Watcke Anchors Hinsdale Central IL To No. 2 All-Time 4x800; Birnbaum Runs No. 2 All-Time 1,500 In Pro Field; Mia Brahe-Pedersen Breaks Meet Record In Girls 100; Sophia Beckmon Wins Third Straight Long Jump Title; Hana Moll Caps HS Career With Pole Vault Win

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE -- Three future Oregon Ducks soaked in big moments Friday at Hayward Field on the second day of Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Daniel Watcke anchored his Hinsdale Central IL team to the second-fastest 4x800-meter relay in prep history with a 1:49 split and crossed the finish line in 7:29.20. 

Rodrick Pleasant from Serra CA extended his winning ways in the boys 100 meters. The future college cornerback and sprinter won the NON title in 10.21 seconds. 

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And then there was Simeon Birnbaum. Two days after running the second-fastest 2-mile in prep history, the South Dakotan lined up in a pro field and competed like a veteran, racing for the win and coming in third in 3:37.93 in the 1,500 meters. That, too, is the second-fastest in high school history, behind Hobbs Kessler's incredible 3:34.36 in 2021. 

Watcke, Pleasant and Birnbaum are all part of an important recruiting class for Oregon as the men's track program tries to build back up after scoring two points at last week's NCAA Division 1 Championships in Austin, Texas. 

By the end of the night, Birnbaum was again the story. He got out aggressive and stayed behind the pacers, including Cole Hocker, who stepped aside with 250 meters left. 

Matt Wisner of the OTC team found an extra gear and race to the victory as the crowd lined the track and clattered cowbells. The winning time was 3:36.87. 

Conner Mantz of Nike caught Birnbaum at the line for second, in 3:37.92. 

"Six months ago, I asked for a photo with Cole Hocker, at NXN," Birnbaum said. "So to be there with him (on the last lap), even though he was the pacer, was pretty cool."

Birnbaum asked to be put in the pro field of the 1,500 meters so that he could try and hit the USATF Outdoor Championships qualifying time (3:37.00). He came up a bit short of it, but still might get in if he's high enough on the list of declared entries. 

Birnbaum is also planning to run in the blockbuster high school boys mile race, where he and another future Oregon runner, Connor Burns, aim to defend "home turf" against future Stanford runners Leo and Lex Young of Newbury Park, and everyone else in the field. 

"Probably so," Birnbaum said of the boys mile championship race at 1:29 p.m. Pacific time Sunday.

"I don't dodge. The twins have been dodging all year. I showed I can run faster than them and I can show that I can beat them."

The boys 4x800 relay came down to a fantastic duel and anchor leg between Watcke and Vestavia Hills AL's Alex Leath. Watcke took the baton and got into position on Leath's shoulder and the two remain connected until the final curve, when Watcke made his move for the win. 

Hinsdale's Central was aiming for Long Beach Poly's 2011 record of 7:28.75 and got within a half second of it. Vestavia Hills got a 1:50 anchor from Leath and ran the fourth-fastest time in prep history with 7:30.68. 

Mia Brahe-Pedersen of Lake Oswego OR and Sophia Beckmon of Oregon City OR returned to Hayward Field for the first time since the OSAA state championships and both won national titles. 

Brahe-Pedersen ran 11.11 to win the girls 100 meters in a meet-record time. She surpassed Tamari Davis' 2018 record of 11.19.

Beckmon won her third consecutive Nike Outdoor title in the long jump title. She soared into the lead in the third round with 21-4.75 (6.52m) and then went a bit farther on her sixth attempt with 21-7.25 (6.58m). 

Hana Moll of Capital WA, already the national record holder outdoors, won the girls pole vault title with 14-6 (4.42m). Her Northwest Pole Vault club teammate Ella McRitchie was second at 14-2 (4.32m), edging out Jathiyah Muhammad from Tracy, Calif., who cleared the same height. 

In fourth, Eugene's own Addison Kleinke (Churchill High) broke her own Oregon all-time best and also the freshman class national record with 13-6.25 (4.12m).

Nighthawks Elite TC (Del Norte CA) got a tremendous anchor leg from Paige Echsner, who ran a 2:09.7 split to help her team beat JSerra, US#3 8:51.78 to US#4 8:52.26. 

Hannah Riggins gave the Nighthawks a lift on the second leg with a 2:05.6 split. 

The winning time was an all-time California best. South Lakes VA was third in 8:58.74 and Forest Park (Lincoln) broke the Oregon all-time best in fourth with 9:05.49.

Paityn Noe of Ballard IA blitzed the field in the girls 5,000 meters, running in the din of cowbells and cheers from people circling the track in Lane 7. The Arkansas commit ran a winning time of 16:04.69. 

Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley OR broke Sydney Masciarelli's sophomore class record as well as the Oregon all-time best with 16:10.16. Zariel Macchia of William Floyd NY, also a sophomore, was third in 16:17.29. 

Byron Grevious of the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire ran to a dominant 14:24.04 to win the boys 5,000 meters. 

Neil Howard III from Taconic Hills NY won the boys decathlon title 7,153 points. He took the lead in the eighth event with a 15-9 (4.80m) clearance in the pole vault and then he ran the third-fastest 1,500 meters in 4:30.23 to win by 118 points. 

Michael Pinones from San Antonio, Texas, won the boys shot put with 65-11, hitting the big mark on his sixth attempt to take the lead from Ben Smith of Hortonville, Wis.

In the pro races, Sinclaire Johnson raced on an outdoor track for the first time since Sept. 2 and won two races spaced 40 minutes apart. She won the 800 meters in 2:01.14 and the 1,500 meters in 4:05.79. 

Canadian athlete Jordan Macintosh won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:32.87. 

Devin Dixon of the Brooks Beasts won the men's 800 meters in 1:46.01.