BOULDER — When Texas Longhorns 1,500-meter star Leo Manzano ran into Colorado’s Brent Vaughn at a restaurant Friday night, Vaughn couldn’t resist asking Manzano if he was feeling the altitude.
“I said, ‘No, when am I supposed to feel it?’ ” Manzano recalled after Saturday’s 1,500-meter prelims at the Big 12 Championships. “He’s like, ‘At 1,200 meters.’ I’m like, ‘Man, don’t do that to me.’ ”
A big talent, Manzano finished second at the U.S. Outdoor Championships last year and made the world championships team. He’s won the Big 12 1,500-meter outdoor title twice.
But he figures to get a stern challenge from CU’s Stephen Pifer, who won the conference title in 2006 and has altitude-training on his side.
“I love competing with Pifer,” said Manzano, who has never competed at altitude before. “He brings out the best in me.”
Pifer calls Manzano a “monster talent.” In the U.S. championships last summer Manzano edged Bernard Lagat, who would go on to win the 1,500 meters at world championships.
“I’m just happy that it’s up here, and it looks like we’ve got good weather for it,” Pifer said. “It’s just going to be a lot of fun racing these guys on our turf. I’m going to try hard to pull whatever I can out of him, but I’m sure he’ll be able to respond.”
