Parting is such sweet sorrow.
The 3,346 in attendance Saturday at the Oregon Twilight were able to see the Ducks in action for the final time this season at Hayward Field. And Oregon didn’t disappoint.
Highlighted by Mary Etter and Amanda Brown’s two wins each, the Oregon women took first in 11 events, sweeping the throws and garnering one very important Pacific-10 Conference qualifying mark.
Brown, who had failed to claim a qualifying mark in either the long jump or triple jump, did so confidently in the former event.
With the West grandstand looking on, the junior jumped a season best in the event, taking first with a mark of 19 feet 2 1/2 inches. She is the last Duck to claim a Pac-10 mark.
Making her accomplishment even more fulfilling, Brown had suffered a hamstring injury before the season, relegating her to lower marks while recovering.
“It feels so good to get that” Pac-10 mark, she said. “I had kind of given up on myself on the year, and it was hard coming back from an injury. I pulled it down the first time, and it felt really good.”
Finishing her day, Brown took first in the triple jump with a mark of 38-08 3/4.
Not to be upstaged, Etter made it her kind of day in the throwing events.
After failing to register a distance due to fouls in the hammer, the junior came back strong, taking the shot put by eight feet (48-11 3/4) and outdistancing teammate Jordan Sauvage in the discus with a mark of 177-05.
Etter’s discus throw was a nine-inch personal best, a throw that was less than 1 1/2 feet away from an NCAA automatic mark. However, she has already earned a NCAA provisional.
“The disc went really well
— lifetime best,” Etter said. “And the shot is still consistent, so I’m happy.”
Sauvage, the aforementioned winner of the hammer, did so in convincing fashion. Her top distance of 183-3 was six inches shy of an NCAA provisional mark.
The junior was far ahead of the curve in the event, bettering Oregon’s Jamie Burk by more than 20 feet.
“I had a really good series,” she said. “I definitely want more. I’m very excited, and I’m peaking at the right time.”
Sauvage finished off her day by taking second in the discus (153-08).
It may not have been a personal best, but junior Eri Macdonald kept her winning ways going strong, taking first in the 800 (2:08.70). Junior Alicia Snyder-Carlson (2:12.56) and Annette Mosey (2:12.88) followed close behind, with the former registering a personal best.
The Ducks swept the 100
— Heather Murtaugh claiming first in a field of nothing but Oregon runners — and almost did the same in the 200, with Janette Davis (24.85) easily defeating Southern Oregon’s Tiwana Merritt.
Finishing the day, Ann Sullivan (14.41) narrowly defeated teammate Lucretia Larkin (14.81) in the 100 hurdles.
In what may have been the most anticipated event of the day, unattached Oregon athlete Niki Reed claimed victory in the pole vault.
The senior, who is redshirting the season, was awarded first with a height of 13-05 1/4. Oregon entrant Becky Holliday also cleared the same height, but Reed did so in fewer chances.
With the wind at their backs, higher marks were expected. Holliday, who has a top height of 14-1 1/4 this season, was clearly disappointed.
“I just wasn’t in to it,” she said. “I’m frustrated. I didn’t feel good on the runway. I didn’t feel relaxed. I didn’t feel confident. I didn’t have a good warm-up. Maybe I was just coming into this with too much going on in my head.”
In the last event of the afternoon, Sarah Malone outdueled teammates Charyl Weingarten and Rachael Kriz in the javelin.
Malone out-threw Weingarten by 14-feet, and Kriz, who had yet to make an appearance in the event this season, took third ahead of George Fox’s Gina Coolen.