ANDREW WHEATING
Event: 800m
Height: 6-5
Weight: 175
PR: 1:45.03 (2008)
Born: November 21, 1987
Current Residence: Eugene, Oregon
High School: Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, N.H.) '06
College: Oregon '10
Coach: Vin Lananna

Career Highlights: Runner-up at 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field; runner-up at 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships; 2005 USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country champ

Wheating, a University of Oregon sophomore from Norwich, Vt., electrified his home crowd at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., with his runner-up finish in the men’s 800m final at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field. Wheating’s strong finishing kick sent him across the finish line in a personal-best time of 1:45.03 to finish just behind winner Nick Symmonds of Oregon Track Club Elite, who blazed home in 1:44.10. Oregon Track Club Elite’s Christian Smith was the third-place finisher in 1:45.47 to make it an all Oregon-based trio headed to Beijing, which sent the Hayward Field crowd into a frenzy. “The first thing I saw was that Nick was first, I was second and Christian was third,” said Wheating right after the race. “It’s going to be a great representation in Beijing. It hasn’t really hit me yet. Give me a couple more minutes and I’ll probably shoot up out of this chair and scream ‘I made it!’” The only other races Wheating had lost in 2008, prior to the Trials final, were in the Trials’ semifinals, when he was second to 2004 Olympian Khadevis Robinson, and in the NCAA Championship 800 finals where he was second by .01. He was named the West Region men’s track athlete of the year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Still a newcomer to track & field, Wheating ran track only one season and cross country two seasons in high school for legendary coach Jeff Johnson and focused on soccer in years prior. He posted a personal best in 1,500m by nine seconds as a freshman in 2007 and ranked seventh nationally in his class (3:45.17). He competed in the 800m for first time in '07 and ended the outdoor regular season ranked ninth nationally among freshman (1:50.17). Was the only Duck in 2007 to attain regional marks in both the 800m and 1,500m In his debut collegiate cross country season in '07 he earned All-Pac-10 Second Team laurels for his top-14 league finish. In his first season in track and field in 2006 he ranked fourth nationally in 1,500m with his personal best from the USA Junior Championships (eighth, 3:54.28). As a senior he ran prep bests in 1,500m and 5,000m of 3:53.01 and 14:55.28, respectively, and the latter mark led preps indoors in '06. Also raced 5,000m outdoors (15:11) as a senior.

2008: Runner-up at Olympic Trials (1:45.03PR)…4th in opening round at Olympic Games (1:47.05)…runner-up at NCAA Outdoors (1:45.32)…runner-up in semis at Olympic Trials (1:46.23)…ranked #3 U.S. by T&FN…best of 1:45.03.
2007: 7th at 800m at Pac-10 Outdoors (1:50.96)…14th at Pac-10 Cross Country Champs (23:26.5 - 8,000m)…bests of 1:50.17, 3:45.17, 4:04.77.
2006: 8th at USA Junior Champs (3:54.28)…bests of 3:54.28 & 15:11 (5,000m).
2005: 1st at USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Champs (Young Men – 14:54.01)