Men of Oregon Win Penn Relays DMR

Friday, April 24

Philadelphia, PA

All Day

University of Oregon

Penn Relays

04/24/26 | Track and Field

Race Results

The Ducks held off Villanova for the program's 19th overall Penn Relays wheel.

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon track and field team won the men's distance medley relay Friday afternoon at Penn Relays. The Ducks held off Villanova to secure the men's fifth Penn Relays wheel in the DMR and their first since 2017.

The team of Tomas Palfrey, Fuad Omer, James Harding and Simeon Birnbaum combined for the winning time of 9:32.08, just one-tenth of a second ahead of Villanova. Birnbaum, in his first race since breaking the collegiate record at 1500 meters, went to the front with 400 to go and never relinquished the lead.

Palfrey led off for the Ducks with the 1200-meter leg (2:50.61) before handing off to Omer who posted a 45.58 split to move the team from fourth to second, only trailing Texas A&M. Harding took the baton for the 800-meter leg (1:45.19) and by the time he handed off to Birnbaum, the Ducks were in the lead, just ahead of Big Ten foes Michigan and Washington.

Birnbaum and Marco Langon of Villanova pulled away from the field with just over 100 meters to go but the Oregon junior held strong down the home stretch for the victory.

Oregon previously won the Penn Relays men's DMR in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017. The Ducks now have a combined 19 Penn Relays championship wins—10 women, nine men.

In another head-to-head with Villanova, the UO men came away with a runner-up showing in Saturday's 4xMile relay. The quartet of Birnbaum, Palfrey, Tayson Echohawk and Jeffery Rogers posted a final time of 16:18.52, just .05 behind Villanova. Birnbaum and Langon, once again, carried anchor duties for their respective teams, and in a reverse of the DMR finish, it was Langon to hold off Birnbaum at the line.

The UO women ran twice Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the 4x1500 relay (17:25.53) and a ninth-place outing in the 4x800 (8:37.32).

Up Next: A busy month of May gets started with a trio of meets in the Payton Jordan Classic (May 1) at Stanford, OSU High Performance (May 1-2) in Corvallis and Desert Heat Classic (May 2) in Tucson, Ariz. The Ducks are back at Hayward Field for the Oregon Twilight (May 8), the team's regular-season finale.

Ticket packages for the Ducks' outdoor home schedule are currently on sale. Along with next weekend's Oregon Twilight, Oregon will host the NCAA Championships in June.

Weekend Results
Penn Relays | Philadelphia, Pa.
MEN
Distance Medley Relay
1. Palfrey, Omer, Harding, Birnbaum – 9:32.08

4xMile Relay
2. Echohawk, Rogers, Palfrey, Birnbaum – 16:18.52

WOMEN
4x800 Relay
9. Ayyildiz, Humphris, Frias, Cherubet – 8:37.32

4x1500 Relay
4. Cherubet, Ince, Frias, Ayyildiz – 17:25.53

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