As the Oregon Twilight meet wound down to its last few events, the cheers and signature rhythmic claps amped up. Hayward Field, with 5,717 in stands, was ready to see sophomore sensation Edward Cheserek gut it out with former Oregon star and current Nike runner Trevor Dunbar in the men’s 3,000 meters.
They didn’t disappoint.
Cheserek and Dunbar finished 1-2, with Cheserek starting his kick on the final backstretch and cruising to victory in 7 minutes, 57.97 seconds, purposely far off his PR of 7:47:20.
Dunbar finished in 7:58.73.
“We’re always competing against each other,” Dunbar said. “He’s always had the upper hand. He’s a great runner, great competitor and a great friend, so it’s always fun competing against him. It brings the best out of me, for sure.”
Another former Duck, Parker Stinson, running for Saucony, paced the first four laps. Chris Kwiatkowski paced the next lap, then backed off to finish third in 8:17:27.
That left Cheserek and Dunbar, who were within arms reach of each other and running easily.
Then Cheserek showed why he’s a six-time NCAA champion. He didn’t just outkick Dunbar, who entered the race late and was merely looking for a good showing in front of the home crowd. He made it look easy. The gap was immediately noticeable.
Dunbar, who entered the race following a disappointing outing at the Payton Jordan Invitational, was happy that he was able to bounce back in a respectable manner.
“I just really wanted to get back out there and redeem myself,” he said. “That didn’t take too much out of me physically because I ran so slow, but mentally it was hard. I’m happy that I bounced back somewhat respectably.”
Like many others, Cheserek entered the Twilight meet with one goal in mind: to warm up for the two biggest collegiate outdoor events of the year. Now, he’s preparing to cap off yet another season by headlining Oregon’s strong long distance group. He’ll begin with the Pac-12 Championships next week and follow up with the NCAAs at Hayward in June.
“Small races like this are like: have fun and race at Hayward Field,” Cheserek said. “My goal was just to go there, have fun, don’t even worry about the time, don’t run fast, just run slow and get ready for next week.”
