Oregon has heavyweights in loaded NCAA 1,500

• The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet at Hayward Field will feature a competitive women’s 1,500-meter race.
• Oregon has three entrants in the 1,500 meters: Silan Ayyildiz, Klaudia Kazimierska and Mia Barnett.

The loaded women’s 1,500-meter field for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship meet will include a two-time collegiate record-holder, an Olympic finalist and a fast-rising senior whose personal records have been dramatically dropping.

And those are just the Ducks.

The gates will open Wednesday at Hayward Field for the June 11-14 meet, which is formatted to have the men compete on Wednesday and Friday, and the women on Thursday and Saturday.

There are 24 women entered in Thursday’s 1,500 semifinal heats, and Oregon is one of two teams to have three entrants – Silan Ayyildiz (the record-holder), Klaudia Kazimierska (the Olympian) and Mia Barnett (the up-and-comer).

Making it to Saturday’s 12-woman final won’t be an easy task.

Also entered are three from Washington, including 2024 Irish Olympian and Big Ten champion Sophie O’Sullivan, 2024 NCAA outdoor runner-up Kimberly May of Providence and her teammate Shannon Flockhart, who leads the NCAA this season with a time of 4 minutes, 4.97 seconds.

Also entered is Northern Arizona’s Maggi Congdon, who ran 4:02.79 at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, and Virginia’s Margot Appleton, who was third at the NCAA outdoor meet in 2023 and has 4:05.68 PR.

“The depth is better than it’s ever been,” Oregon assistant coach Shalane Flanagan said. “It’s a meeting of the titans.”

A record-setting season for Oregon’s Silan Ayyilidz

Ayyildiz, a senior from Turkey, has been on a record-breaking tear since January. She’s produced the fastest times in collegiate history in the indoor and outdoor mile, and was also on the Ducks’ collegiate record-setting distance medley relay team.

She ran the indoor mile in 4:23.46 in mid-February in Boston, and a week later anchored the 10:42.05 DMR finish. At the Drake Relays in April, she ran 4:25.5 to get the outdoor mile record as well.

Ayyildiz’s outdoor mile time converts to a 4:05.83 for the 1,500.

“She has obviously had a stellar year,” Flanagan said. “Her strength is just naturally very good.”

Ayyildiz won the Big Ten title last fall in cross-country and finished 13th at the national championship meet. She also won conference titles in the 5,000 both indoors and outdoors.  She was second to O’Sullivan in the outdoor 1,500.

Now comes her final collegiate challenge.

“I’m excited and feel like I’m pretty ready,” Ayyildiz said. “It’s really good to have a high-quality group to train with. I’m so grateful that I have the fortune to train with them.”

Oregon Olympian Klaudia Kazimierska hitting her form

After dealing with an injury during the indoor season, Kazimierska has been ramping up the last couple months. She ran a PR 2:02.03 in the 800 at the Drake Relays on April 23, won a conference title at that distance in May and then a week later ran 4:03.26 at the Sound Running Track Fest in Los Angeles. It was the third-fastest in-season time in collegiate history.

But Kazimierska’s PR actually came late last summer in the weeks after finishing 10th at the Paris Summer Games when she clocked a 3:59.95 at a meet in her home country of Poland.

That makes her the fastest in the field this week, just ahead of O’Sullivan who ran 4:00.23 in the Olympic semifinals.

“When you go into those big meets you need to remember the race is the same as it is every other time of the year,” Kazimierska said. “You have to be relaxed and have fun with it. … You don’t want to create any pressure where you feel like you have to do something special there. You just need to be yourself.”

Oregon’s Mia Barnett moving out of the shadows

Not to get lost in the accomplishments of her teammate is Barnett, who also ran faster than the former collegiate outdoor mile record when she finished second to Ayyildiz in the same race in 4:26.4, which converts to 4:06.66 for the 1,500.

Barnett, whose 1,500 PR is 4:08.44, was third in the 1,500 outdoors and second in the mile indoors at the conference championship meets. She too was a member of the Ducks’ record-setting DMR.

This will be her seventh national championship meet indoors and outdoors, though she’s attempting to make her first outdoor final.

“I feel like I’ve definitely learned a lot,” Barnett said. “I’ve had a hard time making the finals because everyone is so good. But this season specifically, I have definitely been more comfortable as a racer and being more relaxed when I run and I feel like I am in more control of what I can do when I race now.”

Her teammates have taken notice of her tactical ability.

“Mia’s been very consistent recently  and seeing how she’s improving with every race, and her confidence,” Kazimierska said. “She always knows how to move in those races; she’s very decisive.”

All three will need to be mentally sharp this week, Flanagan said, as there is very little separation among entries in terms of physical talent.

“There’s a lot of really great athletes and tight range of ability,” Flanagan said. “Honestly, it feels like it rests on my shoulders. Their ability to execute and having a good race plan is probably the most important piece. I don’t know if they can out-run people too much because it’s such a great field. It’s going to be about positioning and who has the right mindset that day.”

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

• Men’s meet: June 11, 13
• Women’s meet: June 12, 14
• Where: Hayward Field

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at chansen@registerguard.com and you can follow him on X @chansen_RG