University of Oregon
Oregon Relays
Biwott Lights Up 5K at Oregon Relays
04/25/09 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- Shadrack Biwott won an exciting Bill McChesney, Jr., Memorial 5,000 Meters with a kick in the final 100, as Galen Rupp, Andrew Wheating, Brianne Theisen, Cyrus Hostetler and Nicole Blood joined a host of victors for the Ducks Friday at the Oregon Relays, presented by Oregon Community Credit Union, at Historic Hayward Field.
Biwott, a senior from Eldoret, Kenya, waged an entertaining battle with Josh Rohatinsky of Oregon Track Club Elite before a crowd of 6,228, which set an Oregon Relays first day record. The two were within paces of each other the entire race. On the final lap, Rohatinsky opened up a slight lead with 200 meters remaining, but Biwott came strong off the Bowerman Curve and surged ahead to take the lead for good, finishing in an outdoor personal best 13:36.25, less than a second ahead of Rohatinsky's 13:37.21. Oregon freshman Matthew Centrowitz was third in a career-best 13:49.15 as both Biwott and Centrowitz notched NCAA Regional qualifying marks.
"I just wanted to have a good run and do my best.," said Biwott, whose time ranks as the fifth-fastest in the NCAA this season. "Me and Josh (Rohatinsky) have known each other for a long time and we helped each other out.
"At the last lap I tried not to pay attention to the time and focused on running well," Biwott said. "It was a fun race. It's definitely a great feeling to win. I am humble ? but it is nice to be on the top ten list for this university."
Biwott's time was the eighth-fastest in school history as now only he and Rupp have run under 13:40 for Oregon at 5,000 meters in the last 27 years.
For Rupp, Friday night's mission was accomplished with a win at 10,000 meters in an NCAA Championships automatic qualifying time of 10:28.68. He also helped push teammate Luke Puskedra below the NCAA standard as the freshman from Ogden, Utah, was second in 28:34.17. Rend Lake's Stephen Sambu was third in 28:37.96.
"I had really good pacing today and Galen did a great job of leading and helping me," said Puskedra. "The coach told me to be patient on the first 5K. It was still pretty rough when you have that big clock you keep staring at."
Rupp's time was fourth in the nation this year, while Puskedra's was 10th. Puskedra also entered the Oregon top 10 at No. 6 in his first collegiate 10,000.
"We made our goal, both Luke and I qualified relatively easily," said Rupp. "I'm still getting back into training, which bodes well for later on."
"It is a great feeling to have the sixth best time in school history," said Puskedra. "I hope to run even better in the future. We get such good support in Eugene, even on Friday night. I think all of America wants to run here."
Junior Andrew Wheating thrilled the Hayward Field faithful once again by turning in the second-fastest 1,500 meters in the nation this year. He ran 3:40.92, which was :02 off his PR and just missed Dub Myers' 1986 meet record of 3:40.76.
Oregon Track Club Elite's Stephen Pifer was second in 3:42.63, while Auburn' Felix Kiboiywo was third in 3:43.20.
"I was really nervous to start, but I settled in at the end," said Wheating. "I felt good. For the first 1,500 meters this season it's definitely a good start.
"I was supposed to treat this run a little bit like a prelim but when I saw I was going to win, I wanted to win by a lot," said Wheating, whose trademark kick kicked coming out of the final curve. "I wasn't sure my strength was where it was supposed to be but I felt really great before the final 200 meters and I knew I had something left in the tank for the last 100 meters."
Jenny Barringer of Colorado posted an impressive time in winning the women's 1,500 meters in 4:08.38. That broke the Colorado school record, as well as Johanna Nilsson's meet record of 4:13.22 set in 2003, and is the fastest time in the NCAA this season.
"I knew exactly what split to go out on and I was planning to break 4:10, which is the record at Colorado," said three-time NCAA champion. "I have so much respect for our record holder and I am in awe to be at her level."
Brianne Theisen of Oregon provided one of the field highlights with a wind-aided personal best long jump of 20-3.75. The winning mark ranks sixth in the Pac-10 this year and would have ranked sixth on the UO career list with a legal wind, which was clocked at 3.5 at the time of her attempt.
The Ducks' Cyrus Hostetler continued his winning ways with a first throw effort of 261-11 to win the men's javelin. Teammate Alex Wolff finished fourth with a mark of 227-4, while sophomore Britton Nelson set a personal best in finishing fifth at 214-6.
Nicole Blood of Oregon went out strong to win the women's 5,000 meters in 16:11.58.
Other highlights from the Oregon Relays included:
*Olympian Loree Smith winning the women's hammer with a throw of 218-0.
*Oregon's Scott Penny throwing a season-best 180-10 in the B section of the men's hammer to finish second to Washington's Angus Taylor (184-9).
*The Ducks' Claire Michel just missing a PR in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase, finishing in 10:28.92.
*Oregon's Lindsay Pearson winning the women's 100 meter hurdles in a season-best time of 14.46, while Leah Worthen won the women's 200 meters in 24.93.
*Kevin McNally of Oregon winning the "B" section of the men's 5,000 meters in 14:40.36, while Vincent D'Onofrio set a personal best in finishing second in the "B" heat of the men's 1,500 meters, running 3:48.92.
*Elliott Jantzer of Phoenix High School winning the boy's 3,000 meters in a personal-best and high school meet record 8:33.45.
*Ryan Crouser of Barlow High School taking the boy's shot put with a throw of 65-10.25.
*The crowd of 6,228 which was the 13th-largest collegiate crowd in school history.
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