Riley Masters stepped onto the historic track at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field four years ago dreaming of a shot at Olympic glory.
But at age 22 and still in college at the time, the Bangor High School graduate more realistically was on a reconnaissance mission during the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, preparing for a future, more realistic foray into world-class distance running.
That time is now.
Masters, 26, a professional runner since 2013 with Seattle, Washington-based Brooks Running and its Brooks Beasts Track Club, will return to that same track in Eugene, Oregon, beginning next Monday in an effort to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team that will compete in the 2016 Summer Games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, come August.
“I was one of the younger guys in the field at the time,” said Masters of his 2012 Olympic Trials experience. “It was definitely a good learning experience, and I was very much there to prepare for 2016.
“But this is my legitimate shot at making the Olympic team, so this time it’s all about trying to qualify for Rio,” he added.
The U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field run from July 1 through July 10, with Masters one of 24 competitors scheduled to participate in the semifinal heats of the men’s 5,000-meter run beginning at 8:02 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
The top 16 semifinal finishers advance to the final at 8:20 p.m. Saturday, July 9, with three berths at stake for the first Summer Olympics to be held in South America.
“It’s been interesting because it’s all about the Olympics this year and trying to qualify,” said Masters, who last year achieved the Olympic “A” standard of 13 minutes, 17.97 seconds, the ninth-fastest time among those expected to compete in the 5,000.
“The last four years have kind of come down to one week. This is the culmination of four years of training, and I’ve spent the last six months focusing primarily on the trials and making sure I’m ready to go,” he said.
Masters specialized on the shorter middle distances earlier in his career, beginning at Bangor High School where the 2008 graduate won individual Class A state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs outdoors as well as the indoor mile championship as a senior.
He then went to the University of Maine where he was a two-time All-American in the indoor mile as well as a two-time America East cross-country champion.
Masters transferred to the University of Oklahoma in January 2012 and went on to earn All-American status for the Sooners in the distance medley relay as well as win the Big 12 1,500-meter championship and go on to set a school record for that distance of 3:37.19.
That led him to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials where he missed qualifying for the 1,500 final by 0.16 seconds.
“I had known even when I was at the University of Maine, [head coach] Mark Lech and I had talked about how that was the event I could excel at and have a shot of making the Olympic team just due to my combination of strength and speed,” said Masters. “It’s been a slower process than most. I stuck with the mile for quite a while because I was having a lot of success there.
“But last year I ran a good 5K and felt really comfortable with the training that goes hand in hand with a 5K, and because I’ve excelled with that training, we decided more recently that the 5K was my better opportunity to make the team and hopefully do well in Rio,” he said.
Masters won’t be a favorite to earn an Olympic berth in the 5,000. His qualifying time is more than 13 seconds behind Hassan Mead’s best of 13:04.17, and he also trails fellow Maine native Ben True, a North Yarmouth product whose qualifying time is 13:05.54.
But he will arrive at this year’s trials — just a relatively short drive south on Interstate 5 from his home in the Great Northwest — perhaps slightly less enamored with those he will run against than he was in 2012.
“The funny thing about the Olympic Trials is I feel that 60 percent of the people are there to try to make the Olympic team and 40 percent are just happy they qualified for the Olympic Trials,” Masters said. “I think having the mindset that you have the opportunity to make an Olympic team really goes a long way there.
“You’re also less intimidated by the competition. As I’ve raced the last four years against this competition more and more they’ve become more human to me. I perceive them as much more human than I did back then, and the idea of making the Olympic team seems much more feasible now against this competition, whereas in 2012, I think I idolized them a little more,” he said.
“It’s not that I don’t respect them anymore,” he added. “I still have the utmost respect for them, but I feel now I’m on a level playing field.”
And that playing field, Masters said, is of steadily increasing global quality.
“Truthfully, I think we’re in a golden age of American distance running,” he said. “I think the men’s 5,000 field is going to be the best it’s been in a very long time, and just across the board in the men’s distances races, the competition is very stiff right now.
“Now any time someone makes a U.S. international team, the expectation is to medal, so I feel like making the team is very tricky, but then when you get there, everyone has their eyes on you hoping you have a shot to medal,” he said.
Masters believes the 5,000-meter races at the Olympic Trials will be based more on tactics than sheer speed.
“At the trials there won’t be any rabbits [pacesetters], so it’s all about racing,” he said. “The slower it is the faster the last couple of laps will be, and I think as someone who focused on the mile for seven or eight years, that type of race will really suit me best, and that’s typically what these races turn into, a fast last two laps.”
Masters said if he does not qualify for the 5,000 final, he will compete in the 1,500 trials, with the first of three rounds at that distance set for 10:21 p.m. Thursday, July 7.
But his physical training and mental concentration have been geared toward the 5,000 — and he wouldn’t even mind if both he and True are Rio-bound at the end.
“Ben and I have linked up quite a bit since I’ve become a professional, and he’s been a great mentor and a good guy to have around and see on the circuit,” said Masters. “He’s doing very well for himself and is someone I’ve modeled my career after.
“It would be really cool to have both of us there, that’s for sure, but selfishly I’d like to finish ahead of him at the trials,” he said.
Editor’s note: The story has been corrected to reflect that Riley Masters’ hometown is Bangor.
