Oregon distance runner Aaron Bienenfeld crossed the finish line in eighth place, marking the end of an opening day for the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field — a day that consisted of numerous shortcomings for the seven Ducks competing in semifinal events.
Redshirt sophomore Ty Hampton dropped out of the javelin final for undisclosed reasons, making Bienenfeld the only Duck to participate in a final on Wednesday.
Bienenfeld transferred to Oregon from Cincinnati for his final year of collegiate eligibility and it came to a close on Wednesday.
Apart from a top-10 finish in the 10,000-meter final, the Ducks’ only bright spot was Micah Williams’ performance in the 100-meter semifinal.
Williams won the first heat and posted the fastest time for either heat finishing in 10.03 seconds.
Williams has put together a dominant campaign in his first outdoor track season with Oregon, highlighted by a personal best, wind-legal 9.86 seconds at the NCAA preliminary rounds. After qualifying for the men’s final in the 100 meters, he’ll have the opportunity to cap off his season with a crown jewel — the NCAA 100-meter final on Friday.
Although he was successful in his individual event, Williams and the Ducks 4 x 100-meter relay team disappointed on Wednesday. Williams ran the second leg of the race and put his team in a strong position.
Reiker Daniel kept the pace in the third leg, but the field caught up to the Ducks’ anchor, Xavier Nairne, as they slightly dropped into fourth, finishing in 39.00 seconds — .01 seconds behind Clemson and Baylor.
With the fourth-place finish, the Ducks missed out on an automatic bid and were unable to qualify for the final based on time.
Luis Peralta finished seventh in the second heat of the 800-meter semifinal and Elliott Cook finished ninth in the first heat of the 1500-meter semifinal. Neither qualified for their finals.
Max Vollmer finished the first day of decathlon events in fifth place.
The NCAA Championships will continue tomorrow starting with decathlon events starting at 11:30 a.m.
