Oregon got off to a good start the first day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday evening in Birmingham, Alabama, posting individual wins while advancing through the preliminaries.
The Duck men are in first place (25 points) with six events scored through day one. Washington is in second (18) and SE Louisiana third (15.50).
The Oregon women are currently in 20th with just two points after five events. Leading is Georgia (27), Arkansas (19) and Notre Dame (18).
The most impressive performance came via junior Edward Cheserek. He was able to win the men’s 5,000 with a time of 13:47.89 after pulling away with two laps to go.
Adding to the Ducks’ dominance in the distance events, Oregon was able to win the distance medley relay. With a team of freshman Matthew Maton, Ben Thiel, Grant Grosvenor and Cheserek, the Ducks were able to cross the line in 9:27.27 — good for the NCAA meet record.
The Oregon women’s DMR was able to finish in scoring position with seventh place, recording its only points in the team competition. The team consisting of Lilli Burdon, Ashante Horsley, Annie Leblanc and Ashley Maton crossed the line in 11:05.96.
Senior Greg Skipper turned in a surprise performance in the men’s weight throw. He outperformed expectations, launching it 73-11.75 for fourth place.
After four events in the men’s heptathlon, Oregon’s Mitch Modin finds himself in 12th with 3,131 points. He is 396 behind first, with three events (60 hurdles, pole vault and 1,000) scheduled for tomorrow.
Things went according to plan for Oregon in the prelims. Sam Prakel and Blake Haney advanced in the men’s mile, Devon Allen ran the fastest time in the men’s 60 hurdles, and the pair of Sasha Wallace and freshman Alaysha Johnson moved on in the women’s 60 hurdles. Johnson recorded a huge personal record with a time of 8.08. Allen also set a PR and school record in the hurdles after winning in 7.58.
In the women’s 60 meters prelims there was a surprise performance out of Oregon sophomore Hannah Cunliffe, who ran the fastest time of the day in 7.12, which is also her PR. That performance ties English Gardner’s school record and is the sixth fastest time in NCAA history. Teammate Jasmine Todd also advanced after winning her heat in 7.23.
In the women’s 800 Raevyn Rogers was the only Duck able to advance; the sophomore turned in the best time with 2:03.13. Senior Leblanc, who was on the bubble to qualify, was unable to break into the top eight.
In the women’s 200 prelims teammates, Hannah Cunliffe and Deajah Stevens had the second- and third-best times to punch their tickets to the finals. Stevens’ time of 22.98 was a PR.
The Duck men are searching for back-to-back indoor titles, while the women hope to improve on a second place finish last season, after five consecutive championships.
Click here for a complete list of results.
The NCAA Championships will conclude tomorrow, with the men’s heptathlon 60-meter hurdles slated to get things underway at noon.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur