Riley Masters is a retired American mid-distance runner who specialized in the mile and 1,500 meters events. After a decorated career at Bangor High School in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

, Masters competed at the NCAA level for the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

and then the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, where he earned multiple All-American honors. He competed in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Career

Maine

Masters was raised in the small town of Veazie, Maine and attended Bangor High School, where he won state championships at the mile, 1600 meters, and 3200 meters. After graduating in 2008, he enrolled at the

, where he was a two-time NCAA All-American in the mile. He ran a sub-4 mile for the first time in 2010, clocking 3:58.17 at an indoor meet at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Oklahoma

In 2011, Masters transferred to the

. He won the 2012 Big 12 Conference title in the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:43.48. Indoors, he was a member of Oklahoma's All-American distance medley relay team. Masters competed at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field). He clocked a time of 3:42.71 in the 1,500 meters prelim, but did not advance to the semifinal. He returned to Oklahoma for his senior year and lowered his mile best to 3:56.25 at the 2013 Tyson Invitational. Outdoors, he qualified for the NCAA Championship in the 1,500 meters and placed 11th.

Professional

After graduating from Oklahoma in 2013, Masters signed with Brooks and embarked on a professional career. He competed in European track meets in the summer of 2013, before returning to his home state of Maine, where he won the Maine Men's division of the 2013

Beach to Beacon 10K The TD Beach to Beacon 10K is a road running event that takes place along the coastline of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It begins at Crescent Beach State Park and ends at the Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park. Starting out as mainly a loc ...

. In 2015, Masters notched a top-5 finish at the USA Indoor Championships in Boston, clocking a 4:03.82 mile. Moving up in distance to the 5,000 meters, Masters competed in the 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field). He advanced out of the prelim heats by recording a time of 13:49.75, before placing 16th in the final. Masters signed a contract with Nike in 2017. He became a US Champion in 2018 when he won the USATF 1-Mile Road Championship in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. Two months later in Des Moines, Masters placed 4th in the USA Outdoor Track Championship in the 5,000 meters. When the 2020 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) were delayed to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Masters opted to retire and have surgery rather than continue his running career. In 2021, Masters was inducted into the

Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal

Masters lives in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

with his wife and works in sales. He is also a volunteer assistant coach for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

track and field team.

References

External links

World Athletics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Riley Living people Track and field athletes from Maine American male track and field athletes 1990 births