Distance Crew Takes On BU Opener

EUGENE, Ore. – The Ducks' 2023-24 indoor season officially begins Saturday morning at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston. With an early emphasis on the longer distances, Oregon has men's and women's entries in the mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.

The meet will be streamed on FloTrack beginning at 7 a.m. (PT).

Klaudia Kazimierska and Elliott Cook headlines the Ducks' entries in the mile which is scheduled to start at 7:41 a.m. with the women's sections. Kazimierska is second in UO history with a time of 4:32.03 while Cook moved to No. 7 on the Men of Oregon's all-time list with his time of 3:55.34 from last season's BU Valentine Invite.

Kazimierska will be joined by Samantha McDonnell and Ella Nelson in the field. The men's mile, set to start at 8:07 a.m. will feature Cook, Tomas Palfrey and Alex Slenning.

Maddy Elmore, off an all-conference and all-region campaign in cross country, is entered in the 3,000 meters. The men's entries in the event are Benjamin Balazs, Sergio Del Barrio, Archie Noakes and Aiden Smith. Working on a rolling schedule, the event starts 10:55 a.m.

In the final event of the meet, Connor Burns, Josh Edwards and Isaiah Steury will run the 5,000 meters. Burns, during his standout prep career, posted a lifetime best of 13:37.30 over the distance, a time that broke the national high school record, and now ranks second all-time.

Del Barrio, McDonnell and Steury are set to make their respective debuts in an Oregon kit.

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