Tupuritis Shocked The Field In 1996

Einars Tupuritis was in no condition to run the 800-meter final at the 1996 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Athletically, the Wichita State junior was in the best shape of his life, but on his way to the track the car that he and his coach were in was struck by another vehicle that ran a red light. Their heads collided, nearly knocking Tupuritis’ jaw out of place and causing both to see stars.

As David Woods reported for Track & Field News, “Tupuritis nearly bagged the race, but after 15 minutes on a chiropractor’s table elected to run, only to swoon with dizziness when he jumped up and down to shake out his legs before the start.”

None of this caused Tupuritis to change his race plan for the final, which was to run fast from the gun in hopes that his two main rivals – Marko Koers of Illinois and collegiate record holder Julius Achon of George Mason – would be tired from having run the 1500 prelims the day before.

Actually, everyone was tired – from Tupuritis’ hot pace. The native of Latvia covered the first lap in 50.5 with Koers following in 50.7. Koers stuck with Tupuritis all the way to the finish but said he expended so much effort during the third 200 that he lacked the power to overhaul Tupuritis.

Tupuritis hung on for a wire-to-wire victory in 1:45.08 as he and Koers struggled at the end. “The last 20 meters I felt like I was walking,” said Tupuritis.

Koers, from the Netherlands, followed closely in 1:45.22, then the fastest non-winning time in meet history. Koers had been 800 runner-up in 1994 as well, and a day after this final he won the 1500, matching his title in that event from 1993.

Achon – suffering from dehydration – moved up near the end to finish third in 1:45.95. The Patriots fielded half of the eight finalists, still the only occurrence in a men’s event in meet history (GMU went 3-6-7-8).