Birnbaum Tests Wheels In 800 And Comes Away With 1:44.67, Freshman Bodey Lutes 1:45.62 In First Official Race Ducks Uniform; Benjamin Balasz Wins 1,500 In 3:36.23

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Tim Healy Photos

RESULTS/VIDEOS

EUGENE - Simeon Birnbaum's dominant 2026 season added another highlight on Friday at the Oregon Twilight when he raced his first outdoor collegiate 800 meters and shifted gears late to break the tape in a meet record 1:44.67. 

Birnbaum glided past teamamtes Bodey Lutes and James Harding in the final 90 meters in what became the race of the night at Hayward Field. 

Lutes, who wore the Oregon jersey for the first time as a true freshman, finished second in 1:45.62, which No. 6 on the U.S. U20 list. And Harding also ran a lifetime best with 1:45.66. 

Birnbaum, who already broke the collegiate 1,500 meters record, now sits No. 3 on this season's 800 list. Lutes, another Coos Bay folk hero in Eugene, moved to No. 13 and Harding 14th on the list. 

"My heart's in races," Birnbaum said. "It's hard to turn down a night race in front of your home crowd and get some good work in at the same time."

Birnbaum still expects he'll be race in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters next week at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Lincoln, Neb. 

Lutes, who ran unattached three weeks ago, has joined the team officially and won't redshirt after all. Lutes slashed a full second off his personal best and could give the Ducks yet another mid-distance scorer at Big Tens next week. 

Anticipation that the NCAA will implement a new "five for five" system where athlete have five years to compete in five seasons was a factor in pulling the redshirt tag off Lutes. 

"We're taking a gamble that that's happening, so that's why the redshirt came off," Lutes said. 

A year ago, Lutes was committed to NCAA Division 2 Western Oregon. Not until a second-place finish behind Cooper Lutkenhaus at Nike Outdoor Nationals 11 months ago did Lutes generate interest from the Ducks. 

The sight of three Ducks racing together under 1:46 was another boost for the men's team trying to sweep the Big Tens track and field championships. 

"I think we already had a huge amount of confidence and this meet just gave us more," Benjamin Balasz, the team's top steeplechaser, said after winning the McChesney 1,500 in a personal best 3:36.23. 

Silan Ayyilidiz followed former teammate Klaudia Kazimierska for nearly 1,200 meters and then took off and won a deep women's 1,500 meters in 4:06.97. Kazimierksa, who was pacing, will run at an upcoming Diamond League meet in Rome. 

Christina Aragon of the Nike Oregon Track Club finished second in 4:09.17, just ahead of Ducks Juliet Cherubet (4:10.12) and Wilma Nielsen (4:11.78). 

Olynpic shot-putter Jaida Ross of the Nike Oregon Track Club broke a meet record in the women's shot put with 19.07m (62-6.25). 

Gabija Galvydyte, also of the Nike Oregon Track Club, came up a bit short of Claudette Groenendaal's 1985 meet record with her winning time of 2:02.42.

Oregon freshman Marie Josee Bovele-Linaka hit a big improvement in the women's discus and her 58.10m (190-7) is second in the Big Ten.

Oregon throwers Benjamin Smith and Kobe Lawrence set their shots aside and finished 1-2 in the men's discus. 

Former Oregon thrower Shelby Moran won the women's hammer with 72.78m (238-9). 

Lily Jones, one of the Oregon seniors recognized during a ceremony for departing graduates, won the women's 100 meters in 11.52.

Emmanuel Wells Jr., a high school coach at Kennedy Catholic in Washington, won his first outdoor in nearly two years with 10.48.