"My season is just getting started," Ihemeje said. Likewise, Ihemeje hopes to be back competing in Hayward Field later this summer, for the World Athletics Championships in July. But Williams can sooth his disappointment at Friday's result by turning his attention to the USATF Outdoor Championships later in June at Hayward Field. But it's been tough and that 10k was still in my legs - maybe even the 5k and 10k from two weeks ago (at regionals)."īienenfeld said all that racing has him unsure of what his competition schedule will be on the international stage later this summer. I think I had a decent close, picked off a couple of guys. "It has worked a lot of times for me, so that's kind of what I was banking on. "When it hits me during the race, in like two or three laps I can recover from that tiredness and I can sometimes come back," Bienenfeld said. So he went to the front early Friday and led for big stretches of the first 3,000 meters, then settled into the pack in hopes of working through some fatigue before the final laps. I cannot be upset about it."īienenfeld said he consulted with UO distance coach Ben Thomas and determined that he couldn't afford to be as patient as he was Wednesday in the 10k. Of course I would have loved to get closer to a top-eight again, but it was a really stacked field, really deep. "I never made the 5k at nationals, so that's something - at least not outdoors. "All things considered I'm happy," Bienenfeld said. He then dropped back to the middle of the pack and looked to make up ground late, finishing 13th in 13:34.36. Having hoped for a quicker pace in the 10k, he forced the issue Friday and led the field through about 3,000 meters.
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Like Ihemeje, he had come up frustratingly short of an individual NCAA Outdoor title.īienenfeld doubled back from his eighth-place showing Wednesday in the 10,000 and led portions of the 5k on Friday. Like Ihemeje, Williams was an all-American. But when it came time for Friday's final, he didn't get out to his typically explosive start and settled for seventh place in 10.19 seconds. Williams ran the fastest time in Wednesday's preliminary heats of the 100 meters. That was the story of Friday at Hayward Field for the Ducks - solid performances by the three Men of Oregon in action, but not quite what any had hoped to produce.
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A little bit frustrated because I couldn't express myself how I wanted to. Little by little my season is going to crescendo, and I can see the marks and results coming. "I feel good - and frustrated a little bit," Ihemeje said after finishing as runner-up in the triple jump, ending his string of three straight national titles in the event.
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But ultimately it was not to be for Ihemeje, nor for Micah Williams in the 100 meters or Aaron Bienenfeld in the 5,000. Ihemeje was one of three Ducks to compete on the final day of the men's portion of the meet, and he wasn't the only one of the three with national championship aspirations. When it came to Oregon's mood at the end of Friday's session of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, triple jumper Emmanuel Ihemeje perhaps summed it up best.