With more than 20 different high schools from around the pacific northwest competing to begin the meet and a handful of Olympians competing as well, Friday’s Oregon relays were a sight to see.
Field events began the collegiate section of the meet and Oregon’s Jonah Tactay took home the long jump for the Ducks on his second jump with a leap of 7.13 meters while Emmanuel Ihemeje Jr. came in third place on his third jump of 6.81 meters.
“I’m really happy with how it today was. Because, although my best wasn’t up where I wanted it to be, every jump was consistently over seven meters, which is what I’m hoping to do,” Tactay said.
Ihemeje Jr. and Micah Williams were added to the midseason Bowerman trophy watch list. The Bowerman trophy is awarded to the most outstanding athlete in all of NCAA track and field.
In a loaded 1500 men’s invite field that included Olympian and former Duck Cole Hocker, redshirt senior Reed Brown showed the group that he belongs. The Grapevine, Texas native came in second place with a new personal best of 3:36.44, which is also below the previous meet record. Hocker left the field with a little more than a lap to go and didn’t finish the race.
Oregon again took 2 spots on the podium. This time in the women’s discus throw where Mine de Klerk took first place from her second throw of 53.27 meters while Jaida Ross came in second thanks to her second toss that traveled 53.15 meters.
“It felt really good. I’ve kind of been a little up and down in the last couple weeks so it feels good to have some improvement with the consistency,” Ross said.
Ross’s throw marked her personal best in the discus and for the fourth time this season her and de Klerk finished inside of the top three discus throwers.
“I love it. I think it pushes me to be better,” Ross said “I mean, we’re teammates and we love each other. So it’s good to just be able to kind of push each other.”
Eugene native Pierce LaCoste lowered his personal best in the 100 meter dash from 10.76 to 10.69 when he finished in second behind Wisconsin’s Lawrence Johnson. Teammate Kwabena Lynn finished a tad behind him to get third place in 10.74.
Freshman Ella Clayton crushed the field in the 400 meter dash. She held off teammate Shaniya Hall as the pair went 1-2 in the sprint and Clayton lowered her personal best in the event by almost a full second. Clayton crossed the line at 53.19 which is a new meet record and Hall finished more than a second behind her at 54.38.
The 18-year-old Canadian noted in her post-race interview how, though she’s satisfied with her time, she feels this personal record is far from her potential.
“It’s about a second PR from last season so not something I can be disappointed with,” Clayton said. “I would say 52-mid would be my goal for the season. I think I can get there with a little bit more training and some more races for sure.”
In the 1500 meter open race three out of the top five spots were Ducks and freshman Tomas Palfrey took the heat in 3:45.25.
In the women’s 1500 meter invite, Izzy Thornton-Bot came in second and lowered her personal best time to 4:13.75 while finishing a hair behind Nike OTC Elite runner Angel Piccirillo who crossed at 4:13.45. Thornton-Bot has beaten her personal best twice in April, both times at Hayward Field.
“I know, there’s a magic to this place here and you can’t deny that,” Thornton-Bot said. “I turn up to a race and I race regardless if it’s Hayward field or if it’s a windy track somewhere that no one’s ever heard of.”
Redshirt sophomore javelin thrower Ty Hampton finished fourth in a stiff competition field that featured Olympian Curtis Thompson among other top competitors. Lost in Hapmton’s finish was three consecutive throws that surpassed his personal best that he achieved just a week ago. He improved his personal best by almost six whole meters from 71.78 meters to 77.08.
“I told myself I’m gonna throw 77, like there’s no way I’m not gonna throw 77,” Hampton said. “That just proves it for myself that I can be up there with those big guys.”
In the women’s section of the 3000 meter steeplechase redshirt senior Aneta Konieczek was in a neck-n-neck battle in the last 200 meters with Oregon State’s Grace Fetherstonhaugh. Konieczek snagged first place in 9:44.72 and finished four hundredths of a second ahead of Fetherstonhaugh.
“I wasn’t expecting to have anyone,” Konieczek said. “[Fetherstonhaugh] definitely helped me finish stronger than I would have without her.”
Konieczek moved to fourth in the NCAA with her winning time.
Alessia Zarbo ran her first 5000 meter race on the track and came in first with a time of 15:58.07. Needless to say, her first 5K on the track went according to plan.
