Before Saturday, the Oregon throwers had been almost exclusively achieving personal records and regional qualifying performances.
Then Saturday rolled around, and a different group of Duck track and field athletes set their marks at the Oregon Invitational in front of 3,579 fans.
Senior sprinter Sofie Abildtrup took the first step for all Duck runners with a first-place finish in the 400-meters. Stopping the clock at 54.37 seconds, Abildtrup exceeded the regional qualifying mark of 54.61 and beat second-place finisher Loni Perkins of Montana by more than a second. Abildtrup also holds the Danish national record in the event.
In past women’s 400 hurdles races, Oregon freshman Kasey Harwood came in first with teammate Kayla Mellott taking second. On Saturday, Mellott crossed the finish line in second, but Harwood sat out with a strained right hamstring that she suffered in Thursday’s practice.
“What I really wanted to do was just get out fast,” said Mellott, who qualified for Regionals with a personal-best time of 60.15. “It was a nice mark to get out of the way for now.
“I had my steps on, and I was pretty fatigued in the last 100, but I was still able to move up, and everything went according to plan.”
Senior Laura Harmon snatched a Regional qualifying spot in the 5,000 with a seventh-place finish at 16:39.37, only six seconds behind her personal record.
In the 4×400 relay, Washington’s team time of 3:44.58 just edged out Oregon’s 3:44.77. A race to the finish line developed as Washington’s Amanda Miller and Oregon junior Sara Schaaf sprinted neck-and-neck for the top spot a good nine seconds ahead of the other three teams’ anchor runners.
The Huskies also received event victories from senior Kate Soma in the pole vault (13-6 1/4), sophomore Ashley Lodree in the 400 hurdles (59.65) and freshman Jennifer Nash in the 100 (11.98).
The throwing events capped off with the javelin, in which Oregon’s Sarah Malone used another consistent effort to claim the victory. The fifth-year senior carefully worked on a runway slick from rain and landed a spear
173-1 to win her third straight competition of the outdoor season.
“When it’s dry, you don’t think twice, but when it’s wet, you’re a little more cautious,” the two-time All-American said. “It was definitely something I was thinking about, and I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t throw farther.”
Oregon’s Brittany Hinchcliffe finished fourth in the hammer throw by landing a mark of 192-11 on her sixth and final attempt. Cari Soong of Team XO, comprised primarily of post-collegiate athletes training in Oregon, won the event with a sling of 211-6, while junior Britney Henry’s best effort of 206-4 carried her to a second-place finish. Both Soong and Henry, who is redshirting for Oregon this season and competing unattached, work with Ducks’ throws coach Lance Deal.
“At the end of a rest week you can get really good performances or just good performances,” Deal said. “We got the good ones.”
In the morning session of the Invitational, senior Bree Fuqua battled Mother Nature in addition to her competition, but still controlled both of her field events.
“Bree had the worst of the weather,” Deal said. “She scored the whole time and had a couple of respectable shots.”
Fuqua, who has already earned regional marks in her events, posted measurements of 52-11 1/2 in the shot put and 155-10 in the discus under opening skies.
“With the discus, you can’t get a good grip on it unless you have a lot of dry towels around,” Fuqua said. “I was glad to throw in the rain just because it might rain for Regionals. “
Oregon junior Lauryn Jordan took second place in the heptathlon that concluded Friday. She won the
100 hurdles (14.60) and the long jump (18-7 1/4), accumulating
5,020 points in the two-day event. Idaho’s Manuela Kurrat won the competition with 5,711 points.
“Getting a personal best score is great, but there was so much more there,” Jordan said. “Overall, I also learned it helps not to dig yourself any type of hole the first day. I’m looking forward to getting ready for Pac-10s and improving again there.”

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