LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, May 15–17 — Who would have thought that Simeon Birnbaum would run a 4:00.98 in the Big Ten 1500 final?
And still win?
Such was the Big 10 men’s championships, where Oregon soph Birnbaum, owner of a 3:31.69 PR, would survive an ever-so-slow pace that could not even charitably be labeled “pedestrian.” Nothing like a 400-meter time trial for a bunch of milers.
Yet if that was a glitch, it was a minor one. Duck depth, specifically and to no surprise in the distances, made the bottom-line difference in Oregon’s second run to a conference title in its second year in the coast-to-coast league.
In short, Jerry Schumacher’s team was all it was quacked up to be, scoring 121 points to easily outpace runners-up Minnesota and Nebraska, each of which tallied 81. USC (70.5), Ohio State (62) and Washington (57) filled out the rest of the top 6. Oddly enough, last year at home, Oregon scored 110 with Minnesota and Wisconsin tying with 81.
Oregon scored in 11 of the 21 events, but the big points came in the 1500, 5K, 10K and steeple with four champions and multiple places accounting for 57 of them. The Ducks also went 2-3-5 in the javelin for 18 points, with Daniel Thrana’s 254-9 (77.64) leading the Oregon threesome. Oregon had two scorers in the 1500, three in the 5K and three as well in the 10 and “just one” in the ’chase, albeit a winning effort from Benjamin Balazs (8:49.02).
With its women’s team also victorious, Oregon became the first Big 10 team in 29 years to sweep titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track for both genders.
First tale to tell is that of the 1500. The 12-man field wobbled and wiggled and waddled like scared ducks through a sleep-inducing pace that prompted a “bats out of hell” final 400. Birnbaum, appearing utterly confident, kicked it home in 50.85 for a 4:00.98 to hold off Michigan’s Trent McFarland, who closed in 51.15 for a 4:01.49. There’s a certain perverse logic to the finish and maybe proof that cream rises to the top, with the league’s two best milers going 1-2.
The two other Oregon distance wins came from Tayson Echohawk, who won his first conference title in the 5K in 14:08.84, moving up from 6th with a lap to go. And Luke Tewalt got his Big 10 title in Friday night’s much-delayed 10K in 29:49.24.
USC won four titles, with sprinter Eddie Nketia taking the 100 in a windy 9.74 and the 200 in an equally windy 20.03. He kicked off his Sunday by anchoring the Trojans’ 4×1 unit to a season-best 4th in 39.02 behind Minnesota’s meet record 38.44.
“It’s just been like last year,” Nketia said. “I got beaten and it hurt, man. I needed to go back to training and just fix the mistakes. It took me to the point of taking the Big 10 championship. I just had to concentrate and stay relaxed from the beginning.”
USC one-lapper Jack Stadlman was a caught a bit surprised when the 400 final came up as imminent. “I thought the check-in time was in like 30 minutes,” said the frosh. “So I was stretching and my coach came over [and] he was like, ‘Jack, you’re checking in,’ so I was like, ‘OK, bet.’ I thought warming up makes me tired anyway.”
Not too tired to win, apparently, with his 45.44 taking the measure of Ohio State’s Edidiong Udo (45.82). Stadlman later anchored USC’s 4×4 quartet to a 7th-place finish with a 46.98 carry. And discus thrower Racquil Broderick took a 206-0 (62.80) win in his specialty on Saturday afternoon.
The Penn State School of the 800 just keeps on keepin’ on. Senior Allon Clay led wire-to-wire for a 1:46.58 win over Michigan’s Camden Law (1:47.29). The veteran runner praised his competitors as he defended his title. “Everybody is a very fast athlete,” he said. “Very great 800 runners from prelims. It’s a windy condition, so I just stayed calm, ran my own race. In the last 200, I just kept my form, my arm swings. It worked out. I’m very blessed.”
The 800 final darn near looked like a Penn State-Michigan dual meet with three runners from each scoring 17 points for each school.
