Steve Fein is back on track, literally.
The Oregon senior who missed most of the outdoor season because of sinus problems competed in the Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight Mile — reputably one of the fastest mile races in the nation.
And he finished third.
The mile marked the end of the three-hour Oregon Twilight meet, which is annually designed to take advantage of dusk’s ideal track and field conditions. It worked, as three Ducks including Fein, sophomore John Bello and sophomore Cody Howell achieved personal bests. Sophomore Jason Boness notched a seasonal best in the high jump.
“I was really happy for Steve,” head coach Martin Smith said. “He broke four minutes, qualified for NCAAs and quite candidly, it’s good to see him running and running well again.
“The focus right now is on the decathletes, that’s the Pac-10 Championships,” he said. “That’s really where we need to put our energy and really focus in on things.”
Fein hung with a pack of post-collegians, Olympic trial, Olympic and NCAA qualifiers en route to a third-place finish in 3 minutes, 59 seconds. It was the distance runner’s first-ever sub-4:00 mile, ranking him 21st among the 27 Ducks who have cracked the mark.
“That was as good a mile race as you can come by,” Fein said. “The field was great. The talent level was incredible, and obviously, that’s what got us under four was the field.”
Post-collegian Jason Pyrah won the mile with a time of 3:57.63.
Before Fein thrilled the crowd with his electrifying run, it was Boness who was trying to break records in the high jump.
The sophomore transfer from Northern Iowa set a seasonal best in the high jump, clearing the bar at 7 feet, 3 1/4 inches. On that jump, he clearly had a couple of inches to spare between himself and the bar.
“I should peak next week, and that 7-5 bar should be pretty easy,” Boness said. “Training is going well. I felt pretty good.”
Energized from his jump and with the win in hand, Boness raised the bar to 7-5. Had he made it, he would have set the Oregon record.
But he hit the bar going up on his first two attempts, then hit it with his shoulders on the way down on his final try.
“I wanted to give the crowd a good show today and try to break the school record today,” Boness said. “That’s the bar I always go to after I make whatever bar I want to make to move myself up in the ranks.”
Howell, after not competing at last weekend’s Cardinal Invitational because of a groin injury, bounced back from injury in the pole vault with a personal-best clearance of 17-0 3/4. He finished second to former-Duck Piotr Bucharski, who cleared 18-2 1/2.
“Training just went well this week. I knew it was going to be a good week and next week is going to be better, hopefully,” Howell said. “To PR at the Pac-10s is my goal. I wanted to jump 17 going in so I could PR at 17-6 or something at Pac-10s. This fits perfect in my schedule.”
Bello continued to chase the NCAA provisional mark of 59-0 3/4 by throwing the shot put a personal best distance of 57-5 3/4. Bello has earned Pac-10 marks in the discuss and shot put and will have another shot at the provisional distance at the Pac-10 meet.