Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum Gains Shot Of Confidence With McChesney 1,500 Victory

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

Kim Spir photos

RESULTS/VIDEOS

Shelby Houlihan spent most of the last lap of the women’s 1,500 meters Friday night at Oregon Twilight boxed in. And as the lead runners came around the final bend at Hayward Field, she was still behind Karissa Schweizer and Eleanor Fulton.

She stayed patient, and with about 50 meters to go, a hole opened up between the two Swoosh Track Club runners, Schweizer and Gabija Galvydyté, who was kicking hard on the outside. Houlihan sprinted between them to win the race in a meet record 4:05.78.

“Going down the last 100, I thought I need to find a way out, because I still have some left,” said Houlihan, who was competing at the new Hayward Field for the first time after returning from a four-year drug suspension. “It didn’t really open up until the last 50. I saw it, and I tried to take it really quick and put in a last gear shift.”

The top four finishers broke Maria Mutola’s meet record, 4:07.50, which had stood since 1992.

Galvydyté finished second in 4:05.89, followed by Schweizer in 4:06.01 and Fulton in 4:06.66.

Schweizer, who said she had a “big workout week,” wasn’t sure until Thursday that she would compete.

“I was hoping to race – I always feel like I’m building a lot of my fitness when I race,” she said. “So that was kind of nice to rip the Band-Aid on the 1,500 again and just see what we could get. Went out there hoping to get close to 4 flat, but the wheels just weren’t quite there today.”

Houlihan said she didn’t feel as good as had hoped to, either.

“I feel like I’m continuing to break the rust off and get into it,” she said. “Racing tactically is getting easier every time.”

Oregon sophomore Simeon Birnbaum used his strong kick to win the men’s McChesney 1,500 meters in a PR of 3:37.02, which put him No. 18 in Division I and No. 8 in the West Regional standings.

He said he went into the race looking to get a regional qualifying time. “And other than that,” he said, “my plan was just to win.”

Birnbaum decided his best strategy was to hang back early, and he spent much of the race in sixth place before moving up at the bell. He pulled to the outside on the backstretch and took the lead with about 250 to go, then held off Swoosh Track Club’s Kieran Tuntivate and Thomas Ratcliffe for the win.

Tuntivate finished second in 3:37.37, and Ratcliffe finished third in 3:37.58.

“It felt all right,” Birnbaum said. “I took it maybe a bit earlier than I should have. I kept eying the corner to see if he was going to dive or anything. But luckily no one got me. That was good.”

In other results:

Oregon’s Matthew Erickson, the NCAA indoor 800 champion, set a PR in the 400, winning in 47.04, and Oregon’s Ella Thorsett set a PR in the 1,500, winning an early section in 4:16.82, which ranks her No. 43 in the West regional.

Oregon freshman Mihaly Akpamgbo swept the short sprints, winning the 100 in a season-best 10.58 and the 200 in a personal-best 21.37.

William Heslam of Oregon won the Wade Bell 800 in 1:49.77, but he dove over the line and appeared to injure his shoulder. He needed help to walk off the track.

Churchill High’s Addison Kleinke set a PR of 14-00.75 inches (4.29m) in winning the pole vault, besting her own Oregon state prep record by a quarter-of-an-inch.

Former Oregon All-American Shelby Moran broke a meet record in the hammer throw at 230-4 (70.22m), breaking Britney Henry’s record of 68.46m from 2008

Kira Hawaaboo of Linfield won the long jump with a PR of 19-9-50 (6.03m), the third best jump in NCAA Division III this season.