6/27/08

EUGENE -- For Galen Rupp, what happened Friday night must have felt a little like a Prefontaine moment.

The Portland distance runner, on sabbatical from the University of Oregon while he pursues a berth in the Beijing Olympics, won his race and accepted the adulation of the hometown crowd.

The only problem is that it was a semifinal heat of the 5,000 meters -- an event he might not see through to the final on Monday. He roared through the final lap of a pedestrian-paced race, sprinting past four challengers to win in 13:59.14.