The Oregon Ducks track and field team ran, lept, vaulted and threw in three different competitions, in two states over three days this weekend. Oregon finished the weekend with two program records, three overall victories and seven athletes with the top five finishes.
Brutus Hamilton Multis
The decathletes and heptathletes took first and second in their first competition this outdoor season Thursday and Friday in Berkley, Calif.
After day one, Colleen Uzoekwe and Gianna Bullock sat atop the leaderboard in the heptathlon. The decathletes looked strong too, with Nathan Poff in first place and Arthur Katahdin 176 points behind Poff, sitting at No. 4.
After five outdoor bests in seven events, Uzoekwe sealed the victory on day two of the heptathlon. The 5,349 points performance by Uzoekwe places her No. 10 in program history. Bullock had a lifetime best performance and second place finish with 5,098 points.
Poff stayed on top of the leaderboard to take first overall with a total score of 6,738 points. In his second decathlon for the Ducks, Katahdin had a season’s best pole vault and personal best javelin to climb his way up the podium into second place.
Triton Invitational
The Ducks were throwing hard and far in La Jolla, California, setting new school records in discus and shot put on Friday and Saturday.
Reigning national champion and Arizona State transfer, Jorinde van Klinken set the Oregon discus record with third farthest fling in NCAA history. The Dutch international threw for 67.05 meters on her outdoor season debut. Van Klinken finished second to a former Olympic champion and professional Valarie Allman.
Jaida Ross, who finished No. 9 overall, had three throws go past her previous lifetime best in the discus, ranking herself third in Oregon’s record books.
On Saturday, Ross became NCAA shot put leader, broke her own Oregon record and became the first woman in the program’s history to throw over 18.28m. Her record breaking throw went for 18.49m. The top 20 collegiate performance was enough for her to finish second. She was the top collegiate athlete.
Boyman Memorial Invitational
Similar to the heptathlon and decathlon, the Oregon pole vaulters finished first and second ninety-three miles north of Campus in McMinnville, Oregon, on Saturday.
Both Harrison Canfield and Hunter Angove cleared 4.85m. Canfield took first place, with the least number of failed attempts. The victory vault was a season’s best for Canfield.
Next weekend, The Ducks head to California to take part in the Bryan Clay Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays. The magic returns to Hayward Field for the Oregon Twilight on May 05.
