Oregon track and field hosted its annual Oregon Twilight meet to conclude the regular season and send off its seniors in their final time at Hayward Field.
With the 2023 Pac-12 Championships coming up this Friday, the majority of the team rested during the Twilight meet.
Oregon senior Kwabena Lynn was the lone representative for the Ducks in the 100-meter dash. As he continues to recover from a back injury he suffered during a 200-meter race from the indoor season, Lynn’s race during the Twilight was only his second outdoor event of the season.
“I think the first race was probably a much better time. The second race wasn’t great. The conditions weren’t great,” Lynn said. “I didn’t really execute the race model the way that I needed to, so the race didn’t go well. For only having two races there’s still a lot more season left.”
Lynn blazed down the 100 meter stretch with a time of 10.58 seconds at the Oregon State High Performance on April 28. He failed to top that at Twilight, but he still managed to run sub-11 seconds with his 10.72 second time to finish in fourth place on the day.
Due to upcoming postseason meets and his lingering injury, Lynn was a late scratch in the 200 meter event. He will next compete in the 100 meter at Pac-12s, and he’ll also wait in the wings as a 4×100 meter relay alternate.
“I got hurt at the beginning of the outdoor season… And I only ran one 200 in the entire season,” Lynn said. “During that 200, I got a serious injury that I’m still kind of dealing with.”
When asked about his injury and recovery process, Lynn responded with candid details.
“I basically fell at the end of the 200 in January and messed up my back pretty bad,” he said. “It was either a strain or some bones moved out of place and muscles were tensing up as a result. It’s been a lot of treatment and rehab that has helped me get back to being able to run with less pain each time.”
Lynn also discussed how fellow teammate Micah Williams has impacted him during practice.
“After a while I guess you get desensitized to seeing someone that fast… It’s interesting to say that’s your teammate and someone you train with,” he said. “It helps you build confidence. At a meet there isn’t going to be anyone faster than him.”
Oregon sprinter Sydney Holiday ran the first race of her sophomore campaign, although she raced unattached from the program. Holiday is coming back after giving birth prior to the 2023 indoor and outdoor track seasons.
As she continues to progress toward competition shape, Holiday held her own in the 100 meter in last Friday’s meet as she clocked a 12.51. She placed third in the event as family, friends and teammates raucously rooted her on.
It is unclear whether or not Holiday will compete in postseason meets this year, or if she will put all her eggs in one basket for the 2024 season.
The only other sprinters to compete in this meet were Camden Wheeler, Shana Grebo and Jordyn Blake.
Wheeler, a sophomore, ran a scorching 400-meter time of 48.25, although he fell short of the crown and placed second.
Grebo and Blake specialize in the 400-meter dash as well, and boy did they not disappoint. Grebo and Blake torched the field with their times of 52.95 and 56.80, respectively. Grebo secured the victory, while Blake finished third, making for a Duck majority podium.
With the regular season in the rear view mirror, the Ducks will travel to Walnut, California, May 12-14, to compete for their 15th straight men’s conference championship and second straight women’s title.
