By Jason Casey
Oregon freshman Rieker Daniel won his first 200-meter college race Saturday at Hayward Field in Pepsi Team Invitational in a wind-aided personal best 21.02 seconds, beating BYU’s Derek Sorensen by .05 seconds.
Kemuel Santana from Washington ran 21.39 and Myles Webb from Oregon finished in a time of 21.46 to round out the top four.
“I didn’t know what to expect, honestly, in this weather,” said Daniel. “I was happy I PR’d — it felt good. I just wanted to execute my race. It was fun to run at home.”
This is the second 200 in a row that Daniel has run a personal record. At the Aztec Invitational in March, he ran 21.35 seconds and finished third.
“I just feel the coaching is a whole lot better,” he said. “I know more what to do. In high school coaches were good, but nothing compares to here. I feel like I gained a lot more knowledge about how to run well. My form is a lot better — I’m really working on my form for the 200. In high school, I was just kind of running.”
Daniel was the 2017 6A Oregon champion in the 200 and finished second in the 100 meters for Oregon City High School.
“I’m from Oregon, so that helps a little,” said Daniel. “A lot of my teammates are from California. Everyone else is competing in it, so no excuses. It helps that we are here and live here, so that might be a little bit of an advantage. Nothing can prepare you for it except for practicing in it.”
Daniel also finished third in the 100 meters. Not a bad day for a kid from Boring, Oregon.
