What To Watch For: 2022 Oregon Twilight Bonus Preview

Written by Gavin Struve (men) & Maura Beattie (women)

Bonus content! While the SoundRunning "Track Meet" is set to go down on Friday, the University of Oregon is opening up Hayward Field for a big-time meet of their own. With a handful of promising distance programs like Oregon, Texas, BYU, Portland and many more flocking to Eugene, the Oregon Twilight meet could produce some fireworks of its own.

While we weren't able to touch on every distance event at this meet, we did highlight four of our must-watch races for tomorrow....

UPDATE: Thornton-Bott will be training through this week in preparation for the PAC-12 Championships. As a result, she will not be racing at Oregon Twilight.

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Cougars Aim to Take Down Ducks in 800 Meters

The women's 800 meters might just be the best women’s race of the weekend at the Oregon Twilight meet. The BYU women are loading up in this race as they have five women entered in the fastest section compared to three Oregon runners.

Based on the entries, this race will most likely come down to a duel between BYU’s Claire Seymour and Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott.

Seymour is a legitimate title contender in the 800 meters at the NCAA Championships this year, especially with defending indoor champion Lindsey Butler now sidelined with an injury. She has the fastest PR of the field with her 2:01.

Seymour may only have one open 800 meter race under her belt this spring, but in that race at Arizona State, the junior picked up a key win with a time of 2:03. She was able to defeat teammate Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes, who eventually ran 2:01, in the process.

And following that performance, Seymour ran a two-second PR in the 400 meters, running 53.69 seconds at Bryan Clay.

With this extra leg speed she has developed and her building confidence, there’s no concern with Seymour’s abilities in any type of race. She was incredible during the postseason this past winter and when it comes to every facet of racing, she should bee favored to take home the victory.

Then we move to Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott who hasn’t lost a race to a collegiate athlete this outdoor season in her three contested efforts. The rising Duck standout seems to have already been graced with Hayward Magic.

Thornton-Bott has a 2:03 personal best for 800 meters (prior to her time with the Ducks) and has nearly improved upon that mark this season, running 2:04 in her first outdoor race as a Duck.

However, even with this 2:04 this season, Thornton-Bott has been more impressive in the 1500 meters. The Oregon runner earned a PR of 4:13 to finish runner-up at the Oregon Relays two weeks ago. She showed plenty of strength, tactical brilliance and, most importantly, the ability to continue her improvements into the second-half of the season.

Comparing Seymour and Thornton-Bott is not too difficult. They both have nearly identical 800 meter marks for this current outdoor season thus far and have both been solid each time they race. Seymour has the more natural raw speed, but Thornton-Bott has the endurance.

We would still give Seyour the edge here and she is the all-around clear favorite, but Thornton-Bott is a very realistic threat to earn the upset.

Behind the two women mentioned above, you’ve got a definite race for 3rd place. Carly Kleefeld of Oregon and Meghan Hunter of BYU are the two names to keep an eye on.

Kleefeld ran a respectable 2:05 personal best in her outdoor season opener at the Hayward Premiere. However, since then, she’s been inching closer to the 2:10 mark, running 2:07 and 2:09.

It will be important for Kleefeld to channel her 2:05 speed yet again if she wants to ensure a strong performance heading into the postseason. This would be the perfect opportunity to reset her momentum.

Hunter, meanwhile, has a 2:04 PR on her resume in the 800 meters and nearly matched that mark early in the season when she ran 2:05. However, as of late, she has only managed a 2:08 mark.

The Cougar youngster is coming off of a solid weekend at Penn Relays after competing in both the 4x800 and 4x1500 relays. Hunter, like Kleefeld, will need to run to her full potential if she wants to give herself some momentum heading into the postseason. Once there, she could be a sneaky sleeper pick if she's at her best.

BYU is also sending Kate Hunter and Carmen Alder into this race. Kate might only have a 2:10 seasonal best, but she has the potential to improve that time given her 4:15 mark for 1500 meters from the Stanford Invitational. The elder Hunter has run 2:06 before in the 800 meters and if she hangs onto the leaders, a quick time could be produced on Friday.

