Oregon track and field kicked off the Oregon Relays on a sunny Thursday afternoon at Historic Hayward Field. The first half of the competition was dedicated to the multi-sport athletes who made their outdoor debut.
Oregon’s sophomore decathlete Mitch Modin had the most impressive performance of the day, despite struggling with a head cold and sore back.
“Last night I took some Nyquil, tried to get some sleep,” Modin said. “This morning I woke up and just tried to flush everything out.”
Whatever he did worked, as Modin finished with multiple records by the end of the day. He set new personal records in the high jump, long jump, 400, 100 (wind aided) and in first day point total. His 4100 score currently has him in first place, and bested his previous top mark by 55 points.
Keys finished with his own solid performance, placing second with 4017.
“(Keys) is the best training partner I could have,” Modin said. “He knows the tricks of the trade and is a great person to learn from.”
Keys came into the event as one of the top decathletes in Oregon history. His mark of 8068, which he set last year, places him fourth on the all-time list — impressive when names like Ashton Eaton, Pedro da Silva and Muhammad Oliver are the ones ahead of you.
For the women, freshman Ashlee Moore had a career best first day with 3361, 31 points better that what she put up at Hayward last year in the World Junior Championship. She set a PR in the 200 with a time of 25.00.
“I didn’t have any huge expectations or goals, just wanted to come out and get a feel of where I am at,” Moore said.
Moore said that former Oregon heptathlon great Brianne Theisen-Eaton has been helping her transition into the collegiate ranks.
Oregon State’s Kara Hallock is currently in second in the heptathlon with her own day one lifetime best of 3108. Oregon’s Lauren Crockett is in third with 2986.
The first day of the Oregon Relays always has an intimate atmosphere with just a small crowd gathered at the usually buzzing Hayward. Though free to the public, only the most dedicated track fans made the journey to watch the multi-sport events.
More so than the rest of track and field, the multi-sport events have the most camaraderie amongst the athletes, with high-fives and genuine excitement when others have success.
“It’s always a competition, but you want to see everyone succeed,” Modin said. “Even competing against people who aren’t from your school.”
At one point during the meet, the entire Oregon team came out in a show of solidarity to cheer on their teammates.
“The team has grown a lot since I first got here five years ago, you would have never seen that,” Keys said. “It’s really cool to be a part of this team right now, I am very proud of that.”
Click here for the decathlon results and here for the heptathlon results.
The Oregon Relays will continue Friday afternoon with the conclusion of the decathlon and heptathlon and the beginning of the individual qualifying heats.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur