Josh Kerr embraces prospect for Scottish weather in final

By Chris Lotsbom of DyeStat

EUGENE, Ore. -- Watching the men's 1,500-meter prelims at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, it's clear that New Mexico's Josh Kerr is ready to complete the indoor/outdoor sweep.

In March, the native of Edinburgh, Scotland won the indoor mile crown in 4:03.22 in College Station, Texas. Now his eyes are on the 1,500 outdoors at Hayward Field.

After his comfortable preliminary win in 3:44.60, Kerr revealed a bit about his chances to secure the title on Friday.

1) Kerr gained a lot of confidence from coming out on top indoors in the mile. That has carried into the outdoor season, where he's already run 3:35.99, an NCAA leader.

"I know I deserve to be here, I've been working hard to be here, and I'm talented enough... I'm ready to race hard," he said. "I was running really quick early on (indoors) so that kind of gave me a lot of confidence going in. I just have to make sure that I treat every race one at a time. But, yeah, the confidence is still there from indoors."

2) Kerr cruised through the prelim without much effort, and that's just what he wanted. The 19-year old sat at the front of the field comfortably leading his heat without much challenge. After a first lap of 59 seconds, he settled in to split 1:47.96 at 700 meters before running a final lap of 55.37 seconds.

"I was just sitting there just waiting, and I could see on the screen the guys were just lining up behind me. I don't want to be the guy who gets boxed in on the homestretch," he said.

3) Kerr knows that his biggest challenge may come from Ole Miss senior Craig Engels. Engels sits second on the descending order list with a season-best 3:37.75 when he took second to Kerr in April at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific, and won his prelim in 3:40.07.

"Engels can go quicker than he ran," Kerr began. "He's a class act and I think he can run faster than 3:37, which he has this year. I see myself as number two to be honest. After his efforts at the Olympic Trials, you know, he's really good. I have to respect that and am coming in for myself as the underdog because I know how good he is. I'm not levels above anyone; I'm on the same level or below so I'm just working my ass off to be number one again."

4) Kerr believes he is one of a number of milers carrying the torch for the recent surge in Scottish running, particularly in the 1,500. Watching the likes of Chris O'Hare and Jake Wightman run 3:34.35 and 3:35.93 this year, respectively, has encouraged Kerr.

"It's great. We're all pushing each other to different heights. You have three guys from Edinburgh and Scotland who have the qualifying time for World Championships. That place is pretty small, so to have three people come out of there to run sub 3:36 is pretty special. It's motivating me to be honest... We'll continue all the way to the world champs and all the way through."

5) Like Lee Emmanuel before him, Kerr wants to join the list of Brit mile stars to come out of Albuquerque and coach Joe Franklin's stable. Emmanuel won both the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships mile titles.

"That was one of the main things I wanted to do when I came to New Mexico. I knew the coach was able to develop good British milers. I wanted to be part of that program. Lee is such an inspiration for me. He's a great, great athlete, great guy. He messaged me beforehand and told me I'm ready. I know I am. These things all get me more motivated to do well on Friday."

6) Last but not least, Friday's forecast of rain and cool temps for the final --a classic Oregon mix-- is just what Kerr wanted to hear.

"That's exactly what I want. I grew up with that and I think I'm more used to that than anyone else. I love it. Anything that comes at me I'm looking it as a challenge. If it's cold it'll be bloody brilliant. I'm looking forward to it."