As for Alder, the true freshman might be a stronger 1500 meters runner -- just look at her 4:16 PR. Still, it doesn’t hurt to add speed to her toolbox. Alder just ran at Penn Relays in the 1500 meters and was less than one second away from winning her first collegiate race.

That definitely has to give the young Cougar confidence heading into this weekend and a yearning for improved turnover.

Women's 1500: The Race Upfront & The Fight For 3rd Place

The women’s 1500 meters will be a showdown between Oregon’s Aneta Konieczek and Portland’s Laura Pellicoro.

Konieczek and Pellicoro are well-established middle distance runners as they have run each 4:16 in the 1500 meters and 4:34 in the mile. The only difference on their middle distance resumes is that Pellicoro has a 2:05 personal best for 800 meters compared to Konieczek’s 2:06 result.

Two runners, two nearly identical performances. Who is the go-to pick this weekend?

Konieczek is a stronger runner when the race gets longer compared to Pellicoro. The Oregon Duck is one of the nation’s best steeplechasers with her 9:25 PR from last summer. She just won her steeplechase season opener in a sprint and lean finish. Konieczek hasn’t contested the 1500 this outdoor season, but does have momentum on her side going after her recent win.

Pellicoro, meanwhile, flies under the radar on the west coast. The sophomore really jumped onto the scene when she ran 4:34 in the mile this past winter before qualifying for the indoor national meet in said event.

Pellicoro opened up her outdoor season by matching her 800 meter personal best in a runner-up finish at the Hayward Premiere. She then dropped a four-second PR in the 1500 meters en route to a respectable finish at Bryan Clay.

The underappreciated Pilot miler might not have the same endurance or winning experience that Konieczek does, but she does have raw speed. She is becoming a name who consistently finds her way into the top of results when people aren’t expecting her.

Oregon’s go-to distance runner, Alessia Zarbo, is dropping down in distance this weekend. The Duck sophomore is coming off of a 15:58 (5k) win on her home track at the Oregon Relays. This mark should give Zarbo a regional qualifying time, so now it’s time for her to focus on fine-tuning her racing tactics.

Zarbo has a 4:20 PR to her name, and nearly matched that when she ran 4:21 earlier this outdoor season. Her time might not catapult her to the win over Konieczek or Pellicoro, but it surely gives her a one-up on the rest of the field.

Oregon’s Emilie Girard, a true freshman, has a lot of momentum heading into this race after securing her first collegiate win in the 1500 meters last weekend. The new Duck ran a 4:19 PR to take down All-American talent Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State. If Girard runs like this again, she could see another PR next to her name and potentially someone to monitor in the regional rounds.

An athlete who could shake things up is D2’s Ava O’Connor of Adams State, the indoor national meet mile bronze medalist.

O’Connor has nothing to lose in this race as her 4:21 personal best puts her right alongside Zarbo and Girard. Her 1500 meter time this season ranks her at NCAA #3 on the D2 national leaderboard, proving that she is on the right path heading into the postseason.

Men's 1500: Distance Superstars Clash With Mile Specialists

Despite none of the men in this field being likely national title contenders in this event, this 1500 meter race should tell us a lot about the postseason viability of these athletes, specifically whether they are coming up or down in distance or competing in their ideal event.

With the exception of maybe one other, no one in this field fits the billing of someone who is more firmly established in the longer events than Oregon’s Aaron Bienenfeld.

For a man who has run 7:46 for 3000 meters and 13:21 for 5000 meters, one would think that he could at least translate his aerobic fitness to a rough 3:41 mark in an optimal 1500 meter race.

A fast pace should play well into his strength-based talents, and a strong showing would provide reassurance that he has the speed to be a factor in the final laps of the 5k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

This is the only event that he is contesting at this meet, so he should be able to dramatically improve upon his 3:48 seasonal best.

Another man who has built his reputation in the longer distances, but who has surprisingly flashed great middle distance speed, is Casey Clinger of BYU.

Although he has run 13:23 for 5000 meters, all three of Clinger’s All-American finishes have come on the grass. His 3:38 credentials for 1500 meters imply that he could contend for the win in this field.

And frankly, Clinger is probably one of the last people that anyone should want to face right now. He is ripping off incredibly quick 5k and 10k times so far this season and it looks like he's firing on all cylinders.

