Franklin Field in Philadelphia is not only home to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers but also hosted the 2026 Penn Relays over the weekend of April 23 to 25. Simeon Birnbaum, Quincy Wilson and Silan Ayyildiz — three athletes who have starred at Oregon’s Hayward Field over the past few years — were some of the biggest name-value stars who competed over the weekend.

For Oregon, the track and field team won the men’s distance medley during Friday afternoon’s competition. The Ducks team of Tomas Palfrey, Fuad Omer, James Harding and Birnbaum combined for the winning time of 9:32.08, just 1/10 of a second ahead of Villanova University. Birnbaum went on to secure the men’s fifth Penn Relays wheel in the distance medley relay, and their first since 2017.

To secure the win, Birnbaum beat out Wildcat runner Marco Langon at the finish line, just barely besting his opponent with a final push. In celebration, he held the baton as a telephone, picking up the call and promptly hanging up as his teammates  swarmed him with glee.

“Third time’s the charm,” Harding said in a video posted to the Oregon Track and Field X account. “Three years we’ve come here, gotten second every time… not getting second today.”

Oregon’s other runners echoed a similar sentiment.

“When you get second a couple times, you gotta get first on them,” Omer said in the same video.

Oregon’s three runners were photographed holding an 32-inch bronze plaque called “The Wheel,” given to Penn Relays champions. The award, which depicts Benjamin Franklin presenting a gift to victorious relay runners, is known as one of the sport’s most iconic trophies.

Birnbaum was the main attraction of the event, racing to the front of the competition alongside Langon in the 20-year-old’s first race since breaking the 1500-meter collegiate record the previous weekend. It was Oregon’s fifth win in the men’s DMR, with prior victories coming in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017. The University of North Carolina’s DMR team took home the women’s championship, posting an NCAA record 10:36.82.

In the big picture, Oregon’s performance was a good step in the right direc- tion for the program as a whole, as well as for individual runners’ hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships, held June 10 to 13 at Hayward Field.

Birnbaum is one of the top performers in the country and is considered a favorite at the Championships. Ayyildiz is one of Oregon’s top performers and should be expected to post a high mark as well, both at Oregon Twilight, should she run, and at the NCAA Championships.

Twilight will serve as a prime opportunity for Matthew Erickson and Palfrey to post times to help their odds of qualifying for the Big Ten Championships, hosted May 15 to 17 at the University of Nebraska. Elliott Cook is another Duck to watch. He finished as the Big Ten Indoor runner-up in the mile last year at the indoor championships, but did not run at this year’s indoor championships or at the Oregon Team Invitational.