The crowd at Hayward Field cheered as Parker Stinson made his way around the Bowerman Curve, holding a slight lead in the men’s 5,000 meters on Friday night at the Oregon Relays. Stinson has been in this position a number of times before, yet this time was different.
There was no Oregon “O” across his chest as he sprinted through the finish line.
After four seasons with the Ducks, Stinson is attempting to make it as a professional distance runner, but running in front of his beloved home crowd brings an energy that had him doing laps around the track long after the spectators made their way home.
“There’s no feeling quite like running at Hayward — it will always be home to me,” said Stinson. “The crowd was loud today. There were a lot of Oregon guys with me, but I think they were still cheering for me a bit.”
Stinson edged out former teammate Jake Leingang by just under a second in the 5,000, posting a time of 13 minutes, 50 seconds. Fellow Ducks Matthew Melancon and Jeram Elkaim were just three seconds behind Stinson.
“AJ Costa and a few of my teammates really got it going and set a faster pace, which was nice,” said Stinson. “I didn’t feel pressured to kind of hammer it home and start picking it up near the end. I’m just happy that all of my old teammates were able to break 14:00.”
Stinson’s trip to the Oregon Relays may differ from years past, but the feeling of running in front of your home crowd will never change, a feeling that Stinson will be soaking in as the weekend continues.
–by Zac Neel
