7/1/08

Jon Rankin is one of the athletes with the Olympic 1500-meter "A" standard entered in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon; the men’s 1500-meter quarterfinals are on Thursday. His personal bests are 3:35.26 for 1500 meters and 3:54.24 for the mile. This spring, Rankin was fifth in the 1500 at the adidas Track Classic in 3:36.51 and sixth in the mile at the Prefontaine Classic in 3:54.68. He was third in the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York last September. The 26-year-old UCLA graduate was the Pac-10 1500-meter champ in 2005 and a USA Junior champion in 2001. Rankin is coached by 1984 Olympic 800-meter gold medalist Joaquim Cruz. Rankin earlier ran in the first round of the 800 at the Trials but did not advance.