By Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

Published: January 15, 2008 05:01AM

Galen Rupp wants to join the sub-4-minute mile club.

The Oregon distance runner set his personal best of 4 minutes, 1.8 seconds four years ago in a special race held at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s first sub-4:00 mile.

At the time, Rupp was a senior at Central Catholic High School in Portland.

The 2007 U.S. runner-up in the 10K will take another shot at breaking four minutes on Saturday when he runs the indoor mile at the 2008 Dempsey Indoor Preview at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“This has been a long-term project for me,” said Rupp, who turns 22 in May. “My goal is to run under four minutes. I’m more than capable of doing that right now. My training has been going well, with a lot more speed work than ever before.”

Rupp, who has fully recovered from routine plica band surgery on his right knee, will use the indoor mile as a prelude to competing in the 3,000 meters at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 26.

Dustin Emrani, a newcomer to Oregon Track Club Elite, will be the pacesetter in both the 800 and mile on Saturday, while OTC Elite teammates Cack Ferrell (mile, 3000), Will Leer (mile) and Sean O’Brien (mile) are also scheduled to compete.

The tentative Team XO lineup for Saturday’s meet includes Jane Rudkin (mile), Melanie Hardy (800), Kalpanatit Broderick (mile), Jeff Fisher (800), Mark Wieczorek (800) and Kyley Johnson (high jump).

UO assistant director of track and field Dan Steele said the Ducks will send a full contingent of men’s and women’s athletes to the meet in an effort to “get the rust off” as they prepare for the Washington Invitational on Feb. 1-2.

Hudson’s group excels

It was a big weekend for coach Brad Hudson and