Maryland Native Matt Centrowitz Wins USATF 1500-Meter Title
Jun 27, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; Matt Centrowitz celebrates after winning the 1,500m in 3:37.25 in the 2015 USA Championships at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Centrowitz, Jr., former Broadneck High School and University of Oregon track star, won the United States Track and Field Championship in the 1500-meter run on Saturday. This positions him to run in August in Beijing, China at the IAAF World Championships. The meet will of course be held in the famous architectural wonder – the Bird’s Nest in Olympic Park.
Centrowitz previously won the U.S. national track championship in 2011, outkicking Bernard Lagat for the title. In the world championships that year in South Korea he placed third. Two years later in the world meet in Moscow, Centrowitz won the silver medal.
Like his father before him, Centrowitz competed in the Olympics, taking fourth place in 2012 in the 1500. The older Centrowitz twice competed in the Olympics and serves currently as the cross country and track and field coach at American University.
The younger Centrowitz has won just about everything but an international gold medal. He has been a national champion and a NCAA champion as well in his three years at Oregon before turning pro. His best mile time is 3:50.53.
He now runs for a Nike sponsored club called the “Nike Oregon Project” that is coached by the legendary marathoner Alberto Salazar.
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At Broadneck High School, Matt Centrowitz had an incredible senior track season. He set the all-time Maryland state record in the 1600 in 4:04.09 in what was the best race I have ever seen in my years of watching MD state championships. He also set a mile record at the Penn Relays that season.
Matt’s older sister Lauren was a very fine runner as well. Competing for Broadneck she also won multiple state championships and later ran at Stanford University.
The IAAF World Championships will be held in China in late August. The every other year event will be coming to Eugene, Oregon in 2021.