Oregon track and field concluded a busy weekend in Philadelphia, competing in The 121st Penn Relays.
The highlight for Oregon occurred on Friday, when the men’s distance medley relay team defended its championship despite having to replace three seniors from last year’s unit. The new members were Johnny Gregorek, Marcus Chambers and Niki Franzmair — all of whom joined Edward Cheserek to combine for the winning time (9:33.86).
“It was a great team effort,” associate head coach Andy Powell said in a statement. “The overall plan for the first three legs was to try to get Ed the baton in second. The guys executed perfectly.”
Gregorek led off with the 1200, passing to Chambers for the 400. Gregorek was able to keep up with the leaders, finishing near the front. This allowed the Ducks to pass the baton early and avoid some of the chaos.
Chambers ran his leg in 47.90, moving the Ducks into first place. He passed off to the freshman Franzmair, who also ran a strong third leg. This set up Cheserek for the anchor mile in second, exactly as planned.
It all came down to Cheserek’s patented kick, which he unleashed on the final turn. Villanova’s Jordan Williamsz made the first move with 250 meters remaining, but Cheserek separated from him down the home stretch.
“I was prepared,” Cheserek said in a statement. “I was just waiting for him to take the lead a little bit. I stayed with him and saved energy for the last 200 meters.”
The women’s sprint medley team of Jasmine Todd, Jenna Prandini , Raevyn Rogers and Annie Leblanc claimed Oregon’s first victory in the event, barely edging out Clemson in 3:44.59.
Todd and Prandini ran well in the pair of 200-meter legs, giving it off to Rogers who split 54.1 during her 400. Leblanc received the baton, as the race had turned into a three-team showdown. Clemson’s three-time NCAA 800 Champion Natoya Goule carried the baton for the Tigers, finishing the first lap slightly ahead of Leblanc. But similar to Cheserek, Leblanc waited until the final 150 meters to make her move, chasing down Goule to win by .12 seconds.
“When I saw that straightaway, I just gave it my all,” Leblanc said. “I could feel the energy of my teammates and my coaches.”
The race was the first time Prandini has competed since her spectacular performance at Mt. SAC.
On Saturday the Oregon men partook in the 4xmile, again finding themselves going head-to-head with Villanova. Unlike in the DMR, the Ducks couldn’t quite top the Wildcats, crossing the line second in 16:18.93. Villanova won with a time of 16:18.07.
The Oregon splits in the race were Daniel Winn (4:01.7), Gregorek (4:01.7), Will Geoghegan (4:01.1) and Cheserek (4:14.5). Running the anchor for Villanova was Williamsz.
Click here for a complete list of results.
The next meet for the Ducks will be on Friday, when they travel just up the road to take part in the OSU High Performance Meet in Corvallis.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur