On a sunny Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field, athletes from Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University came to compete in the Oregon Team Invitational.

“It was really fun,” Oregon distance runner Ella Nelson said. “This was a scored meet, which we don’t usually do for a home meet, so I think it was more fun competing that way, and it was great to have a bunch of high-level schools at the track today.”

Women’s discus was the first event containing Oregon athletes, which kicked off at 4:00 p.m. It was not a strong event for the Ducks, as the two participants finished in the bottom two spots.

Women’s long jump was a little better as both Oregon participants finished in the middle. All 13 competitors finished within less than two meters of each other. Hannah Ganashamoorthy came in tenth with 5.52 meters, while Casssandra Atkins finished sixth with 5.75 meters.

The first event where an Oregon athlete finished on top was the men’s shot put. All ten participants including Ducks Kobe Lawrence and Aidan Elbettar went at least nine meters. Lawrence led the way with 19.28 meters to secure the top spot by less than two meters.

The next winning event for Oregon was the men’s high jump. All nine competitors finished within half a meter of each other. The participating Ducks were Shaun Miller Jr. and Treydarius Tintinger, who both finished in the top three. Tintinger came in third with 2.06 meters while Miller finished on top with 2.11 meters.

The long jump was Oregon’s worst event on the men’s side, which doesn’t say a lot. The participating Ducks were Bryce Simpson and Safin Wills. Of the nine competitors, Wills came in fifth with 7.23 meters. Just ahead of him was Simpson, who finished with 7.28 meters.

Women’s high jump was a bit less impressive for the Oregon competitors. Of the 11 participants, Ryann Porter came in last with 1.55 meters. Annika Williams did a bit better, recording 1.70 meters and finishing fifth.

Women’s shot put had a very similar result. Oregon’s Kohana Nakato finished last with 8.75 meters, while Williams’ performance had her finishing fourth with 14.42 meters.

The final first-place event for the Ducks was the men’s discus. It was a tremendous success for both Oregon participants, who each finished in the top two out of the ten participants. Lawrence narrowly escaped in second place with 55.35 meters; 0.1 ahead of the third-place athlete from Wichita State. The only man ahead of him was Elbettar, who cruised to a 57.81 meter performance that placed him on top.