For Cardama Baez, 10,000 Meters Doesn't Begin To Describe The Length Of Pursuit To An NCAA Title 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

It's been a big week for Carmela Cardama Baez of Oregon, who won the 10,000 meters Thursday night at Hayward Field and will take her last final exam today. 

At a school known for its distance running, aced her biggest sports test and became the first Oregon woman to win the NCAA title in the 10,000 since Kathy Hayes did it in 1984. 

"I've been dreaming of a big race at Hayward Field in Oregon for a really long time," said Cardama Baez, who is from Spain. "I was a sophomore in high school when I found out for the first time that there was a place called Hayward Field and the World U-20 (Championships) were here. And I came (up) three seconds short and my national team didn't take me."

The World U-20 Championships were in Eugene in 2014. 

She would eventually come to the United States to run collegiately for Florida State in the fall of 2015 and she in Tallahassee for two years. 

"My sophomore year at Florida State I ate the track in my regional race (in 2017) and didn't make it," Cardama Baez said. 

Even after transferring to Oregon, the wait continued.

In 2018, she was "got so nervous and so stressed out" she missed her chance again to qualifying for naitonals. 

Hayward Field was torn down to make way for the new stadium. There was a coaching change. 

In 2019, in the heat of a warm Austin evening, she ran the best race of her life and came up a bit short and took second in the 10,000-meter finals – losing to New Mexico's Weini Kelati by less than a second. 

Red-shirting her freshman outdoor track seaason at FSU in 2016 allowed her dream to extend all the way to 2021. 

Cardama Baez, like many in this week's NCAA Championships, was supposed to be finished in 2020. But then COVID-19 came along and the pandemic killed the 2020 track season. 

Those quiet, locked down months in Eugene a year ago were some of the hardest to get through. 

"I wasn't able to go home until November, so I was here (in Eugene) by myself for a long time," she said. "Some people were lucky and it worked out really well for them. For me at the beginning it was really hard to be honest. The situation in Spain was not good, and me being here, being able to go out and go run while my parents were in lockdown, it was really tough. 

"I felt really anxious just going for runs. I felt guilty."

Incidentally, four of the six women who won events on Thursday are from outside the U.S. and faced similar circumstances with travel restrictions when the pandemic hit. 

Thankfully, Cardama Baez can look back on the emotional and mental challenges of 2020 and say that it made her stronger. 

But as the outdoor approached, and the new Hayward Field open, Cardama Baez said she heaped more pressure on herself to the point that it became a burden. 

It took until a victory in the 10,000 at the Pac-12 Championships, and a good qualifying run at the NCAA West Preliminary round, for Cardama Baez to let go of her anxieties and just have fun with it. 

"It means so much, because it's been a long process," Cardama Baez said. "To finally get this today with my people — with my parents watching from home, with my friends screaming from the sidelines — it means a lot. It's a reminder of how long it takes, but also how many people you need in your corner."

Cardama Baez came up with a plan with coach Helen Lehman Winters and then executed it. 

She stayed right behind Alabama's Mercy Chelangat, the NCAA cross country champion, for most of the second half of the race. 

Then she made her move with about 900 meters to go, passed Chelangat, remained relaxed for a lap and then kicked at the closing bell. 

Cardama Baez ran her last lap in 70.5 seconds and beat Chelangat to the finish line by six seconds as lion's share of a crowd of 5,000 – the biggest at the new stadium so far – cheered her on to becoming the first Duck to win a title at new Hayward Field. 

For Friday's test, she's planning to use her remaining "energy" to get through it. There has been very little study time this week. 

"I'm not sure if my professor is watching (the post-race interview)," she said, before giggling. "I'm a really good student but this week has been stressful so I'm relying on the energy I have left from tonight and tomorrow morning to make this work."

The women's portion of the NCAA Championships resumes Saturday with a stirring three-team race for the title. USC, Texas A&M and LSU have all put themselves in position to contend for the crown. 

Cal's Camryn Rogers re-wrote the record book in the hammer on Thursday with two throws over the collegiate record. Her 75.52m (247-9) sixth-round attempt took her to No. 4 in the world this year and left her less than a foot shy of the Canadian national record. 

Texas long jumper Tara Davis, a social media star with with 235,000 YouTube subscribers, won a very close competition with 21-11.75 (6.70m) and celebrated with panache in matching cowgirl boots and 10-gallon hat. 

Ohio State's Adelaide Aquilla, pressed to come up with something big on her final attempt in the shot put, unleashed a big mark of 62-3.25 (18.98m) to retake the lead and the win. 

In the pole vault, LSU's Lisa Gunnarsson of Sweden was the class of the field, with no misses until everyone else was finished. She won it with 14-5.25 (4.40m). 

And in the javelin, Norwegian athlete Marie-Therese Obst of Georgia threw past 190 feet three times on the way to giving the Bulldogs yet another field event title. Obst's winning mark was 195-10 (59.69m).