Oregon sprinter Jadyn Mays pulls off upset at Pac-12 Invitational meet
Jadyn Mays ran the fastest race of her career Saturday and almost certainly secured her spot in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship meet.
The freshman sprinter won the women’s 60-meter race in a photo finish against teammate and collegiate record holder Kemba Nelson during the final day of the Pac-12 Invitational in Seattle.
Mays crossed in 7.148 seconds to 7.150 for Nelson. When rounded up, the 7.15 has Mays and Nelson in a tie for second-fastest in the NCAA this season, going off nationwide results through Friday.
It was also a personal-best for Mays and moved her into fourth-place all-time at Oregon.
Mays’ win was just one of five for the Ducks on Saturday.
Micah Williams took the title in the men’s 60 in 6.55. Lexi Ellis won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 42 feet, 11 inches. Tomas Palfrey, a freshman from Australia, won the men’s 800 in 1:48.8, making him the eighth-fastest performer in UO history.
Max Vollmer also won the heptathlon with a 5,801-point performance that should qualify him for his third-straight NCAA championship meet.
Vollmer opened the final day in second place with 3,106 points but climbed into the lead after running a 8.22 60 hurdles, clearing 16-3/4 in the pole vault — the best mark of the day — and finishing the 1,000 in 2:38.66.
His point total would put him on fifth place nationally, going off the performance list coming into the weekend.
Teammate Jett Kinder was leading after Day 1 but finished in a tied for sixth with 5,247 points.
Opening day brings season-best time for distance medley relay team
The Ducks' distance medley relay team of Izzy Thornton-Bott, Katriina Wright, Mia Moerck and Aneta Konieczek ran a season-best time of 10:57.28 during Friday's opening night of the Pac-12 Invitational meet.
That put Oregon at No. 3 in the NCAA based on times entering the day and should get them into the national championships in two weeks. Only the fastest 12 relay teams make the NCAA meet. The Ducks were ranked 19th with time of 11:07.42 before Friday's race.
Also Friday, Alessia Zarbo took more than 30 seconds off her previous PR in the women's 5,000 with her winning time of 15:50.15, making her sixth-fastest indoor performer in UO history.
Taylor Chocek, a freshman from South Eugene High, finished fifth in her first collegiate pentathlon, posting a score of 3,701 points to become the seventh-best performer in program history.
Pierce LaCoste won the men’s long jump with a mark of 24-11 3/4, and the men's DMR team of Reed Brown, Evan Mafilas, Luis Peralta and Jack Yearian, won their race in 9:33.54.
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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon sprinter pulls off upset at Pac-12 indoor track meet
