Samuel Pawluk and Ben Thistlewood opened up their track seasons at the Oregon Relays on a warm, sunny day in Eugene, OR, today.

Pawluk, who hadn't raced on the track since July 2010, was in the McChesney Jr 5,000 m. He ran 14:41.72, placing eighth in the field. The University of Oregon's Parker Stinson was paced through 4,000 m by fellow Duck Luke Puskedra, before running the final km to win the race in 14:02.93. See results below. Note: there is a mistake in the results - Kerry Kazuta appears in the results, but didn't race. Video of the race, courtesy of Runnerspace, is here.

Thistlewood ran in Section 1 of the men's 1,500 m, clocking 3:54.42. The pace early on was hot, thanks to a pacer from UO, but the main pack chose not to go with him, and stayed bunched together until about 500 m to go, when it spread out. Chris Brewer, running unattached, won the race in 3:50.75. See results below. A video of the race is available here, courtesy of Runnerspace.

Next weekend will see Pawluk back on the roads running the Times Colonist 10K in Victoria, BC. Thistlewood hopes to be running a 5,000 m at the Payton Jordan Invitational.

University of Oregon 
            OREGON RELAYS - 4/20/2012 to 4/21/2012             
                         Hayward Field                         
 
Event 19  Men 5000 Meter Run McChesney Jr
===============================================================
 Waterfall start.                                              
 Athlete with hip #1 placed on inside.                         
 If more than 16 athletes, run 2 alleys with one-turn stagger  
 Meet Record: * 13:25.81                                       
    Name                    Year School                  Finals
===============================================================
Finals                                                         
  1 Parker Stinson            SO Oregon                14:02.93
  2 Kyle Van Santen           SR St. Martin's          14:28.95
  3 Mitchell Hunt             SO Oregon                14:29.13
  4 Jordan Welling               Bowerman AC           14:30.48
  5 Greg Montgomery           JR College of Idaho      14:31.53
  6 Eric Avila                FR Southern Oregon       14:37.79
  7 Erik Barkhaus             JR Seattle U.            14:40.88
  8 Samuel Pawluk                Point Grey TFC        14:41.72
  9 John Carley                  Unattached            14:42.53
 10 Kerry Kazuta              SR Point Grey TFC        14:43.08
 11 Jeff Howard               JR Unattached            14:43.37
 12 David Elliott             FR Unattached            14:43.38
 13 Brian Shrader             SO Oregon                14:47.02
 14 Barak Watson              JR Northwest Nazarene    14:47.38
 15 Brian Bragg               SR Eastern Oregon        14:57.87
 16 Ben DeJarnette            SO Oregon                15:02.50
 17 Jorge Gil-Juarez          FR Clackamas CC          15:07.84
 18 Elliott Farris            SR Unattached            15:41.63
 -- Luke Puskedra             SR Unattached                 DNF
 -- Jeramy Elkaim             FR Unattached                 DNS
 -- Kevin Castille               John's Run/W               DNS
 -- Robert Walgren            SO Gonzaga                    DNS


Event 14  Men 1500 Meter Run
================================================================         
 Waterfall start.                                                        
 Athlete with hip #1 placed on inside.                                   
 Meet Record: * 3:37.83  2010        Andrew Wheating, Oregon             
    Name                    Year School                  Finals          
================================================================         
Section  1                                                               
  1 Chris Brewer              FR Unattached             3:50.75          
  2 Chris Kwiatkowski         SR Oregon                 3:51.17          
  3 Cole Watson               SO Oregon                 3:51.87          
  4 Elias Gedyon              FR Lane CC                3:52.10          
  5 Scott Nicol                  U of Calgary           3:52.73          
  6 Ryan Pickering            FR Unattached             3:52.86          
  7 Trey Parry                JR Unattached             3:53.74          
  8 Matthew Melancon          FR Unattached             3:54.12          
  9 Ben Thistlewood              Point Grey TFC         3:54.42          
 10 John Lawrence             SR Portland State         3:56.32          
 11 Matt Jablonski            FR Unattached             3:57.12          
 12 Ryan Booth                SR Unattached             3:57.74          
 13 Cody Wells                JR Portland               3:58.53          
 14 Freddy Ovett              FR Unattached             3:59.79          
 15 Kelton Sears              JR Seattle U.             4:00.63          
 -- Hank Morrison             JR Oregon                     DNF          
 -- Doug Benson               SR Unattached                 DNS          
 -- William Kincaid           FR Portland                   DNS