52.

In indoor track, Rupp placed 3rd in the 5000 and fifth in the 3000 at the NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship. He began his outdoor season by running a 28:35 10,000 meters at Stanford. During the race he caused some controversy by continually slowing down to wait for another athlete. On April 20, 2007 Rupp made a huge comeback in the last 200 meters of a 5000 meter race to edge out Chris Solinsky. In this race Rupp improved his 5k PR to 13:30. On April 29, 2007 Rupp defeated a stellar field to win the men's 10,000 meter race at the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford. Rupp's time of 27:33.48 set an American-born NCAA Collegiate Record for the event and also gave Rupp the seventh fastest time in US history. Two weeks later Rupp easily won the 10k and the 5k at the Pac-10 conference meet, and helped Oregon to the team title.

Olympics

Rupp finished second in the 10000m event at the 2008 US Olympic Track and Field trials, earning a spot on the 2008 US Olympic team. He went on to finish 13th in the 10000m event at the 2008 Olympics with a season-best time of 27:36.99.

References

* cite web
url=http://www.usatf.com/athletes/bios/Rupp_Galen.asp
title=Galen Rupp
work=USATF Athlete Bios
publisher=USA Track & Field
date=2007-01-17
accessdate=2007-07-20

Audio interview

* [http://www.thefinalsprint.com/2007/05/podcast-50-interview-w-univ-of-oregon-phenom-galen-rupp/ TheFinalSprint.com's interview with Galen Rupp on 5/17/07 after the Oregon Ducks won the 2007 PAC-10 title]

Video Interviews

* [http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/search.php?q=galen+rupp Flotrack coverage of Galen Rupp Interviews, races]