For most of this year, the University of Oregon’s iconic Hayward Field has sat silent and empty. But on April 18 and 19, when Oregon’s collegiate runners return for their first home meet of the season, that silence will be gone and will be replaced with the cheers of an always-passionate ‘Track Town’ crowd.
Hayward Field, which was fully renovated in 2021, will play host to the Oregon Open on April 18, followed by the Oregon Invitational on April 19. Both days will feature men and women competing in short- and medium-distance races, as well as field events.
Held Saturday, the Oregon Open will be a non-scored competition, meaning it’ll be solely a celebration of individual results. Entry fields are limited by size, with priority given to collegiate athletes who will already be competing on Sunday. Any unfilled spaces will then be offered to collegiate student-athletes, followed by any unaffiliated but competitive adults.
The action will continue on Sunday when the Oregon Invitational kicks off. The Invitational will be a condensed one-day meet held under normal NCAA rules. Its status as a qualifying event means it must also be a non-scored competition, but the event will introduce “Fan Scoring,” an unofficial points tally that is intended to encourage teams to participate in all events.
Four other universities will attend Sunday’s Oregon Invitational in full; Texas A&M University, Kansas State University, Wichita State University and Oklahoma State University. The women’s teams from the University of Utah and Oregon State University will also be participating.
The Ducks have had a strong start to their 2025 track and field campaign. Both the men’s and women’s teams won Big Ten Indoor Championship titles in March. The Oregon men’s 106 points finished 6.5 ahead of second-place USC, while the women’s team dominated second-place Illinois by 49 points (131 to 82).
As a result, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) named head coach Jerry Schumacher its National Women’s Coach of the Year at the 2025 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Awards. Shalane Flanagan was also named Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Assistant Coach of the Year. Both coaches did so in just their third years with the program.
Oregon’s momentum carried over into early outdoor competitions. The Ducks earned eight wins and eight program top-10 finishes across the Battle of the Beach (April 4) and Stanford Invitational (April 4-5) meets.
Unsurprisingly, Oregon’s track stars have also enjoyed plenty of individual success. Wilma Nielsen, a native of Sweden who transferred to Oregon from Washington this offseason, won the NCAA women’s indoor mile with a time of 4:32.40. She’s also a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier in the 800-meter race and ran second leg in Washington’s record-setting 4×800-meter relay in 2024.
Also notable is Jaida Ross, who broke the women’s collegiate shot put record (20.01m) in 2024. Ross was named last year’s USTFCCCA National Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. The senior from Medford, OR is the first NCAA women’s shot put champion in school history.
The Oregon Open will begin Saturday, April 18, at 2:45 p.m., with the day’s closing steeplechase set for 8:30 p.m. The Oregon Open will also host men’s and women’s hammer throw on Sunday at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. respectively. The Oregon Invitational will then begin at 4:55 p.m. Sunday and will end with the men’s 4×400-meter relay at 7:45 p.m.
