Simeon Birnbaum, a junior at the University of Oregon, set a new collegiate record in the men’s 1500 meters during the Oregon Invitational on April 18. Birnbaum finished with a time of 3 minutes, 31.69 seconds, surpassing the previous record by nearly a second and a half.
The achievement is significant as it breaks the former mark of 3:33.02 set by Liam Murphy of Villanova in March 2025. The race took place at Hayward Field under favorable conditions—70 degrees with no wind—which may have contributed to fast times.
Birnbaum followed teammate Tomas Palfrey for the first part of the race, with Palfrey pacing him through the initial 1100 meters in 2:38.10 before moving aside to allow Birnbaum to complete his final lap in just over fifty-three seconds. He won by seven seconds ahead of Brian Musau from Oklahoma State, who finished second at 3:39.27.
Birnbaum has shown steady improvement since his freshman year when injuries limited his participation to only one outdoor meet. Last season he placed seventh at the NCAA outdoor championships and recorded a personal best of 3:37.02 in May before improving that time by almost six seconds this year.
Earlier this season, Birnbaum also won the Stanford Invitational’s five thousand meter event with a time of 13:19.73 two weeks ago, indicating strong form for his junior campaign.
