The Oregon Ducks have some of the best distance runners in the nation fronting their program. Silan Ayyildiz is continuing to add to her elite resume; Wilma Nielsen, in her second year at Oregon, has been a force to be reckoned with; Diana Cherotich battled through an injury through her outdoor season but put up impressive numbers in spite of it.

The indoor season was phenomenal for all three. Notably, Nielsen was a top performer for the program. Back in the indoor season, Nielsen ran for the first time since the 2025 indoor season (she missed the outdoor season due to injury). The senior from Sweden didn’t miss a beat. She ran a 4:21.04 on Feb. 14 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, which placed her second all time in the indoor women’s mile in NCAA history. Nielsen also won the mile and the DMR in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

“Being at Oregon, it’s a lot of pressure, but we always come through,” Nielsen said. “We always step up when it matters.”

And the Ducks didn’t let up at the NCAA or the Big Ten Indoor Championships. They took home first in both men’s and women’s, then did the same for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. In the NCAA Indoor Championships, both teams placed second.

Ayyildiz has been flying for the Ducks since 2023. Last year, she broke the indoor collegiate record in the mile (Nielsen passed her on the NCAA list, with Ayyildiz sitting at No. 5 all time as of 2026), and then set it again for the outdoor mile. At the Indoor Big Ten Championships, Ayyildiz won the indoor mile and the 5k, then went and won the DMR in the NCAA Indoor Championships alongside Nielsen.

After the dominant and packed indoor season, Ayyildiz was just working through the outdoor season and making sure that she prioritized feeling fine physically.

“For one week, I just laid off,” Ayyildiz said. “And the second week, just basically laid off, slowly coming back for the long distance reps.”

The rest looked to have paid off. In the outdoor season, she placed third in the outdoor 5k, but did not finish in the 10k. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1500m after placing second in the first round of qualifiers.

Finally there’s Cherotich, the sophomore from Kenya. Cherotich started her Ducks career last year strong at the Stanford Invitational by setting a school record in the 10,000 meter. She ran a 31:45.22, the first woman in the history of the program to run the event in under 32 minutes. She carried that record-setting mentality into the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field, where she set a meet-record time in the 10,000m by finishing in first with a time of 32:00.48, a jaw-dropping 41 seconds faster than the previous record, 32:41.65.

In the indoor season, she dominated. Cherotich won the BU Valentine Invitational 5k, then placed second in the same event during the Big Ten Championships, though the true testament to her talent came in the outdoor season.

Cherotich had to claw herway through the outdoor season with an Achilles injury. She managed to take home second place in the Oregon Team Invitational in the 5k and fourth at Big Tens, but had a DNF and some tough races. She did qualify for the 10K after setting a personal best in the first round of qualifying.

Now, all three turn their attention to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which start at Hayward Field on Wednesday, June 10. With the dominance they’ve displayed this year, and in seasons past, the Ducks have three middle-distance runners with the talent to blow past anyone.