2016 NCAA D1 Indoor Championships

Ducks Sweep NCAA Crowns, Ches Finishes Triple

Ducks Sweep NCAA Crowns, Ches Finishes Triple

The Oregon men had already clinched their third straight NCAA indoor title before the start of the men’s 3k, but it didn’t matter. Nothing was stopping Edwa

Mar 13, 2016 by Lincoln Shryack
Ducks Sweep NCAA Crowns, Ches Finishes Triple
The Oregon men had already clinched their third straight NCAA indoor title before the start of the men’s 3k, but it didn’t matter. 

Nothing was stopping Edward Cheserek from pulling off the triple this weekend in Birmingham. 



A day after destroying our understanding of distance running with a 3:52 DMR anchor just 30 minutes post-5k victory, the Oregon junior calmly glided away from a deep 3k field with 600m to go and won title #3 in 8:00.40.

Cheserek covered his last 800m in 1:57, and just like that he joined fellow Oregon Duck Galen Rupp as the only athlete in NCAA history to take 5k-DMR-3k titles in one championship.



On the backs of Cheserek, the Oregon men dominated the team battle with 62 points, as Arkansas was a distant 2nd with 39. 2016 marks the third straight year that the men of Oregon have been victorious at these championships.

Devon Allen added 10 points to the heap with his 60m hurdle title.



Blake Haney and Sam Prakel finished second and fourth, respectively, in the mile to set the tone early on.




On the women’s side, the ladies of Oregon made it a Ducks sweep with a narrow victory over the Lady Razorbacks of Arkansas. 

Coming into the final event Arkansas was down five points, but their slim defeat of Oregon in the 4x400— 2nd and 3rd, respectively— was not enough and the Ducks got back on top after winning five straight from 2010-2014. 

The Oregon women got big points from 800m champion and 4x4 anchor Raevyn Rodgers, as well as from 60m runner-up and 200m third place finisher Hannah Cuncliffe, to help their cause.



We spoke with Oregon coach Robert Johnson afterwards:

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In other action on a busy Day 2 at NCAAs...​


2015 breakout star Clayton Murphy of Akron slipped past Eliud Rutto just ahead of the line to claim his first NCAA title:




Oklahoma State's Kaela Edwards ran in lane 2 for much of the women's mile, but it didn't matter as she kicked past Nova's Angel Piccirillo with a steamy 29.86 last lap:




Molly Seidel added to her growing NCAA trophy collection with a 8:57 "W" in the 3k, polishing off 5k-3k double:




Courtney Okolo of Texas dominates once more in the women's 400 to win NCAA crown #3. Her World-leading 50.69 is #3 in NCAA history: