The men’s javelin competition kicked off the Pepsi Team Invitational at 11:20 a.m. Saturday. Within minutes, Oregon junior Cyrus Hostetler uncorked the throw that associate director of track and field Dan Steele referred to as the “performance of the meet.”
Hostetler’s first throw of the competition flew 272 feet, 10 inches, a 33-foot personal best and a school record by more than 20 feet. In the grand scheme of track and field, Hostetler’s throw was the world’s best in a young outdoor season and an IAAF “A” standard, qualifying him for the IAAF World Championships this August in Berlin, should he place well at the U.S. national meet.
“It just was perfect,” Hostetler said. “It felt like I didn’t use my arm at all. It seemed to just, like, not want to drop. It seemed like it was big, but I didn’t know how big. I looked at Alex (Wolff) and I was just going crazy.”
“I think that’s probably one of the best performances by a University of Oregon athlete ever at Hayward Field,” Steele said.
The throw bested John Stiegeler’s 2001 school record of 252-10 and the Pacific-10 Conference record of 268-7, set in 1998 by Esko Mikkola of Arizona.
“That’s awesome. That’s invigorating,” Wolff said of his teammate’s throw. “It stayed there for a long time.”
Wolff opened the javelin competition with a personal best of his own, throwing 234-4 and taking the runner-up position behind Hostetler. Wolff’s throw ranks as the fifth-best in school history.
“Any other day, (Wolff’s mark) is a big, big deal,” Steele said. “Cyrus overshadowed him, but that’s a great throw. Our javelin throwers will continue to move up the rankings.”
The Ducks were tied with Indiana, 187-187, entering the final event of the meet, the discus. The Hoosiers’ duo of Daniel Galos and Paul Haas finished second and fourth, respectively, to secure the win for Indiana with 200 points to the Ducks’ 194. Kansas State finished third with 130 points, and Utah State finished fourth
with 127.
Oregon held out Galen Rupp, Andrew Wheating, Matthew Centrowitz, A.J. Acosta and Luke Puskedra for the meet, and Ashton Eaton competed only in the
shot put.
Purvis sets pace for women
An assault on the record books by freshman Amber Purvis and a meet record javelin throw for Rachel Yurkovich led the Oregon women to victory over Indiana, 233.5 to 167. Kansas State finished with 119 points and Utah State
finished with 132.5 points.
Forty minutes after running the opening leg of the women’s 4x100m relay – which won the race in 45.35 seconds, fresh off a school record at the Stanford Invitational – Purvis lined up for the women’s 100m and broke the school record with an 11.41-second performance. Rosie Williams (1989) and LaReina Woods (1993) shared the previous record of 11.58.
“I knew I was gonna be fast, but I didn’t know how fast,” Purvis said . “I kinda wanted to break the record, but I didn’t know how my body was gonna do today.”
Purvis then lined up for the women’s 200m shortly after, and again broke the school record with a regional-qualifying time of 23.09. Rosie Williams’ 1989 mark of 23.39 came crashing down.
“I think we’re watching a star emerge,” Steele said. “She’s just going to get better. She’s a true
freshman, and she’s got a nose for the finish line.”
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