Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum breaks collegiate 1,500-meter record

Oregon’s Titouan Bizet competes in the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon football wide receiver Dakorien Moore, right, is congratulated by football teammates including Dante Moore, left, after making it into the final round of the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon’s Greyson Glivinski competes in the women's javelin throw during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon's Hayden Williams-Downing competes in the women's javelin during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon State’s Havana Alonso in the women's javelin throw during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon’s Tyler Burns competes in the men's pole vault during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Oregon’s Tyler Burns reacts to failing to clear the bar in men's pole vault during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Long jumpers gather on the field for warmups to kick off the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Long jumpers gather on the field for warmups to kick off the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Men's long jumpers gather on the field for warmups to kick off the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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Oregon football star Dakorien Moore makes track debut

Oregon football wide receiver Dakorien Moore competes in the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Kansas State’s Tafadzwa Chikomba, right, leaps in the air after moving into the lead of the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Oregon’s Titouan Bizet competes in the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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Oregon football star Dakorien Moore makes track debut

Oregon football wide receiver Dakorien Moore, right, is congratulated by football teammates including Dante Moore, left, after making it into the final round of the men's long jump during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum breaks collegiate 1,500-meter record

Oregon’s Greyson Glivinski competes in the women's javelin throw during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Oregon's Hayden Williams-Downing competes in the women's javelin during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Oregon State’s Havana Alonso in the women's javelin throw during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Oregon’s Tyler Burns competes in the men's pole vault during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

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See photos from Oregon Team Invitational track meet at Hayward Field

Oregon’s Tyler Burns reacts to failing to clear the bar in men's pole vault during the Oregon Team Invitational track and field meet at Hayward Field April 17, 2026.

Paced by teammate Tomas Palfrey and challenged by absolutely no one, Birnbaum crossed the finish in 3 minutes, 31.69 seconds – more than five seconds faster than his previous best and nearly two seconds faster than the previous collegiate record of 3:33.02 set by Villanova’s Liam Murphy in 2025.

“I’ve been looking at the national NCAA record for a while now and it was just recently where I was feeling in shape enough to get it,” Birnbaum said. “So I talked to my coach and I said ‘I think I’m ready to do it,’ and he agreed with me."

Not before sleeping on it, however.

Jerry Schumacher said it took a night of contemplation and a clear weather report when he woke up to agree to Birnbaum's request to "run fast" on Saturday.

"I was like, it's not a matter of whether you can run fast, it's is this the time?" Schumacher said. "Is this the time to uncork it? ... He said, 'I'm going to be in a lot of different races this season, and a lot of them are going to be tactical. I just feel like this is the moment and the right time to do it.' I said, OK, I'll call you in the morning."

Schumacher woke up and gave the thumbs up to an ecstatic Birnbaum, who followed with his historically fast performance.

“You can’t always know when you’re gonna feel this good and I’ve just been feeling really, really good the past month, and when you’re feeling that good you don’t want to waste it," he said. "So, when you look at the weather and you see a 70-degree day, it’s time to run fast.”

Birnbaum recorded the fastest collegiate 5,000 time of the season April 3 when he ran a personal-record 13:19.73 at the Stanford Invitational.

That distance base – plus a full year of healthy running – had Birnbaum firing on all cylinders Saturday.

Oregon’s Simon Birnbaum crosses the finish line for the men's 1,500 meters in an NCAA-record time of 3 minutes, 31.69 seconds April 18 at the Oregon Team Invitational at Hayward Field. Birnbaum ran the fastest collegiate 5,000 of the season earlier in the month.

His last full lap was his fastest as he clocked a 53.59-second final 400.

“Shout out to Tom for agreeing to pace and kind of sacrifice his own race,” Birnbaum said. “We went out here ready to feel pain and run fast. … We came through 300, I took a peek at the clock, right on pace, and then you just kind of wait for your body to start feeling the pain. I got really deep into the race, even with 400 to go I still felt like I had a lot left.”

Birnbaum’s effort helped many runners behind him also finish with PR times, including teammates Tayson Echohawk (3:39.48), James Harding (3:39.85) and Anthony Fasthorse (3:40.29), who were third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau was second in a PR 3:39.27.

"I knew he was gonna run well," Schumacher said of Birnbaum. "... Obviously 3:31 is rare air in collegiate 1,500-meter running. I'm excited for him. It couldn't happen to a better kid. He works hard and I think there's more to go, too."

Oregon women’s pole vault school record falls

Emily Fitzsimmons was born in 2003, the same year Becky Holliday cleared 14 feet, 8 inches to set the Oregon women’s pole vault record.

Saturday, Fitzsimmons moved to the top of the record book when she went over 14-8¾ in a winning effort. It was a PR by two inches for the senior.

“I kind of knew I was capable,” Fitzsimmons said. “We had attempted at that height a few times in practice, if not higher, so it was more like a relief and a moment of appreciation of it all coming together. I’m just really grateful.”

Fitzsimmons’ previous best was 14-6¾ from last season, a mark that had her as the third all-time performer at Oregon behind Holliday and Melissa Gergel (14-7¼).

“It’s really satisfying,” she said of the school record. “I’m just really proud to be a part of this team and feel like I’m contributing at the level I expect us to be at Oregon.”

Duck women win Oregon Team Invitational title

Oregon's women's team won seven events en route to a 303-point weekend and first-place finish in the team standings.

Kansas State was second with 288.5 and Oklahoma State third with 241.

The Duck men won eight events and finished with 168 points, good for third place behind Kansas State (217) and Wichita State (196).

Other notable Oregon Team Invitational performances

• Daniel Thrana had the best outing by a Duck in the men's javelin in 14 years with his winning throw of 256-11. The freshman became the No. 3 performer of all time at Oregon, which hadn't seen a throw that far since Sam Crouser went 265-1 in 2012.
• Freshman Ben Smith won a pair of throwing events and picked up a new PR in the shot put with his top throw of 66-10¾ Saturday. He also won the discus Friday night with a throw of 190-1. Kobe Lawrence was second in the shot put (63-11¾) and fourth in the discus (176-5).

Oregon’s Kai Graves-Blanks celebrates his win in the men's 110-meter hurdles in 13,42 seconds, good for third on the school's all-time list.

• Kai Graves-Blanks became the No. 3 performer all-time at Oregon with his men's 110-hurdle win in a PR 13:42.
• Freshman Greyson Glivinski threw a PR 169-0 to win the women's javelin Friday night, becoming the No. 8 performer in program history.
• It was a two-victory weekend for Silan Ayyildiz, who won the women's open 800 Friday in 2:05.39 and the 1,500 invite Saturday in 4:07.13.
• Alicia Khunou won the women's shot put Friday with a mark of 50-9½ and was second in the discus on Saturday with a throw of 175-8. Marie Josée Bovele-Linaka won the discus with a mark of 175-9.
• Benjamin Balazs opened his outdoor season with a win in the men's 3,000 steeplechase Saturday, crossing in 8:34.92.

Oregon’s Greyson Glivinski won the women's javelin at 169 feet even to move to eighth on the Ducks' all-time list.

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.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum sets new 1,500-meter record