Coming off five top-10 national performances at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. last weekend, the Oregon track and field team hosted the Oregon Twilight Meet on Friday, May 7 at Hayward Field. The Twilight Meet marked Oregon’s final meet of the regular season.

In the last heat of the men’s 1,500 meters, a stacked field lived up to the billing as seven of the 11 runners broke the meet record. In the last lap Oregon’s Cooper Teare surrendered a slim lead as Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse beat him in dramatic fashion, clocking in at three minutes at 35.96 seconds, just ahead of Teare’s 3:35.97. 
“I was hoping to have someone to sit on until the last 200 (meters) but that’s not how it goes,” Teare said. “It’s been pretty consistent for me to hammer it and try to win from the front but that’s hard to do especially with this caliber of field. The fields have just been next level and guys are really stepping up.”

Fellow Duck Cole Hocker — who entered Friday with an NCAA leading time of 13:19.98 in the 5,000 and ranks fifth nationally in the 800 (1:46.60) — led late before falling behind a using a well-timed kick to take third in 3:36.47.

Teare and Hocker’s times rank third and fourth all-time at Oregon in the event. 

The Ducks opened the afternoon with wins in both the men’s and women’s discus. Senior Kiana Phelps distanced herself from the competition and matched her PR with a leading toss of 183 feet and two inches (No. 2 in school history). The freshman pair of Christalee Kirby (156-6) and Jaida ross (151-9) slid in at third and fourth place.
“It’s definitely a big confidence booster especially with the series I had,” Phelps said. “I think my top-three throws…if I have those at regionals, I get to NCAA’s but I want to keep throwing farther. I’m not going to relax and want to keep looking forward but today was definitely encouraging.”

In the men’s discus, Lucas Ribeiro and Travis Brewster earned a 1-2 finish with tosses of 176-5 and 162-10, respectively. Ribeiro’s toss was a personal best. 

The Ducks turned in a strong showing on the women’s javelin throw with Lauri Paredes landing a season best throw of 170-9. Four other Ducks competed as Riley Traeger (143-10) finished fourth.  

The freshman Ross led the way with PR a toss of 52-10 in the women’s shot put. 

Former Ducks and Olympians Devon Allen and Jonathan Cabral, two of several returning alums, dazzled with a tight 1-2 finish in the men’s 110 hurdles as Allen broke his own meet record, finishing in 13.42 seconds. Cabral slid in at 13.83 with Ducks’ senior Justin Collins took third in 14.47. 

“Today felt pretty good,” Allen said. “I ran two days ago so it was a long day of traveling from the East coast yesterday so to jump up and run 13.40 pretty easily, bodes well for the season.”

Meanwhile, in the women’s 100 hurdles, freshman Alexa Webster finished first in 13.93. Fellow freshman Taylor Chocek came in third with a time of 14.89.

Vollmer and Eastern Oregon’s Cody Milmine gave fans an exciting finish in the men’s 100-meter dash as the pair finished within one 100th of a second. Milmine took first with a time of 10.862 to Vollmer’s 10.864. 
Freshman Luis Peralta finished ahead of the pack in the men’s 800 (1:48.82) while senior Matt Wisner finished third in quick succession with a time of 1:48.98.

In the men’s 5,000, another freshman duo impressed as Abdinasir Hussein and Quincy Norman finished in second and third with times of 14:15.53 and 14:16.23.

With the Twilight Meet marking Oregon’s last home meet of the regular season, the Ducks’ 30 seniors were honored with a senior night celebration as the Duck led the group on a lap of honor around the track. The seniors celebrated and soaked up what atmosphere they could of the sparsely populated Hayward Field. 

Entering the postseason, the Men of Oregon sit at No. 3 nationally while the women come in at No. 13. The Ducks now look ahead to the Pac-12 Championships on May 14-16. 

“Looking at Pac-12s, the goal there is to win, win, win,” Teare said.