Oregon frosh shot putter Ben Smith uncorked a 68-6 (20.88) on his fifth attempt; the shortest of his four throws was 66-½ (20.13).
Two great stories for the home crowd came from vaulter Dyson Wicker and 400H champ Jason Ledbetter. Wicker entered the competition at 18-1¼ (5.52), then cleared the 18-5¾ (5.62) bar, passed at 18-7¼ and then got his winning jump at 18-9¼ (5.72) over Washington’s James Rhoads, who also cleared that bar but had earlier misses.
“I can’t even put into words,” said Wicker. “I’ve been battling a lot of things this outdoor season. It was one of the roughest starts I’ve had and it was really hard for me to do mentally. Coach said sometimes you have to put the team on your back and get out there. I had to put the team on my back and I had to go.”
Ledbetter came from behind to win the 400H in 50.82 over Indiana’s John Colquitt (50.85). “It was my race plan,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be in front the whole time, so I had to make up for it every single time. It’s exciting, especially because we did it [win the long hurdles] on both sides, the men’s and women’s. That’s all I can say. I’m ecstatic.”
Holding form was key for Ohio State hurdler Braxton Brann in his windy 13.18 win over Oregon’s Kai Graves-Blanks (13.30). The junior alluded to holding form and handling pressure.
“With the kind of competition we have, it’s really about who can hold form, who can stick to what they know and it’s really about practice and how you handle pressure,” he said. “We train that, we drill that plenty of times, so even when stuff goes crazy, we come through.”
BIG 10 MEN’S RESULTS
Teams: 1. Oregon 121; 2. tie, Minnesota & Nebraska 81; 4. USC 70½ ; 5. Ohio State 62; 6. Washington 57; 7. Iowa 56; 8. Penn State 46½; 9. Michigan 46; 10. Illinois 41½; 11. Purdue 39; 12. Rutgers 31; 13. Indiana 29; 14. Wisconsin 17; 15. Michigan State 15; 16. UCLA 14½; 17. Maryland 11.
100(5.6): 1. *Eddie Nketia’ (USC-Aus) 9.74w (a-c: =7, x W; 2, 2 C);
2. *PJ Ize-Iyamu (Or) 9.80w (a-c: =9, =9 C);
3. *Charles Godfred’ (Mn-Ngr) 9.88w; 4. Nazzio John’ (OhSt-Grn) 9.90w; 5. **Ajani Dwyer (PennSt) 9.93w; 6. *Darwin Jimenez’ (Ia-DR) 9.93w.
200(7.5): 1. Nketia’ 20.03w; 2. Aaron Charles (Mn) 20.09w; 3. Trelee Banks (In) 20.10w; 4. John’ 20.23w; 5. ***Kyler Brown (OhSt) 20.38w.
400: 1. ***Jack Stadlman (USC) 45.44; 2. **Edidiong Udo’ (OhSt-Ngr) 45.82; 3. ***David Akhalu’ (Ia-Ngr) 45.89.
800: 1. Allon Clay’ (PennSt-Jpn) 1:46.58; 2. *Camden Law (Mi) 1:47.29; 3. Niko Schultz’ (PennSt-PR) 1:47.70; 4. Miles Brown (Mi) 1:47.94.
1500: 1. *Simeon Birnbaum (Or) 4:00.98; 2. *Trent McFarland (Mi) 4:01.49; 3. **Brendan Herger (Mi) 4:01.84; 4. Reuben Reina (Wa) 4:01.86.
St: 1. *Benjamin Balazs (Or) 8:49.02; 2. **Emmett Gerres (Mn) 8:49.89; 3. **Isaac Briggs (Wa) 8:50.98.
5000: 1. **Tayson Echohawk (Or) 14:08.84; 2. Reina 14:08.99; 3. **Matan Ivri’ (Wi-Isr) 14:09.04; 4. **Archie Noakes’ (Wi-Aus) 14:10.85.
