At last season’s dual meet between the Oregon men and UCLA at Hayward Field, the meet score came down to the final event, the mile relay. This Saturday’s contest saw the Ducks take home the title before the last event, the 5,000 meters, even got underway.
Resting most of its top performers, Oregon took care of business early and often against the Bruins, winning the meet 92-71 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
“To be honest, I like the way our team as a whole competed today,” assistant athletic director Vin Lananna said. “They showed me today they actually are a championship-caliber team.”
The field events were particularly kind to the Ducks, who won six of the eight events.
Junior Jordan Stray contributed early with two personal-best hammer throws in the day’s first event. Stray won with a mark of 217 feet, 5 inches on his fifth attempt, and junior Scott Penny’s personal best of 197 feet, 2 inches was good enough for second. UCLA did not enter a hammer thrower in the meet, giving Oregon an automatic sweep as Cam Norris registered a legal mark for third place.
“I went out and felt it, and did what I could do,” Stray said. “It was fun to just throw with my teammates. I went out and had a good time. It was a little awkward at first (throwing without competition), but we just went out throwing.”
The Ducks also put on an impressive aerial display in the javelin, with junior Alex Wolff breaking 240 feet for the first time in his career and senior Mike Simmons throwing for the first time since 2008. Wolff’s third attempt (240 feet, 8 inches) is the fourth-best mark in school history, and Simmons’ throw of 234 feet, sixth-best in school history, solidified second place. Britton Nelson completed the sweep with a toss of 207 feet, 4 inches.
“Having (Mike) Simmons back is definitely a push; it’s awesome to have him out here,” Wolff said. “He started throwing well and it just gets those butterflies inside you and makes you want to throw well. It definitely pushed me over.
“I’ve been trying to hit 240 for a long time. I was happy to do it today.”
Oregon also got a surprise victory in the pole vault from Colin Witter-Tilton and a surprise 1-2 finish in the high jump. David Klech and Danny Marconi both cleared 6 feet, 11 1/2 inches, but Klech managed his way over 7 feet, 1/2 inch on his second attempt at that height to take the five first-place points.
“This is my first time tying a PR in any event since high school, so I’m definitely on the road back. (I’m expecting) big things for the rest of the year,” Klech said, who transferred from UCLA to Oregon two years ago.
Ashton Eaton was the star on the track for the Ducks. The senior from Bend did a little speed work in the dual meet, winning the 100 meters (10.52) and 200 meters (21.03).
Adding in Chad Barlow’s win in the 400 meters, Oregon’s sprint group produced more points than the distance group. The Ducks’ best distance race on the day was the 1,500 meters, where freshman Mac Fleet overtook redshirt junior A.J. Acosta off the Bowerman Curve to secure the win in 3:46.62. Acosta held off the Bruins’ Marlon Patterson in 3:47.44.
The dual meet was marked by the absence of several top athletes on both sides. UCLA was without two-time-Pac-10-champion hurdler Kevin Craddock, talented long- and triple-jumper Taylor Hobson and sprinter Randall Carroll, a wide receiver on the Bruins’ football team.
Oregon held out Jordan McNamara (foot) and Cyrus Hostetler (anterior cruciate ligament) from competition, but also shelved Andrew Wheating, Matthew Centrowitz, Michael Maag and Luke Puskedra from the distance events.
“We have some people a little bit dinged up,” Lananna said. “All sorts of weird things
happened this week.”
Cornerback Talmadge Jackson III and running back LaMichael James ran the third and fourth legs of the 4×100-meter relay for the Ducks against UCLA. Joined with Vernell Warren in the first leg and Eaton in the second, Oregon finished second to UCLA’s relay team, 40.88 to 40.02.
James also competed in the 100m, scoring one point for a third-place finish (10.90).
Kerem PRs at Mt. SAC

Oregon sophomore Ingmar Kerem finished 11th in the decathlon at the Mt. SAC Relays on Friday with a score of 5,695 points, a personal decathlon best by 282.
Senior heptathlete Erin Funkhouser took 15th place in her combined events competition, scoring 4,699 points.
Senior decathlete Aaron McVein was forced to withdraw from competition after three events with an undisclosed injury.
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