It’s not uncommon for a scored track meet to come down to the 4x400m relay, the last scheduled event. Saturday’s Pepsi Team Invitational women’s competition, however, took that one step further.
When the 4x400m wrapped up with Oregon, Minnesota and Penn State all still alive in the team battle – the Ducks had 185 points, Minnesota 177 and Penn State 174 – the outcome of the meet hinged on the last few rounds of the women’s discus throw still going on in the Hayward Field infield.
Minnesota’s Hannah Studt jumped into second place on her last throw, giving the Gophers a one-two finish, which coupled with fourth- and seventh-place points by Lucy Cridland and Megan Maloney, who was 8th overall, but was given 7th-place points for the Ducks, combined to give the Gophers a one-point win over Oregon, 193-192. Penn State was third with 181 points and Washington was a distant fourth with 78.
“I think we’ll be able to look at most of the events and find that one point in a lot of different places. Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes in these types of meets,” associate head coach Dan Steele said.
The meet started out with an upset of sorts in the javelin throw, as Minnesota’s Ruby Radocaj set a 15-foot personal record, as well as a meet- and school-record 187 feet, 6 inches, to defeat Oregon junior Rachel Yurkovich, who threw 183-11.
“She had a good day,” Yurkovich said. “I’ll give her the Pepsi. Hopefully I can get her at nationals.”

Distance runners Alex Kosinski and Nicole Blood both had big days doubling up for the Ducks. The pair swept the top two places in the 1,500m and both set personal bests in the event.
Kosinski won the race in 4 minutes, 19.88 seconds, just outside of the Oregon all-time top-10 list, and Blood held off Washington’s Amanda Miller for second, in 4:20.86.
“I’m really happy with my 1,500 performance,” Kosinski said. “I’m still trying to work on strategy, on racing.”
Kosinski, a freshman, then came back to place fourth in the 800m, while the sophomore Blood won the 5,000m in 16:16.58, also a personal best.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect, running a double like that, but I felt great so I just went with it,” Blood said.
Zoe Buckman challenged Minnesota’s five-time All-American Heather Dorniden late in the 800m, before succumbing to the Gopher star.
Keshia Baker also pushed another Big Ten Conference All-American to the line in the women’s 400m. Penn State’s Shana Cox, the 2007 NCAA outdoor runner-up, won in 53.30, while Baker set an outdoor PR in 53.62.
“It felt really great. I made sure I got out really hard because that’s what I’ve been struggling with,” Baker said. “I did a good job with that, but my coach said I could still work on it a little harder, so that would help me make up that little difference that I’m short.”
The two other Duck wins came from Maloney in the hammer throw and the 4x100m relay team.
Freshman Jamesha Youngblood added two second-place finishes in the long and triple jumps, Kasey Harwood was a close second in the 400m hurdles and Brianne Theisen was second in the high jump.
But at the end of the day, it wasn’t quite enough to hold off Minnesota’s last-event charge.
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