Oregon track and field hosted day two of the Oregon Relays at Historic Hayward Field, concluding the multi-events and beginning the individual ones Friday afternoon.
The headline event was the women’s 1,500 meters, which featured Mary Cain of Nike Oregon Project. Cain is a professional runner, who became the youngest American athlete to compete for her country after appearing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. The meet was her season debut.
In addition, the field were Alexi Pappas of Nike OTC Elite and Oregon junior Annie Leblanc.
Cain started out strong, running behind the rabbit. Sticking with her were Pappas and Leblanc.
The group was bunched for most of the race until Pappas made a move at the bell. She shot out ahead, taking a big lead into the back straightaway. Cain began to fight back into the race, with Leblanc hanging on.
Down the final 100 Leblanc made one last move to claim the victory in 4:16.17. Cain finished second (4:17.91) and Pappas came in third (4:19.16).
“I was really happy that I was calm enough and had enough energy to finish strong,” Leblanc said. “I knew Mary Cain, she is amazing and she has a really strong kick, so I knew it was going to be a challenge.”
Leblanc has a tradition of writing on her hand before every race, reminding herself of what she needs to do. Today she had written ‘Fast, Relaxed, Hard’ — all of which she was able to accomplish to pick up the win.
Oregon redshirt senior Dakotah Keys won the decathlon with 7833 points while freshman Ashlee Moore won the heptathlon with 5457 points. Both were making their outdoor debut.
Moore’s effort places her fourth all-time in school history.
“I didn’t let a good performance or a really bad performance get to me that much,” Moore said of her performance. “Just kinda blew it off and focused on what was next to come.”
Moore also competed in and won the long jump on her first attempted, jumping 19-11.
“I was really hoping that I could go 20, so when I jumped 19-11 I was so upset, I was so angry,” Moore said. “But I guess after doing seven events and then coming out to long jump I was happy with it.”
Mitch Modin finished in second in the decathlon with 7578 points after leading the first day. He was just seconds away in the 1500 from cracking the top-10 in Oregon decathlon history.
Former Oregon star and current Nike OTC Elite racer Mac Fleet won the men’s 1500 (3:40.52), though the real story was told by the fifth place finisher.
Matthew Maton, a high school senior who was running unattached, was able to break Galen Rupp’s 2004 state record in the event after crossing the line in 3:42.54.
“To break one of his track (records) is just unreal for me,” Maton said.
Duck fans should get used to watching Maton, after news broke Thursday afternoon that he had signed with the team. He will next compete at Hayward Field during the Oregon Twilight.
Oregon’s Greg Skipper won the men’s hammer on his third attempt of the day, tossing it 229-9.
“With the consistency the last two weeks I think we are in a good spot to throw a big one in the weeks to come,” Skipper said.
The Twilight, Pac-12s and the National Championship are all quickly approaching for Skipper and the Ducks. He has no mark he is shooting for, instead just wanting to go out and score points for his team.
“I am just going to see how far I can throw that thing,” Skipper said.
Duck senior Arthur Delaney won the men’s 200, edging out sophomore teammate Marcus Chambers down the final stretch. Delaney crossed in 20.79, while Chambers finished in 21.01.
Oregon’s Christian Brennan (23.92), Ashante Horsley (24.04) and Raevyn Rogers (24.56) finished 1-2-3 respectively in the women’s 200.
Click here for an entire list of results.
The Oregon Relays will conclude tomorrow afternoon.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur