Not only did the Oregon women’s track and field team beat Washington in the teams’ dual meet Saturday at Hayward Field, but they won with a little flourish.
After all, it was the throwing events that carried the Ducks all afternoon. The clinching victory was, fittingly, Mary Etter’s toss of 43 feet, five 3/4 inches in the discus.
The Ducks dominated the Huskies Saturday and won the Washington Dual by 23 points, 88-65. Oregon won nine of the 18 events, but swept the pole vault, discus and hammer events to notch the team victory in the Ducks’ only head-to-head competition of the year.
“We wanted to win the meet, and it’s great for our team to win a dual meet,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said. “Even better than that, we got lots of good marks, with solid competition.”
Oregon’s most impressive single score was Niki Reed’s pole vault of 13-5 1/4, which tied her own school record and put her second on the NCAA list. It was the Ducks’ first NCAA automatic mark of the year, meaning Reed is the first Oregon athlete to have her ticket punched for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field later this season.
“It feels great,” Reed said about equaling her record. “I’m really excited for nationals here. I’ve got big plans for nationals.”
Vaulters Holly Speight, Kirsten Riley and Karina Elstrom finished second through fourth to lead the Ducks to a sweep in the event.
The Oregon throwing team starred Saturday, scoring 32 points in four different events. More importantly, the Ducks shut the Huskies out of those events, as Washington scored only four points.
Etter won both the discus and shot put events, but senior Maureen Morrison notched the most impressive score, a season-best throw of 181 feet in the first round of the hammer throw.
In the javelin, freshman standout Sarah Malone continued her impressive, consistent performance and won the event with a toss of 158 feet, slightly lower than her season best of 165-1.
Amanda Brown and Rachael Kriz led the Ducks in the jumping events, taking first in the long jump and high jump. The triple jump, won by Washington’s Brittiny Roberts, was the only field event Oregon failed to win.
The Huskies made up ground in the sprinting events, winning six of the eight track events and both relays. The Ducks were able to pull off upsets in the 1,500 meters and the 800 meters. Senior Hannah Smedstad won the 1,500 after losing her main event, the 3,000, to Washington’s Anna Aoki by .6 seconds. In the 1,500, Smedstad edged Aoki by 1.1 seconds.
“Hannah surprised us by coming back to win the 1,500,” Heinonen said. “This really helped her, because she had a rough week.”
In the 800, Oregon’s Eri Macdonald and Annette Mosey teamed up to take first and second place. Washington ended the day by winning the 4×400 relay, but Oregon celebrated the team victory.
“I liked the way people competed,” Heinonen said.
When the Hayward Field dust cleared, the Ducks had three new PAC-10 qualifiers to add to a growing list. Smedstad’s time in the 1,500 was a PAC-10 mark, Cameo Davis added a PAC-10 mark in the 400 hurdles and Sara Dinsmore threw a PAC-10 distance in the javelin.
The Ducks will take on a deeper field of athletes at the Mt. SAC relays in California this weekend, beginning Friday.