EUGENE — Maybe Clayton Murphy read this preview and noticed there was no mention of him. The Olympic bronze medalist sat down with reporters through a virtual mixed zone at Hayward Field after delivering a reminder of why he won this same race just five years ago and should not have been discounted from the start.
USC’s NCAA champion Isaiah Jewett, who was in his fifth race in 10 days, took out the race in 50.6 for the first lap and attempted to hold on for the win. Murphy hung back and started pressing with 200 meters to go and passed Jewett with less than 100 meters to go for the win in 1:43.