Oregon qualifies 14 women, 5 men for NCAA Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field
The Ducks NCAA Track & Field Championship meet qualifiers are set after four days of competition at the NCAA West Preliminary at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Led by collegiate record-holder Jaida Ross, the Oregon women have 14 qualifiers in 13 events at the national meet June 5-8 at Hayward Field. The Oregon men will have five qualifiers in three events.
Ross secured her spot in the women's shot put with a historic performance on Thursday when she became the first collegiate woman and seventh American all-time to record a 20-meter throw when she reached 65-feet, 7¾ inches (20.01).
That mark eclipsed her previous collegiate record of 64-8, a mark she has reached twice this season.
Ross also qualified in the discus, finishing third on Saturday with a throw of 191-11.
Jadyn Mays qualified in two events on Saturday when the Pac-12 champ had the fastest time in both the 100 (10.83) and 200 (22.13) quarterfinal races.
Shana Grebo ran a PR 56.24 to finish fifth in the 400 hurdles — an slight improvement upon her previous school record of 56.28.
Cheyla Scott cleared 6-½ to finish first in the high jump.
Klaudia Kazimierska and Mia Barnett advanced in the 1,500. Kazimierska ran 4:11.24 to automatically earn her spot. Barnett ran 4:14.17 and was the fastest non-automatic qualifier.
Freshman Katie Clute won her 3,000 steeplechase heat in 10:10.86 to grab her automatic qualifier, and Silan Ayyildiz, the fourth-ranked 5,000 runner in the NCAA this season with a PR of 15:15.84, snuck in as the 12th-and-final qualifier with her finish in 16:05.82.
On Thursday, Shelby Moran secured her fourth-career NCAA championships appearance with a throw of 217-5 in the hammer.
Oregon’s 4x100 team finished fourth in 43.02 to move on to Eugene, and the 4x400 team finished sixth in 3:28.50.
Heptathlete Taylor Chocek was already qualified for the national meet.
The Oregon women also took some hits as three of their top athletes — all who have been struggling with injuries — won’t be with them at nationals.
Maddy Elmore, who broke the 39-year-old school record in the 5,000 earlier this season and who is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA with a time of 15:15.76, was entered in her race this weekend but didn’t start.
Same for Aaliyah McCormick, who is ranked No. 9 in the 100 hurdles at 12.81. She was entered this past week but didn't start.
Neither runner competed in the Pac-12 championship meet.
Long jumper Alysah Hickey, who has had three top-6 finishes at the NCAA outdoor championships in her career, has been out for most of the season with an injured ankle.
She returned to jump at the Pac-12 meet but finished 18th at 18-5, and on Thursday jumped 21-5 to finish 19th.
Oregon men will have 5 compete at NCAA Track & Field Championship
The Oregon men wrapped up their regional meet on Friday by qualifying four individuals for the championship meet.
PJ Ize-Iyamu qualified in the 100, and the trio of Elliott Cook, Rheinhardt Harrison and Tomas Palfrey qualified in the 1,500.
Rafael Raap, who was already qualified in the decathlon, gives the Ducks five athletes in the men's championship meet.
Cook and Harrison ran 3:40.43 and 3:40.58, respectively, to finish in the top-five in their heat as both secured automatic qualifiers. Palfrey finished seventh in his heat in 3:41.09 to qualify on time.
Ize-Iyamu ran a wind-aided 10.04 (+2.6) to get an automatic berth.
Follow Chris Hansen on X @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks secure their NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Champs lineup
