The Oregon women’s track and field team is headed down the home stretch toward the most important time of the year.
But before they could make that final turn to the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, the Ducks needed to clear their final hurdle known as the Oregon Twilight on Saturday. The meet was the last to be held at Hayward Field this season.
The women added nine event wins in front of the crowd of about 4,000, which saw the Oregon seniors compete in their final meet in Eugene.
“The women had a good meet,” head coach Martin Smith said. “I felt that there were some good individual improvements.”
Abby Andrus, a redshirt senior from Peoria, Ariz., triumphed in two events and earned season bests in each. Her times of 14.16 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and 59.90 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles met the Pac-10 standards.
In another sprints event win, junior Sofie Abildtrup placed first in the 200-meters with a time of 24.01. The time was nearly .08 seconds off her personal best. Abildtrup also competed in her last meet at Oregon, as she plans to return to her home of Denmark after the year.
Afterward, she said she was happy with her performance but hopes to give a better effort at the conference championships.
“I was pretty pleased about it,” Abildtrup said of her time. “I felt really good at the beginning of the week, but I was really tired today. I think I could go quite a bit faster at Pac-10’s.”
Other running wins included the 800-meters, in which sophomore Sara Schaaf improved her personal best by two seconds, at 2:08.08, to earn a Pac-10 qualifier. Redshirt junior Taylor Bryant took third place in the 1,500 with a time of 4:40:48.
The women’s success did not end on the track; it also carried over onto the field.
Bree Fuqua, a junior transfer from Wisconsin, placed first in the shot put with another Pac-10 qualifying mark of 52 feet, 5 1/4 inches. The throw improved her personal best by 1-1 3/4. Fuqua also moved up to second on Oregon’s all-time list in the shot put right behind Quenna Beasley’s mark of 53-1 1/2, achieved almost 21 years ago.
Fuqua said she felt prepared coming in after working with throwing coach Lance Deal.
“I had a good practice the whole week,” Fuqua said. “I was hoping for a little farther but it’s probably better to hold off and wait a few weeks for it.” On the pole vault, freshman Emily Enders and senior Kirsten Larwin each took second place when they cleared 12-10 1/4. They finished behind former Duck and NCAA champion Becky Holliday, who vaulted over 14-1 1/4.
Enders, a Snohomish, Wash. native, also achieved a new personal best when she cleared the height on her third attempt. She said she was so excited after clearing the bar that she screamed with joy.
“I’m a little embarrassed by that,” Enders said. “But it was great with the crowd behind you, it just makes everything that much better. Once I got on the runway I felt focused.”
In the hammer throw, sophomore Megan Kriz vaulted up to second all-time in Oregon history, smashing her personal best by 11 inches with a throw of 185 feet. Senior Jill Hoxmeier moved into 10th on the all-time list with her mark of 163 feet.
Hoxmeier, whose last meet at Hayward Field was Saturday, said she will always remember the camaraderie of being around the women day in and day out.
“I’m going to miss my teammates more than anything,” Hoxmeier said. “They make coming to practice just so much easier. They’re just my best friends.”