Ayyildiz Breaks UO Record at Indoor Opener

Saturday, December 7

Boston, MA

All Day

University of Oregon

Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener

Ayyildiz, Thompson celebration at BU Opener - Dec. 7

12/07/24 | Track and Field

The Ducks had four top-10 program performances at the Colyear-Danville Season Opener.

BOSTON, Mass. – Off her All-American cross country campaign, Silan Ayyildiz rolled into indoor season with a school record in the 3,000 meters Saturday at the BU Colyear-Danville Opener in Boston. It was one of four top-10 program performances for the Ducks in the distance-heavy meet.

Ayyildiz lowered the UO indoor 3K mark to 8:46.33 with her performance, moving from third to first on the program's all-time list. She entered the weekend with a best of 8:54.19 from last season's Shannon Last Chance meet in Seattle. The previous school record (8:50.43, Maddy Elmore) was run at last year's BU Opener.

The women's 3,000 meters on Saturday featured four of the top 10 times in collegiate history. Ayyildiz finished fifth overall—fourth among collegians—and now ranks 10^th on the all-time collegiate list.

Fellow XC All-American Anika Thompson moved from No. 8 to second on the program's all-time list for 5,000 meters. She lowered her lifetime best to 15:31.93, a more-than-20-second improvement. Overall, the Junction City, Ore., native finished 14^th in the eight-section event.

Ayyildiz and Thompson were 13^th and 32^nd, respectively, just two weeks ago at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wis.

In the Ducks' first race of the indoor season, newcomers Wilma Nielsen and Ali Ince added their names to the program's all-time list in the mile. Nielsen, a junior transfer to UO, stopped the clock in a time of 4:31.94 to establish an indoor personal best and become the No. 5 performer in Oregon history. Ince, a freshman from Bloomington, Ill., ran 4:32.96 to move to No. 9 on the Ducks' top-10 list.

Ince finished in third overall, and second among collegians trailing only Nielsen.

Matthew Erickson, in the ensuing men's race, crossed in a lifetime best of 3:59.27 to become the 30^th UO man to run a sub-4:00 indoor mile. The 800-meter specialist came into the day with a mile best of 4:11.35 from the 2022 Razorback Invitational. Across the five-section event, Erickson finished in ninth overall and fifth among collegiate entries. He also becomes the 77^th man to dip below four minutes in Canadian history.

Making his collegiate debut for UO, Koitatoi Kidali won the men's 1,000 meters. He built a two-second lead through 800 meters and held on over the final lap for a winning time of 2:20.53. Kidali was a 2024 Olympian for Kenya, running two rounds of the 800 meters in Paris.

Simeon Birnbaum was the Ducks' top runner in the men's 3,000 meters, clocking a time of 7:52.04 in an 18^th-place finish. He was joined in the overall top 30 by Evan Bishop (23^rd, 7:54.37) in his Oregon debut and redshirt freshman Tayson Echohawk (28^th, 7:55.16). The time for Bishop, a transfer from Wisconsin, was a lifetime best.

Full UO Results
MEN
1,000 Meters
1. Koitatoi Kidali – 2:20.53

Mile
9. Matthew Erickson – 3:59.27 (PB)

3,000 Meters
18. Simeon Birnbaum – 7:52.04
23. Evan Bishop – 7:54.37 (PB)
28. Tayson Echohawk – 7:55.16
38. Jeffery Rogers – 8:00.78
62. Connor Burns – 8:09.69
92. Benjamin Balazs – 8:23.28

WOMEN
Mile
1. Wilma Nielsen – 4:31.94 (indoor PB) [UO #5]
3. Ali Ince – 4:32.96 [UO #9]

3,000 Meters
5. Silan Ayyildiz – 8:46.33 (PB) [UO #1, NCAA #10]

5,000 Meters
14. Anika Thompson – 15:31.93 (PB) [UO #2]

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