Day three of the NCAA Track and Field championships at Hayward meant finals for the men competing. Oregon athletes Emmanuel Ihemeje, Micah Williams and Aaron Bienenfeld looked to finish their seasons on a high note.
The night ended with one All-American and a national runner up.
The stands erupted with applause as Ihemeje’s name was announced for the men’s triple jump. The reigning champion lifted his hoodie, pointed to the duck on his shirt and made the O with his hands to the camera. Ihemeje took his first lead with his second jump where he seemingly floated for a season best equaling 17.00m.
Ihemeje was second at the end of the third round of jumps. Texas Christian’s Chengetayia Mapayia took the lead on a collegiate leading 17.26 meter flight. With a foul for a fourth jump, Ihemeje only had two attempts to keep his title. He improved to 17.03 meter on his fifth jump, a new season best, still .23 meters off the leader from TCU.
Ihemeje looked up and thanked the Hayward crowd after a final jump of 16.29. He finished second, earning Oregon much needed team points, behind Mapayia.
Micah Williams took lane five for the men’s 100m dash. Williams crossed the line in seventh at 10.188, which is .32 of a second off his personal best without wind aid (9.86). This is the third time Williams has earned All-American Honors. Florida Gator, Joseph Fahnbulleh won the event in 10 seconds flat.
Fahnbulleh swept both the 100m and 200m (19.83). His 200m time tied the third fastest in collegiate history. He is the first to sweep both events since 2019.
All hope of a male national champion for the Ducks fell on the shoulders of senior Aaron Bienenfeld in the men’s 5000m. Bienenfeld moved to second right before the first kilometer. He had the lead with 9 laps to go and stayed in front for the next five laps.
With one mile to go, however, Bienenfeld faded to the back of the lead pack after keeping such a high pace. He came across the finish 13th with a time of 13:34.6. Wisconsin Badger Olin Hacker won the 5000m in 13:27.73.
The men’s 4x100m relay came down to .03 of a second. USC ran a season’s best 38.49 and managed to hold off a late surge from the University of Florida Gators, who came across second at 38.52. This is the first time the Trojans have won the event since 1980.
World leader Trey Cunningham continued his dominant reign in the men’s 110m hurdles. The Florida State Seminole ran a personal best 13.00. LSU’s Eric Edwards jr. (13.15) finished second with the fourth fastest time in the world.
Washington’s Joe Waskom (3:45.58) had a tremendous final kick to secure victory in a tight men’s 1500m.
Ahmed Jaziri (8:18.70) managed to shed five seconds off of his lifetime best to bring Eastern Kentucky the title in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Montana State’s Duncan Hamilton eked out second from Georgetown’s Parker Stokes by .002.
The University of Florida men’s 4×400 set a facility record 2:58.88, which secured them the men’s team overall victory with a total of 54 points. Texas (38), Tennessee (34), Florida State (33) and Georgia (32) round out the mens top five. Oregon finished in a five-way tie for 25th with 11 points.
The final day of the NCAA Track and Field championships will take place at Hayward Field, on Saturday, Jun. 11. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. with the women’s heptathlon. It will feature UO Ducks in the 4x100m relay final, and Kemba Nelson in the women’s 100m dash.
