Meet records were shattered even before night fell on Saturday’s Oregon Twilight at Hayward Field.
Britney Henry, redshirting for Oregon this year, competed unattached and broke the meet’s hammer throw record with a sling of 217 feet, 10 inches. Only Colorado State’s Loree Smith (220-8) has thrown farther than Henry this season, but because Henry is not competing as a Duck this season, her toss cannot be included on official NCAA lists.
Oregon’s Brittany Hinchcliffe held the previous Twilight record of 198-5, which she set as an unattached athlete in 2004.
Oregon senior Katie Kersh landed a throw of 169-8 to finish third in the field this weekend.
On the track, Nike runner Shayne Culpepper broke a 23-year-old meet record in the 3,000-meters that had belonged
to former Oregon runner Kathy Hayes since 1983. Culpepper’s time of 8 minutes, 54.84 seconds set a one-second personal record and is the third-fastest time in the world this season. Her teammate, former Stanford star and NCAA champion Lauren Fleshman, fell behind but finished second with a time of 9:00.80, the world’s fifth-best time.
“Lauren and I planned to come to this race and run together to get into the rhythm of the season,” said Culpepper, the 2004 Olympic Trial champion in the 5,000. “Competing in Eugene is always a treat because of the crowd and the history and the town and the track.”
Oregon senior Magdalena Sandoval finished fifth in her season debut (9:46.87) but was the first collegiate runner to cross the finish line.
Oregon freshman Julie Schmidt-Scherer ran in place of teammate Sofie Abildtrup in the 200 and won the sprint with a time of 25.67.
“It wasn’t my best time, and I didn’t expect to run that good,” said Schmidt-Scherer, who usually runs the 400. “I won’t say that I was ready for it, because I only practiced two times this week. It can always be better, but it was still good.”
Fifth-year senior Laura Harmon led Oregon to a first-place finish in the 1,500 with a time of 4:35.78, nearly two seconds ahead of freshman teammate Sarah Pearson, who finished second (4:37.36). Meanwhile, middle-distance runner Sara Schaaf took second for the Ducks in the 800 (2:08.55).
Oregon’s Mandi Fitz-Gustafson was the fastest of three competitors in the 3,000 steeplechase Saturday. The redshirt sophomore finished with a time of 11:18.28 to win the event, considerably slower than her season-best 11:09.20 and personal-best 10:51.81.
“It was nice to get another race in,” Fitz-Gustafson said about running
in only her second steeplechase of the season. “There were a couple stutters up to the hurdles and one at the water pit when I was pretty tired, but other than that, it went pretty good.”
Fitz-Gustafson said she would have liked to record less than an
11-minute time, but it wasn’t possible without someone running ahead of her for motivation.
Seniors Clarice Hayward-Lee and Maegan Traver finished one, two in the triple jump for the Ducks and recorded season-best marks but could not leap to regional-qualifying distances. Hayward-Lee peaked on her fourth jump at 40-0 1/2 to win the event, while Traver’s best mark — 37-6 3/4 on her fifth attempt — solidified her second-place finish.
In the high jump, Oregon senior Rachael Kriz Wallace’s right hip popped out of place as she planted her push-off leg for the final attempt at 5-3. She finished without recording a height.
“It’s the kind of injury that just comes swarming back when you try too hard; it’s a love-hate relationship you have with track and field,” Kriz Wallace said. “I just need to get better and go to the Pac-10s. That’s all I need to concentrate on.”
Former Oregon pole vaulter Becky Holliday tied her Twilight record in the event, clearing
14-1 1/4. Holliday, who competed for New Balance, still holds the school record at 14-8. Oregon’s Hannah Moore and Emily Enders recorded no heights.
Jordan gets personal record in heptathlon
Oregon junior heptathlete Lauryn Jordan finished fourth in the 2005 Pacific-10 Multi-Event Championships at Drake Stadium on Sunday. Jordan accrued a personal-best 5,299 points to earn a regional-qualifying mark, but it was not enough to knock off the dominant Pickler sisters of Washington State.
Sophomore Julie Pickler won the title with 5,569 points. Her sister, Diana, finished with 5,563 points.
Jordan gathered 3,324 points and ranked second after the first four disciplines on Saturday. Teammate Roslyn Lundeen finished in eighth place with 4,935. The Ducks will have six team points going into the Pac-10 Championships next week.
