With six of 21 events scored prior to Saturday, the Oregon women entered the final day of competition in second place, behind Georgia.
The day got off to a rocky start for the Ducks.
In the 4×100 meter relay, the Ducks were disqualified after the baton handoff failed to be completed in the third 100-meter stretch. The two runners involved in the missed handoff sat on the ground with looks of disappointment after the disqualification.
After all the opposing teams had finished, Oregon made the final handoff as the anchor ran the final 100-meter stretch with the crowd cheering her on.
USC was able to edge out LSU by .02 seconds, winning the 4×100 meter relay.
In the 3000 meter steeplechase, Oregon’s Aneta Konieczek kept good pace throughout the race, running right behind the leaders. Unfortunately, with about 1000 meters to go, she started to lose steam and began to fall off the leading pack. She wasn’t able to recover and finished the race in ninth place.
The race ended in a photo finish as the strong kick of Mahala Norris of Air Force allowed her to beat out Auburn’s Joyce Kimeli by a half second.
Junior Kemba Nelson got the Ducks’ only points of the day, recording a season best 10.90 seconds in the 100 meter sprint, good for fourth place. In March 2021, Nelson set the collegiate record for the 60 meter sprint with a 7.05 second time. She won the final in the process at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Cambrea Sturgis of North Carolina A&T won the 100 meter race, setting a new collegiate record in the process, with a 10.74 time. Sturgis became a two-time NCAA champion about an hour later, running a 22.12 in the 200 meter sprint.
“It was special,” Sturgis said. “Especially that my indoors didn’t go too well. My coach told me to go out there and execute.”
This wasn’t the last collegiate record to be set Saturday afternoon. Athing Mu of Texas A&M beat her old collegiate record in the 400 meter race with a 49.57 time as she blew the competition out of the water.
The crowd at Hayward Field gave a loud standing ovation for Mu as she ran by waving at the fans after her win.
“It (the victory lap) felt really good, I was happy enough to have some people last for autographs and photos,” Mu said. “It was pretty fun.”
In the last event of the day, the 4×400 meter relay, Mu helped Texas A&M set a collegiate record of 3:22.34. Running the anchor, Mu started the last 400 meters behind USC, but quickly gained ground, running away with the championship. USC’s second place finished clinched them the team championship.
Freshman Dominique Ruotolo of the Ducks finished in ninth place in the triple jump finals with a best jump of 44 feet and 1.27 inches.
USC took home the national championship with 74 team points.
“This moment is great,” USC head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert said. “This is the world’s greatest facility. To watch my team compete, nothing is a given, I was biting my nails all the way to the 4*400 because anything can happen.”
After the Oregon men placed second on Friday, the women finished in 11th place, tied with Texas Tech and Ohio State. While the collegiate track season is over, some of these athletes will soon return to Hayward Field to compete in the Olympic Trials.
