Bienenfeld shines team wins at Dellinger Invitational, Oregon XC season opener

SPRINGFIELD — Oregon’s coaching staff might be new, but Aaron Bienenfeld is an old veteran.

Friday morning he ran like one.

The sixth-year senior, back for one last cross country campaign in a Ducks uniform, gave a master class in racing during his victory in the Bill Dellinger Invitational men’s 8,000-meter race at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield.

His victory was just one piece of a memorable day for the Ducks, who also won the men’s and women’s team titles in the first home meet for coach Jerry Schumacher and assistant Shalane Flanagan.

“It’s a great start to the season,” beamed Schumacher.

No one had a better day than Bienenfeld.

After an outdoor track and field season that included an eighth-place finish in the 10,000 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and a spot in the European Championships in his native Germany in late August, Bienenfeld took a significant break from running.

The time off did little to dull his racing senses.

Team sticks together, then Bienenfeld 'released to go run'

Bienenfeld settled into the lead pack with several of his Oregon teammates as Washington State sophomore Brian Barsaiya raced out to a lead that had grown to 20 seconds by the halfway point.

“We had a plan to stick together as a group,” Bienenfeld said. “That’s what cross country’s all about. It’s about the team effort. So the first four miles were about sticking together and looking strong as a group. Then it was a free for all.”

By the time Bienenfeld made his move to reel in the front runner, Barsaiya was already starting to comeback to the pack.

Beinenfeld passed Barsaiya with roughly 1,000 meters to go and then went unchallenged through the finish line in 23 minutes, 41.7 seconds.

“I was getting all excited just to make a move,” said Bienenfeld, who was 18th and the Ducks’ top finisher at the 2021 NCAA cross country championships. “It’s been a while since I was racing. I had a long summer and I had to take a complete break from running so I didn’t know what I was capable of, but it was definitely a good first step. It makes me wonder what we have left in the tank for the rest of the season.”

Matt Strangio, a sophomore at Portland who was running unattached, finished second in 23:45.4, and Barsaiya crossed in third in 23:46.0.

Oregon’s next four across were Cameron Stein (7th, 23:54.0); Abdinasir Hussein (10th, 23:56.6); Quincy Norman (13th, 23:59.3); and James Growley (14th, 23:59.98) as the Ducks scored 39 points for the teamwin.

Portland was second with 62 and UCLA third with 63.

“We were exercising kind of a team play out there and I thought Aaron did a great job,” first-year coach Schumacher said. “He’s a member of the team and he wants to see the team be really successful and good.

"Once we kind of did what we needed to from a team standpoint, he was released to go run and did a great job chasing down the Washington State athlete and picking up the individual win.”

Oregon women win as team, have areas to improve

The Oregon women dominated their 6,000-meter race, with five runners finishing in the top 16 and 10 in the top 32 as the Ducks scored 50 points to end far ahead of UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton, which each scored 100.

“I see room for improvement, and that’s totally fine,” said Flanagan, also in her first year coaching at UO. “For a lot of these women that was their first race of the season. … So there is kind of that first-race burn that they have to endure that you can’t quite replicate in training.

"Overall I think they were pleased but they’re excited to get back to work and improve their fitness and improve their endurance base.”

Sophomore Harper McClain was the Ducks’ top finisher as she crossed in fourth in 20:07.3.

McClain ran the first half of the race at the front and was the leader at the halfway mark before fading over the final 2,000 meters.

“I feel like she was trying to make the race happen as opposed to waiting for it to kind of evolve,” Flanagan said. “But I love her enthusiasm. She’s a great athlete to work with.”

Flanagan pointed to Bienenfeld’s “flawless race” as an example for McClain — and everyone else — to follow next time out.

“But Aaron’s also in great shape, and he’s also a mature runner,” Flanagan said. “But that’s the style of racing I’d like to see from the women, too.”

Oregon’s other scorers were Emilie Girard (9th, 20:16.8); Malia Pivec (10th 20:21.3);  2021 Dellinger Invite champion Izzy Thornton-Bott (11th, 20:28.4); and Maddy Elmore (16th, 20:46.4).

The winner was Sierra Atkins of UC Davis in 19:53.4.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. 

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks dominate Bill Dellinger Invitational cross country meet