Oregon track and field invited Kentucky and Washington to Historic Hayward Field for the Pepsi Team Invitational. Spectators watched as both the Duck men and women were able to win the team competition.
The meet served as the inaugural home contest of the 2015 Duck outdoor season.
“Pretty pleased with what we accomplished today,” said Oregon head coach Robert Johnson. “Good overall performances from everyone.”
The final standings saw a sweep by both the Oregon men and women. The men won with 162 points, while the women had 138.
“We wanted to get away from chasing marks and just try to beat somebody,” Johnson said.
Rounding out the men’s contest were Washington (115) and Kentucky (110). For the women, Kentucky placed second (124) and Washington third (119).
Scoring for the meet was fairly simple; the top six finishers contributed to the final tally, with the amount of points awarded in descending order (7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1).
The first scoring event of the day was a win by Oregon’s Jillian Weir. The senior was able to take the women’s hammer.
Weir launched it 206-1 on her second attempt of the day. Kentucky’s Beckie Famurewa placed second (192-11), while freshman teammate Madeline Middlebrooks finished third (167-1).
In the women’s 5000, it was a one-two sweep by the Ducks. Junior Molly Grabill (16:51.99) and sophomore Maggie Schmaedick (16:52.01) made their move on the bell lap, taking control of the race. Washington’s Kaylee Flanagan finished third (16:57.65).
Following their performance was another one-two finish by the Ducks in the women’s 3000 steeplechase. The sophomore pair of Frida Berge and Alli Cash finished in 10:29.34 and 10:30.39 respectively.
The strangest moment during the meet happened in the men’s steeplechase. Running comfortably in first place down the final stretch was Oregon’s Tanguy Pepiot. As he began to slow down the final straightaway, Washington junior Meron Simon made a late kick, gaining on him.
“He started throwing his hands up, and I thought ‘I don’t think he knows I’m coming,’” said Simons.
Pepiot never realize his lead was in jeopardy even as the Hayward crowd roared for him to pick up the pace. While Pepiot pumped his fist to the crowd — thinking they were merely cheering for him — Simon passed him for the win (8:57.86).
“I felt really bad for him, but it’s just racing,” Simon said. “I told him, ‘Keep your head up.’”
Pepiot finished in 8:57.96. His head coach said that they would discuss what happened during the team meeting, after emotions had simmered down.
Johnny Gregorek was able to win the men’s 1500 in 3:43.43, the third fastest in collegiate ranks so far this season. He had to drop out of running the 800 with cramps in his calf.
The men’s 5000, which originally promised to be an exciting race between Oregon and Washington, lost some of its luster when the Husky runners were held out with injury concerns. The result was an event that felt more like a training session than a race, with Oregon claiming the sweep as Edward Cheserek, Eric Jenkins and Will Geoghegan all crossed side-by-side.
It was a busy day for Oregon junior Jenna Prandini, who competed in both the women’s long jump and as a member of the 4×100. In the long jump, she only needed a single jump to win the event, passing or fouling on the rest. She finished jumping 21-0.5.
Prandini ran the third leg of the relay, helping her team finish second with a time of 44.44.
“Four by one needs a little work, but that will happen — it’s early,” said Prandini.
Click here for all of the results from the Pepsi Invite.
Oregon will split its athletes for the next meets on the schedule. Some will travel down to Walnut, California to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays, while the rest will remain at home to participate in the Oregon Relays. Both meets will start on Thursday.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur