Jordan Hasay’s Hayward Field debut as a collegian was an unqualified success, and Amber Purvis swept the 100 meters and 200 meters as the Oregon women won the Pepsi Team Invitational on Saturday with strong performances across the board.
The No. 2 Ducks won their 16th Pepsi women’s title with 212 points, overtaking No. 1 Texas A&M (179.5), Missouri (141) and No. 13 Washington (135).
Oregon started the meet off on the right foot, with a win from Sara Cole in the women’s hammer throw and a 1-2 finish for Claire Michel and Taylor Wallace in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Ducks finished 2-3-4 in the women’s 1,500 meters (scoring only accommodated the highest two for each team in each event), as Nicole Blood, Alex Kosinski and Becca Friday were overtaken by Washington’s Katie Follett.
Purvis began her day with the 4×100-meter relay, running the second leg with Mandy White, Keshia Baker and Jamesha Youngblood. The Ducks took second to Texas A&M, who swept both sprint relays and both hurdles events.
But in the 100m, Purvis ran 11.38 to take down the Aggies’ Porscha Lucas (11.57), the reigning 200m champion. In the 200m, Purvis ran a wind-aided 23.00, beating Dominique Duncan of Texas A&M, a member of the school’s collegiate record-holding 4x100m relay team. (The record was set at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.)
“This was a pretty exciting day,” Purvis said. “I’m happy that Texas A&M came out here today, gave us good competition to run today. It gave me a lot of motivation.”
The day’s most anticipated event, the women’s 5,000 meters, saw Hasay set a blazing pace early. With the assistance of Lauren Zaludek as a rabbit, Hasay distanced herself from the field by as much as 150 meters after the first mile of the race. Blood eventually distanced herself from the pack and slowly reeled Hasay in, but the freshman from Arroyo Grande, Calif., couldn’t be caught. She won her first-ever 5,000m race on a track in 16:16.02. Blood finished second in 16:20.60.
“It was great. The crowd was really, really helpful,” Hasay said. “I didn’t really have a great time out there. It felt pretty bad. It was just hard being out there by myself. Just not having raced that distance before — the other girls were like, ‘I can’t really give you any advice. You just have to kind of go out and do it and see how it is.’”
Oregon also received a pleasant surprise from freshman Anne Kesselring in the 800 meters. The Nurnberg, Germany, native bested the Missouri duo of Layne Moore and Shannon Leinert to win in 2:06.90.
The Oregon men also took home the Pepsi team title, scoring 186 points to Texas A&M’s 151. Washington took third place with 132 points, Illinois was fourth (109) and Missouri was fifth (103).
Struggles in early distance events left the Ducks in a potential bind. Texas A&M’s Kevin Burnett shocked the field with a win in the men’s 5,000m (14:08.06). Oregon’s Kevin McNally had a strong performance in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, taking second to Illinois’ Kyle Engnell, but A.J. Acosta was a disappointing fifth in his steeplechase debut. The Aggies also swept the sprint events, winning eight in all.
Ashton Eaton was a driving force behind the team victory, as the senior from Bend, Ore., did anything and everything he could. Eaton long-jumped 25 feet, 6 inches to win that event despite taking only three attempts, and he took the 110-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 13.64. (Illinois’ Andrew Riley, the race favorite, was disqualified for a false start.)
“It’s unfortunate that kid had a false start,” Eaton said.
Oregon looked strong in the middle distances, as Matthew Centrowitz outlasted Washington’s Colton Tully-Doyle to win the 1,500m and Mac Fleet made an impressive Hayward Field debut. The freshman from San Diego won the 800m in 1:49.19, his first venture under 1:50 in the event.
“It was a little frustrating, so it’s nice to finally get under (1:50),” Fleet said.
The field events were also good to the Ducks, helping them secure the team title. David Klech and Danny Marconi tied for first in the high jump, each clearing 6 feet, 9-3/4 inches, and Jordan Stray won the hammer throw with a 213-foot, 8-inch mark on his third attempt.
“A season best by a foot,” Stray said. “I knew it was a solid one.”
James, Jackson debut at Hayward

Running back LaMichael James and cornerback Talmadge Jackson III made their debuts at Hayward Field by competing in the 4x100m relay for the Ducks.
Jackson ran the third leg of the relay, while James ran the anchor leg (Vernell Warren and Eric Hersey started off the race). Oregon finished fourth in 41.95, behind Texas A&M, Illinois and Washington.
“We didn’t have good marks,” James said. “Racing against Texas A&M, you’ve got to have good marks, and we didn’t.”
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