He will, however, have to take down a slew of middle distance stars to do so, foremost among them Texas teammates Yusuf Bizimana and Crayton Carrozza.

Neither boasts a stellar 1500 meter mark, but both have run 3:57 for the mile during indoors (Carrozza ran a converted 3:55) and both men went 1-2 in the 800 meters and the mile at the BIG 12 Indoor Championships in March.

Unfortunately, Carrozza is in the fastest heat and Bizimana is not, so we will not see another 1-2 finish in this field.

It's admittedly hard to dislike Carrozza or not call him the favorite off the top of your head. Casey Clinger has, however, been on fire this year and could very easily replicate his 1500 meter success from last spring. However, Carrozza is the mile specialist in this race and we saw at the Penn Relays how dangerous he can be.

While he’s been quiet early-on during this outdoor season, the man with the fastest PR at this distance, and likely the favorite on paper, is Oregon’s Jack Yearian.

He came out of nowhere to run 3:37 at the US Olympic Trials last summer and then validated that mark with a 3:54 mile time this past winter, yielding an appearance in the mile finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships where he finished a few spots behind Carrozza.

Yearian is still new to NCAA stardom, but he has arguably the highest upside of anyone in this field right now given the times that he has dropped over the last 12 months. As such, it may behoove him to be aggressive in this race by chasing his former teammate-turned-Nike pro, Cooper Teare.

There are also two dark horse contenders entering this race in the Portland duo of Cathal Doyle and Matt Strangio who ran 3:38 and 3:39, respectively, in a loaded Bryan Clay Invitational field a few weeks ago.

This tandem may have already run incredibly fast 1500 meter times in this event this season which is more than any of the aforementioned names above can say. Not only that, but Strangio won his section of the 1500 meters at Bryan Clay, meaning that he may still have more to offer come Friday.

There are a few other Ducks joining Bienenfeld and Yearian on their home track.

EJ Holland has run 3:42 this season, although he broke 4:00 in the mile during the 2020-21 indoor track season. James Gormley and Elliott Cook have each run 3:41 this season. Tomas Palfrey is another Duck youngster who holds a 3:40 PR that he is still working towards matching.

In the second heat, look for Carrozza, Clinger, Doyle and Yearian to contend for the win. Bizimana should be the heavy favorite in the first heat. Interestingly enough, the field does not seem to be split perfectly into a faster and slower heat.

Abdalla Primed For Top 5k Mark If Pushed

The men’s 5000 meters hardly boasts the depth of the 1500 meters, but it may prove to be just as likely to provide a jaw-dropping time.

That, however, depends on how highly you hold Texas’ Yaseen Abdalla.

From his 13:33 PR that came via a BIG 12 indoor title over Wesley Kiptoo, to anchoring the Longhorns to a DMR national title while holding off Yared Nuguse with a 3:55 split, Abdalla arguably has the most untapped potential of any young talent in the NCAA.

Just as we saw with his indoor season until a month before the national meet, Abdalla’s outdoor campaign has begun relatively quietly. He did, however, win his 5000 meter race at the Penn Relays with a 13:47. Still, his most impressive mark is actually from a 10,000 meter race in which he finished 9th with a solid time of 28:33.

Given all that has happened in the NCAA landscape in recent months, it would hardly qualify as a surprise if Abdalla goes under 13:30 and drops a top-20 time. He seems due for it, especially since he is coming out to Oregon to race on a quick track that hosts the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

However, this field may not be the most conducive to doing so. That’s not to say that Abdalla can't run a solo fast effort, but there’s not anybody in this solid field that matches his top-level talent.

Portland’s Jacob Klemz perhaps comes closest.

The Pilot veteran ran 28:39 in that same 10,000 meter race at the Mt. SAC Relays, finishing a few spots behind Abdalla. He’s run a respectable 13:47 for 5000 meters, but his surprising 7:51 PR at the 3000 meter distance (the same as Abdalla’s), implies that he is capable of a better time in the longer events where he thrives.

Klemz could realistically push Abdalla for most of this race and finish somewhere in the 13:30s...and I don't think anyone would be surprised if that was the case.