Since the dawn of Pre, Oregon track and field has been known for its distance team.
But in the past four years, that has changed.
Since head coach Robert Johnson secured his position in 2012, the team has experienced an improvement in its short distance events. Especially this season, the Ducks have been making waves with runners like Jasmine Todd, Devon Allen and Marcus Chambers.
“Oregon isn’t necessarily known for the [sprints] over our history,” Johnson said. “So, I think what we’re doing here in that event area is special.”
Just two weeks ago at the Pepsi Invitational, Oregon displayed some of its best speed for the first home meet of the season.
Ariana Washington set a meet record in the 100 meters in 11.34, while Ashante Horsley and Chambers both brought home wins in the 400.
But the highlight of the day was the women’s 4×100 meter relay’s performance.
The team of  Todd, Deajah Stevens, Hannah Cunliffe and Washington broke both the meet and school record in 42.88, beating the previous school record set six years ago by almost a second.
“For them to do that this early in the year is definitely phenomenal,” Johnson said.
The following weekend at the Mt. Sac Relays, the team kicked things up a notch and ran the fastest time in the country this year, 42.68 to win the invitational section of the meet.
For the men’s short relay, dual-sport athletes have been key.
Football and track athletes Allen, Kirk Merritt and Tony Brooks-James are part of the men’s 4×100 meter relay team this season. With their four team member Chambers, the team has won the short relay at each of the past two meets.
At the Pepsi Invite, the team beat the Penn State in 40.06, even though Brooks-James and Merritt had a grueling football practice just the day before.
“Their legs were a bit dead from the scrimmage, but they ran pretty well,”Allen said of his teammates. 
At the Pepsi Invite, Merritt and Brooks-James also took third and sixth, respectively, in the 100 meters. Allen won his events, the 110 hurdles and the 400 hurdles at each of the home meets, setting a meet record in the 110 hurdles at both.
But Johnson said that the football-track dual athletes aren’t even at their best yet.  
“If we use history as a guide here, those guys [football players] usually come on at the Twilight meet,” Johnson said. “You see them get better and better after the Twilight meet and that’s usually when spring ball ends.”
While most of the team competed at the Oregon Relays last weekend, a select group of sprinters headed down to California to compete in the Mt. Sac Relays.
After the success of the women’s 4×100 meter relay team, Sasha Wallace and Alaysha Johnson kept the tempo and set season bests in the 100 hurdles.
This week, the team is competing in the Penn Relays before heading back to Eugene the first week of May for the Oregon Twilight.
Though sprints have seen a stellar few weeks, Allen and the other short-distance runners are always ones to give credit to others also working hard on the track, especially their distance team counterparts.
“Just being able to run four event about 25-30 minutes apart is pretty good,” Allen said after his four-event day at the Pepsi Invite. “The only other person that I know that can do that is Edward Cheserek.”
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01