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QuickTake:
The trip wasn't going well, and events nearly kept the UO men’s distance medley relay team from the NCAA Indoor Championships — but they persevered and managed to set a school record along the way.
Sometimes things go smoothly for college athletes. And sometimes they don’t.
In the latter category: The Oregon Ducks men’s track and field distance medley relay set a school record of 9:14.88 Feb. 22 at a meet at Boston University.
It took two tries.
Head track coach Jerry Schumacher told reporters the story last Thursday, March 5.
The Ducks quartet of Simeon Birnbaum, Fuad Omer, Elliott Cook and Tomas Palfrey set out Feb. 18 for Arkansas. They were heading to the Arkansas Qualifier, a meet two days later in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The meet was a late-season opportunity for college athletes to run fast times in order to earn spots at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Eugene to Fayetteville is not exactly a well-traveled route. Throw in some winter weather, and the Ducks had an epic travel day that ended far from their destination.
The squad’s first step was a drive to Portland, where they boarded a flight for Salt Lake City. Snow prevented the plane from landing in Salt Lake City, and it went instead to Pocatello, Idaho. Passengers waited for a few hours on the plane before the flight took off again and made it to Salt Lake City. By then, the Ducks runners had missed their connecting flight to Arkansas.
Instead they took a flight to Atlanta, arriving at 3:30 a.m. the next morning. After a few hours of sleep, they boarded a flight to Fayetteville and arrived later that day. They recovered as best they could, and prepared for the meet the next day.
The fun was just beginning.
The distance medley relay, called DMR for short, is an event in indoor track: the leadoff leg runs 1,200 meters, the second leg runs 400 meters, the third leg runs 800 meters and the anchor leg runs 1,600 meters (just shy of a mile).
In Arkansas, Palfrey ran the leadoff leg, and then stayed on the infield of the track, cheering on his teammates.
As Cook was running, Palfrey “got a little excited” rooting during the race, Schumacher said. Palfrey tripped on a bit of carpeting on the infield and fell into the track, right in front of Cook, who was forced out into lane three to avoid stepping on his teammate.
Schumacher said Palfrey’s stumble didn’t interfere with the race too much — but the foursome was disqualified.
Time for Plan B.
They left the meet and went to Boston for a night meet on Sunday, Feb. 22, where they could run the DMR again.
That time, Schumacher juggled the order. Birnbaum led off with the 1,200, and Palfrey, a senior who hails from Watson, Australia, was the anchor. Palfrey ran an excellent leg, splitting 3:52 for the almost-mile distance. He stayed on his feet and crossed the line in first, just ahead of the squad from Virginia Tech.
In Schumacher’s telling, Birnbaum had a ready answer for anyone who asked about why the order was shifted. “Coach doesn’t trust (Palfrey) to be in the infield that long anymore,” he said.
In addition to setting the school record, the four Ducks are second of the 12 teams that qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships coming up March 14 and 15 — back in Fayetteville. There, the Ducks men have 15 entries, and the women have eight.
The Ducks didn’t quite have the complete happy ending they wanted, though. That night, 17 inches of snow fell on Boston. Their flights leaving to get back to Eugene were delayed. Again.