Freshman From Kenya Continues To Make Profound Impact For Oregon; Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe Breaks Hammer Record

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

Brynn Kleinke photos

INTERVIEWS

EUGENE — Like a lot of great athletes, Oregon assistant coach Shalane Flanagan said, freshman Diana Cherotich is not particularly patient. “So getting her to calm down in training and chill in racing has been my job,” Flanagan said.

That can involve some bets and some handshake deals, including the one Flanagan said she made before the 10,000 meters Friday night at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships: Cherotich, who entered the race with a seed time 17 seconds faster than anyone else in the field, could not take the lead until two laps to go.

For the first nine laps, she stayed in a pack with teammate Juliet Cherubet and Penn State’s Florence Caron consistently running around 77 seconds a lap.

And then she threw in a 70-second lap, breaking the race wide open en route to winning the Big Ten title in a meet record 32:00.48, more than 32 seconds ahead of Caron, who ran 32:32.55. Penn State’s Sophia Toti finished third in a season-best 32:58.91.

Cherubet, who’s been dealing with what Flanagan called a “hamstring, IT band, quad thing,” dropped out at 6,000 meters.

For the record, Cherotich took the lead for good on lap 10, not lap 23 as planned.

“I stopped even taking splits,” Flanagan said. “I just supported and told her to run calm.”

Cherotich did. After dropping Cherubet and Caron, she reeled off 77-second laps until the final 400, which she ran in 71.17. She said she didn’t mind running alone.

“I was not struggling,” she said. “I was going slowly.”

Cherotich joined the Ducks in March, and less than two weeks later, she broke the school record in the 10,000, winning the Stanford Invitational in 31:45.22.

She said she had connected with Oregon coaches at the 2024 World Cross Country Championships in Serbia, where she finished fifth for Kenya in the U20 race. “I knew they had tons of athletes,” she said. “And they are going to have a strong, strong team and good facilities for training. Also in academics.” 

Flanagan said not all strong international athletes are interested in being a part of the NCAA system, but that it was clear from conversations and texts that Cherotich was. 

“She’s clearly so good, she could go professional,” Flanagan said. “But I think what is inviting and exciting about some aspects of the changes in the NCAA is that she can still live that kind of life of a semi-professional. We definitely take athletics really serious here, there’s NIL money for her … It’s this nice in-between world she can exist in.” 

Flanagan said Cherotich dealt with “a little niggle” after arriving in Eugene and has not done much substantial training. “That’s a lot of raw talent you’re seeing right now,” she said. 

And as far as taking the lead far earlier than planned? 

Flanagan said because NCAA shoe regulations now require runners to wear spikes, not flats, that Cherotich was correct when she told her after the race that running faster felt better than running slower. Cherotich perhaps didn’t conserve the energy for Sunday’s 5,000 that Flanagan had hoped, but the effort proved how strong a runner Cherotich is, especially for her age. 

“I can tell she’s going to be a great athlete on the roads, the marathon, when she decides that,” Flanagan said. “But we will make sure she maximizes the 1,500 on up here.” 

In the only other women’s final, Anthonett Nabwe of Minnesota threw a personal best and meet record 229-2 (69.85m) to win the hammer throw. 

She said she had hit the 70-meter line several times in practice Thursday and was hoping to crack that barrier in the final. Even without doing so, she was happy with the PR. 

“I think the main thing was consistency,” she said. “My coach kept reminding me to remember practice and think like it’s practice. And try to relax.” 

Nabwe, who finished fourth in the conference as a freshman, attributed her improvement this season to journaling. She hadn’t used the journal much last season, but when her coach pointed out that she’d had a good win when she did, she used it more this season. 

Having a record of her cues, she said, has helped her to focus in the ring. 

Oregon senior Annika Williams led the heptathlon after the first day with 3,635 points, 99 ahead of Illinois freshman Melissa Wullschleger and 156 ahead of UCLA senior Sydney Johnson. Williams finished second in the high jump and shot put, eighth in the 100 hurdles and ninth in the 200. 

USC took four of the top five qualifying spots in the 200, with Samirah Moody running 22.73, Madison Whyte running 22.90, Dejaz DeFrand running 22.92 and Jassani Carter running 22.98. UCLA’s Taylor Snaer qualified fourth in 22.97. 

Oregon’s Silan Ayyildiz and Mia Barnett took the top two qualifying spots in the 1,500, running 4:15.52 and 4:15.91, respectively.