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After a rocky start to his outdoor campaign, Edward Cheserek won the men's 10,000 for the third straight year and cemented his place in NCAA lore. Back to his dominant form, Cheserek had no equal, strolling to the finish in 29:09.57. Cheserek missed a few meets and took a little time shaking the rust off, losing at the Pepsi Invite and withdrawing from a later meet. Cheserek picked up the pace at the right time however, winning the event at the Pac-12 Championships and NCAA West Prelims to go along with another NCAA title. The junior will look for another to keep the Ducks atop the leaderboard Friday in the 5,000.
Edward Cheserek's kick as he makes NCAA history, becoming the first D-I athlete to win 3 consecutive 10k titles. pic.twitter.com/SGN834CBEW
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) June 9, 2016
Other finals were in the field events, most notably where Greg Skipper used a personal best to take third with a mark of 234-2. Cody Danielson and Cole Walsh each helped to add a pair of points with seventh-place finishes. Danielson's 239-3 javelin toss are the kind of points the Ducks need to defend their title, as he spent much of the season hampered by a shoulder injury. Walsh gave the Ducks another couple in the pole vault with a near-personal-best leap of 17-4.
Crushed it. Devon Allen wins 2️⃣ in the 110 hurdles. #NCAATF #GoDucks https://t.co/pVwMDHhLXk
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) June 9, 2016
Oregon also had a handful of athletes move onto finals with their semifinal performances. To no one's surprise, Devon Allen ran a meet-fastest 13.38 in the 110 hurdles to advance. Allen couldn't manage another finals appearance in the 200 however, taking sixth in his heat (20.73). Allen and his 4x100 teammates also failed to qualify in the relay, finishing tenth. Marcus Chambers sealed his spot in the 400 in 45.28, owning the fourth-best time going into the finals.
The 1,500 sent another pair of Ducks to finals; Sam Prakel and Blake Haney. Prakel ran the third-best time (3:40.93) with Haney's 3:49.54 good enough to advance. Matthew Maton just missed joining them (3:51.89).
With half of the decathlon events in the books, teammates Mitch Modin (3,898) and Joe Delgado (3,795) sit in thirteenth and seventeenth respectively.
The Ducks secured the team lead after day one with 19 points, while Arkansas (16) and Purdue (11) trail. The women will compete today, with the men getting back to the track for finals on Friday.