Who is Jon Rankin

Jon Rankin was born on February 9, 1982, in Trenton, New Jersey. He has an older sister and a younger brother. Though his parents are from the Cayman Islands, he was raised in Spring Valley, a suburb of San Diego, California, and went to high school at Monte Vista High.

While at Monte Vista, Jon was a three-time All-CIF competitor. He finished second in the 1600m at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in 2000, running a personal best 4:10.08, which put him #19 on the 2000 US High School List. His prep personal bests included a 51.00 for the 400m and 1:57 in the 800m.

Jon had a very successful freshman season at UCLA. He was consistently among the Bruins top three, and earned All-Region honors with a 24th place finish at the NCAA West Regional Championships, running 31:28 for 10k. On the track Jon ran a team-leading personal best of 3:47.47. He also won the 1500m at the 'SC dual meet. His biggest victory came in the US Junior 1500m (3:51.8). He later finished second in the US vs Great Britain dual meet at Stoke on Trent, England, running 4:02.22.

Jon redshirted his second year due to a low-grade stress fracture in his right leg. He came back his third year to be the third runner on UCLA's cross country team at both the Pac-10 Championships (45th, 25:22) and the West Regionals (52nd, 32:21). He had an up-and-down year his sophomore track season, qualifying for the West Regionals in both the 800m and 1500m. He placed ninth in the 1500m at the Pac-10 Championships in 3:50.28 and sixth in the Western Region in 3:48.34.

Jon's junior cross country season saw more progress, as he won the Triton Classic (25:26.3) and was the Bruins #2 runner at the Pre-National Invitational (54th), Pac-10 Championships (25th), and NCAA West Regionals (24th, 30:23), which earned him his second All-Regional honor. In track that year, Jon broke through with a personal best of 3:43.10 to win the 'SC dual meet. He placed 4th at the Pac-10 Championships (3:44.53) and 5th at the West Regionals (3:46.02), qualifying for the NCAA meet. At the NCAA Championships, Jon finished 6th in his heat, failing to qualify for the final. He ended up 13th in 3:47.75.

Jon's senior cross country season saw him in great form for the first time. He was the Bruins' #1 runner all season, finishing 5th in the Pac-10 Championships (24:31), 6th at the West Regionals (30:40) and 31st at the NCAA Championships (31:49.8) to earn his first All-American honor.

Jon continued his torrid running in the spring track season. He set a personal best of 8:07.45 in the 3000m early indoors. He then opened up his season outdoors at the UCLA Invitational, where he ran 1:50.32 for 800m. He ran a 3:42.82 at the Stanford Invitational, and then exploded to a 3:57.89 victory in the mile at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at UCLA. Jon then followed that up with a 1:47.11 personal best for 800m at the Mt. SAC Relays.

Jon turned in an impressive triple at the 'SC dual meet, running 3:40.39/1:47.54/15:00.78 to help UCLA win the meet. He then ran a solid double at the Pac-10 Championships, taking second to Ryan Brown of Washington in the 800m in 1:47.39 and winning the 1500m in 3:44.61. The victory made Jon the first UCLA runner to win the 1500m at the conference meet since 1965. At the NCAA West Regionals, Jon won the 1500m in 3:44.07 but lost to Ryan Brown again in the 800m by .004 seconds, with both athletes timed at 1:48.20. Jon failed to qualify for the final of the 1500m at the NCAA Championships that year.

Sources: UCLA, Direct Athletics, Trackshark (below)

"In the 1500 it's all about positioning. If you're in a box it doesn't matter how fast you are, but if you're in the right spot you can let it rip." --Jon Rankin

After graduating, Jon went to Europe and had immediate success, setting new personal bests at both 800m (1:47.11) and 1500m (3:35.26). He then came back to the US but struggled with the shift from collegiate running to individual training.

Jon figured it out eventually and was running extremely well in 2006 when he attempted to double in the 800m and 1500m at the US Championships. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when he broke his fifth metatarsal in his right foot during his race. This ended his season and kept him from racing for nearly one year. He tried to come back earlier but ran poorly and decided to take more time for training. Prior to the US Championships he ran a series of races in Canada but wasn't fit enough to qualify to the finals in the 800m and so failed to make the World Championship team.

Following that disappointment, Jon decided to race in Europe for three months. While there he regained his form and ran close to his personal bests in numerous meets, including the prestigious British Milers Club Grand Prix in a time of 3:57.66 (see the video here! Click on "Men's Mile" at top right!). He also ran his first Golden League meet in Brussels. He finished off his 2007 season with a blazing run at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile when he finished third in 3:53.3, losing only to Olympians Alan Webb (1st) and Kevin Sullivan (2nd).

Jon ran the US Cross Country Championships in San Diego, CA in February of 2008 and placed a solid 20th. He then started off his 2008 season running a low-key 800m race in 1:47.4, winning easily. He also finished third at the AMC meet in Indianapolis, running a personal best 1:47.01. His first big race was the Adidas Track Classic where he finished 5th in the 1500m with a time of 3:36.61. He then nearly ran a personal best at the Prefontaine Classic, finishing 6th in 3:54.68 in the Bowerman Mile.

At the US Olympic Trials, Jon entered both the 800m and 1500m. He finished a disappointing 9th in his quarterfinal heat of the 800m, running 1:49.62. Jon finished 4th in his prelim of the 1500m in 3:44.91 and 5th in the semifinal in 3:40.81 to advance to the final on July 6th. Jon finished 6th in the final of the 1500m, running 3:41.75.

In his first race after the Olympic Trials, Jon set a meet record to win the Falmouth Mile in 3:56.45. Jon then set a personal best on the roads at the 5th Avenue Mile in New York City, running 3:52.7 and finishing 4th. He then finished his season by winning the La Jolla Coastwise Mile, running 4:14 over the hilly course.

Jon opened his 2009 outdoor season with a 1500m win (3:46.86) at the Kingston Invitational in Jamaica. He then finished 2nd at the USATF Road Mile Championships in Minneapolis, running 4:01.7. He then finished 10th at the adidas Track Classic, running 3:43.68. Jon skipped most of the summer outdoor season, but ran the Fifth Avenue Mile, clocking 3:59.0 for 13th place. He announced shortly after that he would compete for the Cayman Islands at future international competitions.

Jon opened up 2010 with a 1:08:59 half marathon to finish 8th at the Carlsbad Half Marathon. In May, Jon ran the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k and finished 23rd, running 30:44. He also spent some time visiting with patients suffering from kidney disease (photo from LetsRun). He ended 2010 with a 20th place finish at the 5th Avenue Mile in NYC, running 4:12.06. He then entered the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, where he competed in the 800m and 1500m. In the 800m, he ran 1:51.35 to qualify for the semifinals, where he finished 8th in 1:51.10. In the semifinal of the 1500m, Jon finished 10th in 3:46.12. He did not advance to the final. He then ran his first full marathon at the Cal International Marathon in Sacramento, CA, running 2:34:29 to finish 42nd overall.

Jon ran the World Cross Country Championships in Spain to open up his 2011 season, finishing 100th in 38:44.

Sources: NYRR

Championships

2001 US Junior Championships 1500m (3:51.8)
2005 Pac-10 1500m (3:44.61)
2005 West Region 1500m (3:44.07)

Personal Records

1:47.01 - 800m - Indianapolis (2008)
3:35.26 - 1500m - Walnut (2005)
3:54.24 - mile - Manchester (2007)
3:52.7 - mile (road) - New York (2008)
8:07.25 - 3000m - Seattle (2005)

Sources: HAWI Sports