By Jack Pfeifer and Dave Hunter

EUGENE, Ore. – Edward Cheserek, the brilliant young Kenyan who wowed crowds at the Armory for years while running for St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark, NJ), won the NCAA championship in the 10,000 meters for the University of Oregon here on his home track on Wednesday night.

Cheserek, a freshman who has never lost an NCAA championship race – once in cross country, twice indoors, now this – exploded away from three other contenders with 250 meters to go to win in 28:30.18, 2 seconds ahead of Shadrack Kipchirchir of Oklahoma State, followed by Mohammed Ahmed of Wisconsin and Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech. He ran 53 seconds for his final 400.

“I knew it [that I would win] when Kithuka told me, ‘Go,’ with three laps to go, I knew he was dying,” Cheserek said.  “I told myself, ‘OK, relax.  Just stay here, relaxed.  And with 400 meters to go I will make my move.’”

Jim Rosa, the Stanford junior who attended West Windsor Plainsboro North in North Jersey, was 6^th in 28:57.51.

Cheserek came to Oregon last fall after a spectacular high school career, including setting national high school records on the Armory track in the 3,000, 2-mile and 5,000.

Held under perfect conditions, with temperatures in the 70s, Day 1 of the championships concluded with the host Ducks in good position for a possible men’s team championship, while their female counterparts had problems with a botched pass in the 4x100 relay. Oregon’s Jenna Prandini, however, came through with the championship in the women’s long jump. 

In the women’s 800 semifinals, Alexis Panisse, the Cardozo High School graduate who is now a sophomore at Tennessee, outfought Oregon’s Annie Leblanc down the straightaway for the final qualifying spot in their section.

Faced with needing to finish in the top two, with Megan Melasarte of Georgia having already crossed the line, Panisse came up on Leblanc’s shoulder and they battled side by side to the tape, Panisse prevailing by .03, 2:05.26-2:05.29. The additional time qualifiers came from an earlier heat. The final will be held on Friday.

“I felt great the first lap and I really wanted it bad to make it to the final,” Panisse said, “because the indoor season didn’t go as well as I wanted it to.  I told myself I was not going to mess up this time and I’m going to go for it this time and not be afraid, build some confidence, and run with these girls who are excellent.  So it was a great opportunity to be here.” 

Panisse learned recently that her coach at Tennessee, J.J. Clark, will not be back next season. “It made a bad impact on me, to be honest,” she said.  “I had to keep it strong for my coach and to finish out the season for him.  I know it was bad, but I stuck through it the whole season.  I had to do it.” 

In the women’s steeplechase qualifying, Rachel Sorna of Cornell (Arlington, LaGrangeville NY) won her heat in the day’s fastest time, 9:53.76. Sorna, the Heps champion, finished 4^th a year ago.

“I definitely was not laying it out today,” Sorna said. “I wasn’t super happy with my hurdling on the water jumps.  They just felt a little off.  But if I can run 9:53 feeling like I am stuttering a little, I think that’s a good thing because it means that I have things to work on.” 

Sorna said she has a plan for the final.  “I just want to put myself in there,” she said.   “I am not afraid to lead.  The steeple is not usually a sit-and-kick race.  I hate all of that baloney.  I just want to make it my kind of race, to make it fast.”  

Here is how other NYC-area athletes fared on Day 1:

Men’s 800 – Dylan Capwell, Monmouth freshman, failed to advance, finishing 7^th in Heat I in 1:51.18; Haffy McFann of Columbia, non-qualifying 8^th in Heat II, 1:50.16

Women’s 800 – New Jersey natives Chelsea Cox (Georgetown) and Erika Veidis (Harvard) failed to advance out of Heat III. Veidis was 5^th in 2:06.03, Cox 8^th in 2:16.69.

Men’s 400 – Najee Glass, the Florida sophomore from Jersey City, advanced on time to the final, running 45.56 for 3^rd place in Heat II. Pitt senior Bryan Spratling, from Webster, N.Y., won Heat II in 45.41 to move on the final. “That was the definitely the easiest mid-45 second 400 I’ve ever run,” Spratling said.  “I can go a lot faster. I wanted to make sure that I saved a little bit for the finals.  I am definitely going to bring it in the finals.  It should be a great race.”

Women’s 400 – Oregon senior Phyllis Francis (McAuley, Brooklyn) was caught at the line by Texas freshman Kendall Baisden for the 2^nd auto qualifying berth in Heat III. Francis advances on time, running 51.79, but will be relegated to a lesser lane because she is a time qualifier. “It took me by  surprise,” Francis said.  “I thought, ‘Oh my!’  For sure, I’ll probably be screaming across the line in the final.” That heat was won Courtney Okolo of Texas in 50.78, the fastest time of the day. In Heat II, Ashley Spencer of Texas, the defending champion, collapsed at 300 meters and did not finish.

Women’s long jump – Jen Clayton, the senior at Central Florida from Suffern, N.Y., concluded her college career by jumping 20-2 ¼ in the preliminary round, failing to advance to the final. New Yorker Whitney Fountain, a junior at Clemson, also fell short of the final, leaping 20-3.

Women’s hammer – Penn State senior Melissa Kurzdorfer, from Lancaster, N.Y., finished 9^th, throwing 205-7. “It [making the final] meant a great deal,” Kurzdorfer said.  “In the past couple of years, I have dealt with a lot – a lot of coaching changes and a lot of adversity in general.  Finishing in 9^th place – just off the podium – was a tough pill to swallow.  But I’m happy.” 

Men’s 400 hurdles – Mica-Jonathan Petit-Homme of LIU/Brooklyn finished 5^th in Heat I, running 50.93, failing to advance.

Women’s steeplechase – Megan Patrignelli, the senior from Monroe-Woodbury (N.Y.), ran her final race in an Oregon uniform, finishing in a non-qualifying 8^th in Heat I of the women’s steeplechase, running 10:12.29.