Last time pole vaulter Emily Fitzsimmons and javelin thrower Daniel Thrana performed at Hayward Field, they accomplished feats that haven’t been matched in an Oregon uniform in over a decade. They will return for the Oregon Twilight meet riding momentum from career days at the Oregon Team Invitational.
“We set the bar high, and it doesn’t matter if it’s on the track, or it’s in the throwing circles, or it’s out in the pole vault, that’s what we want our athletes to be thinking,” Oregon head coach Jerry Schumacher said. “When they accomplish it, now (it’s), ‘Hey, I’ll take another step on the ladder.’”
Fitzsimmons headlined the field side of the Oregon Team Invitational, breaking Becky Holliday’s 23-year-old school record of 4.47m (14’ 8”) with a 4.48m (14’ 8.25”) pass. The senior had regularly cleared the school record mark in practice, but doing it officially for the first time allowed her to set her sights higher.
“I’m just really proud to be a part of this team, and feel like I’m contributing at the level that I expect us to be at Oregon,” Fitzsimmons said. “I’m just proud of the work we put in, and it translating over the years, and us figuring things out as we go. That’s what the sport is about, having a flexible mindset and being able to change and turn things around until it all clicks.”
Fitzsimmons entered the outdoor season with high expectations after ending her 2025 season with the third-highest mark in Oregon history, a 4.44m (14’ 6.75”) clearance at the NCAA Championships. With the Oregon Twilight meet shaping up to be her second-to-last on home turf ahead of this year’s NCAA Championships, she can look to extend her record with another late-season peak.
“Emily in the pole vault, that was outstanding to see, especially on her home track, because we want to bring her back here for NCAAs, because she placed really well last year,” Schumacher said.
Thrana’s 78.31m (256’ 11”) heave in the second round of the Oregon Team Invitational was the best by an Oregon thrower since Sam Crouser’s 79.19m (259’ 9”) mark in 2015. Cyrus Hostetler’s 83.16m (272’ 10”) throw in 2009 still dwarfs any other in Oregon history, ranking No. 17 in NCAA history; however, Thrana’s encroachment on second place set a high bar for his first season as a Duck.
The junior ripped the No. 5 throw of the 2026 Division I season on a difficult day that saw him slip into a foul in the first round and fight through cramps later. Coming out of that challenging meet with a personal best gave Thrana crucial confidence for later meets.
“I was kind of surprised, because I didn’t feel like it was gonna go as far as it did, because it always looks short on the grass; it’s so big, and then I looked on the big screen, I was like, ‘Wow, that was 78,’” Thrana said. “It bumped up my hopes for next meet, for sure.”
Oregon’s record books have already been re- written following the first meet at Hayward Field in 2026, and the athletes with their names now near the top will chase new standards in their second home meet.
