Even three wins for Devon Allen, a triple jump PR for Chance Whitehurst and a 400 meter victory for Ashante Horsley were not enough to make the mark as head coach Robert Johnson’s highpoint for day three of the Oregon Relays.
“Probably the highlight today for us was Cole Walsh,” Johnson said.
After no-heighting last week at the Pepsi Invitational, Walsh set a personal record Saturday to win the pole vault Saturday, 17 feet, 9 inches.
Walsh has been focusing on improving his speed on the runway for a positive impact in his jump.
“Last year, I was really inconsistent in my approach, and that’s something that I worked pretty hard on over the summer,” Walsh said. “That was one of the biggest things that affected how I jumped today.”
After clearing his winning mark, Walsh raised the bar to 18-1 to attempt another personal best. He missed all three attempts, failing to even get up on two, but with a victory and a new best, he still considers the day a success.
“You can never be mad with a PR,” he said.  
On the track, Oregon maintained momentum.
First in the men’s 4×100 meter relay, the team of Allen, Kirk Merritt, Tony Brooks-James and Marcus Chambers took a win in 40.18. Oregon also wrapped up the day with a 4×400 relay win on the men’s side.
After the short relay, Allen bested the competition twice more with wins in the 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles. He won the 110 hurdles in 13.48, but even a victory almost a second faster than second place wasn’t satisfactory.
“I was a little frustrated because I wanted to run faster with a 1.9 tailwind,” Allen said.
Back on the field, men’s triple jumper Whitehurst broke his Pepsi Invitational personal record to win with 49-9¼.
“Chance is somebody that we’ve been working a lot on a few things,” Johnson said. “Let’s keep him on that runway and maybe we can keep getting PRs.”
Near the end of the day, both the men’s and women’s 800 runners took second. Grant Grosvenor and Ashley Maton finished in 1:50.70 and 2:09.08, respectively. The time was a personal best for Maton.
The Ducks have next weekend off before heading to the Penn Relays on April 28.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01