EUGENE, Ore. — Day one of the NCAA Outdoor Championships concluded with several standout performances in the men’s team race Wednesday afternoon at Hayward Field. Notably, Edward Cheserek won his 14th NCAA title, Donavan Brazier clocked the second-fastest American junior 800m performance all-time and Jarrion Lawson walked away with his second long jump title of 2016. Catch up on the action with a full breakdown of top highlights from the men’s competition. 

Edward Cheserek Wins 14th NCAA Title 

The Oregon Duck aptly known as "King Cheserek" lived up to his name when he ran away with a 14th NCAA title by splitting a 57.4 last 400m to blaze past NAU’s Futsum Zienasellassie in the 10K final. 

Fist pump for King Ches. @KingCheserek is your 2016 #NCAATF 10K Champion. pic.twitter.com/054IxsKBRi

— TrackTown USA (@GoTrackTownUSA) June 9, 2016

A tactical race from the gun, the men’s 10K became a battle between a power six of Cheserek, Zienasellassie, Gabe Gonzalez, Pierce Murphy, Reid Buchanan and Jacob Thompson. At 400m remaining, Cheserek made his move past the group and started his signature kick to beat the rest of the field in a winning time of 29:09, one second faster than Zienasellassie. Cheserek’s health has been in question nearly all of outdoor season after the Oregon Duck lost twice on his home track. But any question of fitness was quickly put to rest when Cheserek unleashed his kick for the victory in front of a screaming Hayward crowd.



FULL NCAA DAY 1 RESULTS

No. 1 Texas A&M Out of Team Title Chase

The No. 1-ranked Aggies are no longer in position to claim the NCAA team title as a number of the team’s stars came up short in their performances. 

The Texas A&M 4x100m relay started the day off with a botched relay exchange, which disqualified them from the preliminary. Jacob Wooten finished a dismal 12th in the pole vault and Chase Wolfe and Carl Johansson both walked away with a no-height. Fred Kerley, the Aggies’ 400m star who was ranked No. 1 heading into the race, finished 13th overall and did not advance to the final. Hector Hernandez also failed to advance to the final after finishing a disappointing fifth in heat two of the 800m. 

By the end of the night, the Aggies landed at a projected fifth-place team finish, behind Oregon, LSU, Florida, and Arkansas. 

After Day 1 Men's #NCAATF Team Projections: pic.twitter.com/GGBw8B6MFx

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) June 9, 2016

Donavan Brazier Becomes Second Fastest American Junior All-Time

The 800m preliminaries made way for one wicked fast final as Donavan Brazier notched a personal best and the second-fastest American junior mark all-time, behind Jim Ryun’s junior record of 1:44.9. The freshman from Texas A&M ran assertively to a 1:45.07 finishing time to claim heat two. The performance gave him the fastest time headed into the final, ahead of two-time NCAA Champion Brandon McBride who made 1:45 look easy to win heat one. 



BYU’s Shaquille Walker easily won his heat to advance and answered some questions regarding reports of him turning pro following the NCAA Outdoor Championship. 

Long Jump Champ Jarrion Lawson Could Be the MVP of the Meet

The Arkansas Razorbacks have a true team MVP in Jarrion Lawson who claimed the long jump title and advanced in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. Lawson has now swept the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in the long jump and could potentially finish extremely high in the 100m, 200m and relay. Lawson finished with a seventh-place in the 100m, a runner-up finish in the 200m, and a victory in the 4x100m at the conclusion of day one. 

In two days, Lawson could potentially finish as high as first in at least two of his remaining events, which could propel Arkansas to finish as high as fourth in the team race.

Senoj-Jay Givans Breaks Through With 9.96, NCAA Indoor Champ Ronnie Baker Fails to Advance

The junior from Texas had a massive breakthrough day when he claimed heat three of the 100m with a personal best wind legal time of 9.96. The performance ranks No. 8 all-time in collegiate history. Givans crossed the line and grabbed his throat in a choke gesture as he beat NCAA Indoor Champion and Big 12 rival Ronnie Baker who finished fifth and failed to advance out of the preliminary. After the race, Givans said that the gesture was indicative of "just the state of mind I'm in right now."

Could the Decathlon Collegiate Record Be In Danger?

Trey Hardee's 8,465 point decathlon record has lasted a decade, but it might only have a day left. After day one of the men's decathlon, Wisconsin's Zach Ziemek has 4,338 points and Texas A&M's Lindon Victor has 4,308. If Ziemek matches his PRs, that would give him 8,431--meaning he just has to have a few small improvements to break Hardee's record. Even though Victor is in second, though, just matching his PRs would give him the CR. The Grenadian's PRs plus his day one performances add up to 8,479 points--fourteen points ahead of Hardee's record.

FULL RESULTS