Jacobs grad finishes 7th in mile

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Former Jacobs runner Evan Jager took seventh place in the Bowerman Mile on Sunday at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix in Eugene, Ore.

Jager, a 2007 Jacobs graduate, became a professional runner after one year at the University of Wisconsin. He was one of 13 runners to break 4 minutes in the mile, finishing in 3:54.35, his personal best at that distance by a few seconds.

The Prefontaine Classic is one of the summer’s top events, attracting some of the world’s best athletes in their respective events. Jager’s father, Joel, considered this race one of the biggest of his son’s young professional career.

Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop won the mile in 3:48.50, the fastest time in the world this year. Kenya’s Haron Keitany was second in 3:48.78. U.S. Olympian Lopez Lomong led American runners taking sixth place in 3:53.47, just ahead of Jager.

The 13 runners to break 4 minutes was a record at Hayward Field.

Jager collected four state titles in his high school running career, three in track and one in cross country. Jager, Aaron Russo, Mike Connolly and David Arndt won the Class AA 4x800-meter relay in 2006; Jager also won the 1,600-meter run that year.

He then won the 2006 Class AA state cross country title, and came back in the spring of his senior year to win the Class AA 3,200.

In other action, Olympic gold medalist LaShawn Merritt bested his own Hayward Field record by winning the seldom-run 300 meters in 31.30 seconds.

Merritt, who won gold in the 400 last summer in Beijing, surpassed his own mark of 31.31 at the venerated track in 2006. He also topped the Prefontaine-best 32.19 set by Jason Rouser in 1994.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report.