Rankin looks to break four-minute mile again

One year ago this Saturday, then-senior Jon Rankin made history
when he broke the four-minute mile barrier. Saturday, the former
All-American will return to the site of his amazing feat, hoping to
do even better.

Rankin will be heading a talented field of middle-distance
runners at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational when
he competes in the mile.

“I’m not making any promises, but I’m
definitely in great shape,” Rankin said of breaking the
four-minute mark again. “I was injured in the fall, but since
then I have been training very well, and I am in great shape to do
it.”

At the same meet last year, Rankin became the first Bruin in 25
years to accomplish the feat when he won the mile event in a time
of 3:57.89. This year, redshirt seniors Martell Munguia and Erik
Emilsson will take their shots at replicating Rankin’s
success.

“Hopefully they can break that four-minute mark
again,” distance coach Eric Peterson said. “That will
certainly be one of the highlighted events of the day.”

Though Munguia and Emilsson specialize in other events, the two
have shown they may be capable of posting impressive mile times.
Munguia, a talented 800-meter runner, has run 3:46.74 in the
1500-meter race while Emilsson, an All-American steeplechaser,
recorded a 4:06.10 in the mile indoors earlier in the season.

“We are really loading up that mile to try and duplicate
what Jon was able to do last year,” Venegas said. “It
should be a great thrill for the fans.”

Rankin, who went on to capture the 1500-meter title at last
year’s Western Region Championships, now runs professionally
for Nike.

FRIDAY’S ACTION: Fans will get to see a
slew of Olympic-caliber athletes tonight when Chinese gold medalist
Xing Huina competes in the women’s 3000-meter race. Hunia
headlines a strong core of Chinese national team members, including
Liu Qing, one of the world’s top women middle-distance
runners, who will be present at the RJ/JJK Invitational. Qing will
compete in the 1500m race on Saturday.

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