Senior Kylee O’Connor and junior Austin Torres both finished sixth at the Pac-12 Multi-Event Championships over the weekend. Their placements earned six points for Oregon Track and Field prior to the Pac-12 Championships this upcoming weekend.
O’Connor saved her best performance for the final round at the Pac-12 Multi-Event Championships on Sunday in Stanford, California. The Eugene native set a personal-best in all three of her javelin throws, finishing at 118 feet, six inches (36.12 meters). Then, she set another lifetime best in the 800-meters. Her time of two minutes, 15.51 seconds was more than three seconds faster than her previous best.
O’Connor made the switch from sprints and hurdles to heptathlon just a few months previously. She finished with 5,271 points, earning three points for the women’s team and placing her No. 10 on Oregon’s all-time list for the heptathlon.
Torres, a junior transfer from Lane Community College, competed in his first-ever decathlon. He had a strong start to the first day of competition, he set a personal-best of 52.97 seconds in the 400-meters and was in third after five events. With two events left on Sunday, he was in second place. However, the javelin throw was his demise; he dropped for spots after fouling three times.
“Great start for the Ducks,” head coach Robert Johnson told GoDucks.com. “Anytime we can go to a championship setting and put points on the board for the team, that’s always a plus.”
Alissa Brooks-Johnson (5,977 points) of Washington State clinched her third straight Pac-12 heptathlon title. On the men’s side, Stanford’s Harrison Williams (7,925 points) won the decathlon.
This Saturday, the men’s and women’s teams will compete at Sanford for the Pac-12 Championship. The Men of Oregon have won 12 straight titles, and the Ducks are hoping to earn a 10th consecutive conference team title.
Follow August Howell on Twitter @howell_august