10,000: 1. Luke Tewalt (Or) 29:49.24; 2. *Evan Jenkins (Wa) 29:49.83; 3. Evan Bishop (Or) 29:50.63.
110H(4.5): 1. *Braxton Brann (OhSt) 13.18w; 2. *Kai Graves-Blanks (Or) 13.30w; 3. Vaughn DeVaughn (Ia) 13.43w; 4. ***Justin DeVaughn (Md) 13.47w.
400H: 1. **James Ledbetter (Nb) 50.82; 2. John Colquitt (In) 50.85; 3. Prior Ochonogor’ (Ia-Ngr) 50.94.
4 x 100: 1. Minnesota 38.44 (Campbell, Belle, Charles, Godfred); 2. Oregon 38.47; 3. Ohio State 38.72; 4. USC 39.02.
4 x 400: 1. Ohio State 3:04.65 (Frabotta, Brann, Udo, Louis); 2. Purdue 3:04.84; 3. Iowa 3:06.73; 4. Minnesota 3:07.45.
Field Events
HJ: 1. ***Jonathan Kapitolnik’ (Il-Isr) 7-3 (2.21); 2. *Mason Kooi (Nb) 7-1¾ (2.18).
PV: 1. **Dyson Wicker (Nb) 18-9¼ (5.72); 2. James Rhoads (Wa) 18-9¼; 3. *Kevin O’Sullivan (Rut) 18-5¼ (5.62); 4. *Brian O’Sullivan (Rut) 18-5¼.
LJ: 1. *Charles Godfred’ (Mn-Ngr) 26-2¾ (7.99); 2. ***Quincy Isaac (Mi) 25-10¾ (7.89); 3. Sincere Robinson (Rut) 25-10¼w (7.88) (25-6¾/7.79); 4. Alex Smith (In) 24-11¾ (7.61).
TJ: 1. Praise Aniamaka’ (Pur-Can) 54-10¾w (16.73); 2. Viktor Morozov’ (Il-Est) 53-11w (16.43); 3. **Chidozie Kalu’ (Pur-Ngr) 53-5¾w (16.30); 4. *Zavien Wolfe (Il) 53-3¾w (16.25).
SP: 1. ***Ben Smith (Or) 68-6 (20.88); 2. ***Hencu Lamberts’ (Nb-SA) 66-7 (20.29); 3. *Cade Moran (Nb) 64-6¾ (19.68); 4. **Kobe Lawrence’ (Or-Jam) 64-6 (19.66).
DT: 1. *Racquil Broderick’ (USC-Jam) 206-0 (62.80); 2. ***Mico Lampinen’ (USC-Fin) 196-2 (59.81); 3. Smith 192-4 (58.63); 4. **Kael Miedema (Nb) 191-2 (58.27); 5. *Brett Schwartz (Nb) 190-6 (58.07); 6. Moran 190-0 (57.93).
HT: 1. *Angelos Mantzouranis’ (Mn-Gre) 249-3 (75.98); 2. *Ryan Johnson (Ia) 242-7 (73.94); 3. Anthony Barmes’ (Mn-NZ) 232-6 (70.86); 4. ***Mico Lampinen’ (USC-Fin) 229-3 (69.89).
JT: 1. *Keyshawn Strachan’ (Nb-Bah) 260-4 (79.36); 2. ***Daniel Thrana’ (Or-Nor) 254-9 (77.64); 3. Pat Vialva (Or) 253-11 (77.40); 4. ***Nolan Carey (PennSt) 245-2 (74.72).
Dec: 1. ***Luuk Pelkmans’ (Il-Neth) 8004 (10.97, 24-5¾/7.46, 50-3¼/15.32, 6-8/2.03, 48.85, 14.53, 110-3/33.60, 15-1/4.60, 182-0/55.48, 4:21.58);
2. ***Tomeko Cates (Wa) 7632; 3. *Sal Capaldo (Ia) 7333; 4. ***Victor Türnström’ (OhSt-Swe) 7223.
