Senior Becky Holliday had her poles with her Saturday, luckily for her.
Holliday missed the Oregon Preview two weeks ago because of cargo shipping problems that delayed her poles and her outdoor debut.
And without missing a step, she vaulted her way to the top of the podium with her second-straight pole vault crown at the Texas Relays.
Holliday led the women’s track team in Saturday’s final day, along with four other Ducks who reeled in top-10 finishes in the field events.
In an all-star field that contained five All-Americans, Holliday was one of just two to clear the opening height of 12 feet, 1 1/2 inches.
Holliday went on to easily pass 13-1 1/2 while taking all three attempts to clear 13-5 1/4, the height that won her the competition. She opted to pass at 13-9 1/4 and nearly cleared 14-1 1/4 on her final try but knocked the bar off with her body on the way down.
“My first jump was probably my best, and after that I felt a little tired, probably because we’ve been training hard,” Holliday said. “The conditions made it more challenging, but I also didn’t feel at top physical condition, so considering the results, I’m happy with it as an outdoor opener.”
Also in the vault, junior Kirsten Riley finished eighth after passing 12-1 1/2 in her only clearance of the day. Senior Niki McEwen no-heighted after passing up the first two attempts and missing three times at 13-1 1/2.
In the throws, senior Mary Etter broke through at the 76th edition of the Texas Relays. In Saturday’s shot put, Etter needed only one of her six attempts when she launched one to 49-2 1/4, nearly five feet better than her season best.
It was Etter’s only legal mark, and earned her eighth overall and her first NCAA Regional invite in the event this season. The Everett, Wash., native also earned seventh in the discus in Friday’s competition with a throw of 166-0.
In other action, sophomore Elisa Crumley finished third in her season debut of the javelin after throwing 157-11. After preliminary throws of 152-11, 147-4 and 147-1, Crumley opted out of her next two before her final toss became her daily best.
“I came in with no expectations because I’ve done so little in practice,” Crumley, an All-American, said. “I was worried about my strength and endurance, so I skipped my first throws in the final, so I could save some strength and try to relax, and that helped a lot.”
Also amidst Oregon’s javelin trio was sophomore Roslyn Lundeen who finished sixth, respectively, with a throw of 152-1. The All-American settled for her best mark in the preliminaries as she fouled every attempt in the finals.
“I had an off day,” Lundeen said. “Today was the first time I tried to use a full approach and my technique couldn’t handle the speed. I have a lot of work to do in the next weeks.”
Senior Amanda Brown wrapped up action Friday for Oregon by finishing third overall in the triple jump. Brown cleared 40 feet for only the fourth time in her career at 40-9 1/2, good enough for a 3/4-inch personal best and the fourth best all-time mark for Oregon.
The Oregon women featured one entry on the track with senior Heather Murtaugh finishing fifth in her heat of the 100 in 12.17 seconds.
The Ducks return to Hayward Field on Saturday for the Pepsi Team Invitational. Oregon will compete against Colorado, Minnesota and Washington, with action beginning at noon.