As darkness fell and the temperature dropped, the lights were bright at Hayward Field for the first time this year as the Oregon Previews kicked off the 2023 outdoor season on Friday night. Day one featured the women’s and men’s 10,000 meters.
The 25 laps for the women were paced by junior Izzy Thorton-Bott, who finished ninth in the mile at the NCAA indoor championships earlier in March. Eight women toed the start line, including regional cross-country qualifiers Harper McClain, Malia Pivec and Maddy Elmore.
After taking the lead at the end of the third lap, Emilie Girard led the pack in the first mile with a time of 5 minutes and 22.93 seconds. Pivec began falling behind the lead pack 12 laps in, with Thorton-Bott urging her to keep up. Thornton-bott pumped her arm in the air every time she passed the finish line, causing the Hayward crowd to clap, yelp and cheer on the athletes.
Unattached former Portland State athlete Katie Camarena led the race at the halfway mark, pacing for McClain. She covered the opening 5200m in 17:33.23. Less than one second separated the lead pack with seven laps to go.
With three laps left McClain and Camarena pushed away from the pack, separating themselves as the clear frontrunners. The two women were shoulder to shoulder and stride for stride with a half mile left. McClain had the inside for the final lap and began her kick with 100 meters left finishing first with a time of 33:44.62.
“Coach was saying during warm ups how these are perfect conditions,” McClain said after the race. “It’s a great night to do some good things and we’ve been working a lot of really good endurance and speed.”
McClain loves the steeplechase and this was her first collegiate 10,000 meter race, she said.
“We’ll see where things are after the first steeple. I won’t be saying no to the 10,000,” McClain said. “That was a really fun, great experience and we’ve been stacking up the miles.”
McClain, Elmore, Anika Thompson and Melissa Berry all finished faster than last year’s regional standard of 34:28.08.
The men’s 10,000 meters had 20 runners from five different schools. Former Duck and eighth place finisher in last season’s national tournament, Aaron Bienenfeld, returned to Hayward as a pacer.
Oregon’s Abdinasir Hussein was leading by less than a stride length with a lap to go, until Boise State’s Mohammed Jouhari pulled ahead with a burst of speed. The Bronco created a gap and continued to build it in the final 200 meters, finishing first in 28:51.71.
“I wasn’t considering racing because of my knee injury,” Jouhare said. “At the last second I decided to give it a chance, compete with those guys and try to do the school record. I was about six seconds behind it.”
Hussein didn’t see the final push from Jouhari coming.
“I was hoping to put him away,” Hussein said. “That’s my guy. I love him, but didn’t see him coming on the last lap. I have a lot of friends in Boise. We’ve been through a lot.”
Hussein was the only Duck on the men’s side to run under last season’s regional qualifying time of 29:02.56. The junior finished third with a time of 28:57.07.
“It felt great,” Hussein said. “It would have been great to dip below 28:56, but it felt good. I booked my ticket to regionals, I’m guessing. The weather was perfect. The conditions were great. The crowd was amazing. I had a lot of friends cheering for me.”
Booking tickets to regionals in the 5000 and 10,000 are the goals for the season, Hussein said. Staying healthy and strong throughout the season is something he’s admittedly struggled at in the past. He’s looking to change that as the 2023 outdoor season unfolds.
The Oregon Previews will continue Saturday, March 17 at Hayward Field with the field events starting at 11 a.m.