Pac-12 Track & Field Championships Day 3: Oregon Ducks win with sweep of team titles

Three dominant days led to two team titles and one big celebration for the Oregon program.

The Ducks’ men and women both finished off uncontested victories Sunday afternoon during the final day of the Pac-12 Track & Field Championship meet at Hayward Field in front of an announced crowd of 5,182.

The men scored 161 points to win their 15th straight title and 22nd overall. Washington was second with 105 points.

The women ended a streak of three-straight runner-up finishes with a 167-point performance. Colorado was second with 102.5 points and USC, the three-time defending champ, was fourth with 78.

“To be able to win a Pac-12 championship on both sides … here at Hayward Field, that’s definitely going to be one of the things that I remember out of my years here,” Oregon coach Robert Johnson said.

The two teams combined for 12 event champions — seven for the men and five for the women — and showcased their overall team depth.

“It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful being a part of this team, seeing your teammates giving it all, scoring points, getting medals, titles,” said Emmanuel Ihemeje, winner of the men’s triple jump. “After all, this is a championship and you see a teammate being a champion is also motivation.”

Williams and Nelson cap spectacular day with wins in the 200

Micah Williams and Kemba Nelson couldn’t have had a better day as the conference championship meet concluded on Sunday.

The two Oregon runners won titles in the 100 and 200 to become the first Ducks' duo to double up in the short sprints since Kyree King and Deajah Stevens did the same in 2017.

Williams ran a personal-record 20.05 to win the 200 and a wind-legal 9.93 in the 100.

“Ultimately I just wanted to execute my race and just give my team a chance to win,” he said.

He had a homestretch battle in the 200 before pulling away late from California’s Ezinne Abba, who closed in a PR 22.91.

“I just tried to stay tall and not fight as much,” Williams said.

Nelson won her 200 in a PR 22.74, ran the 100 in 11.05 and also was also on the second leg of the Ducks’ winning 4x100 team.

“The team was very positive after that race,” Nelson said of the relay, which was the first race of the day. “We were positive coming in but after that after that race it kind of cemented in. It was kind of a confidence booster going into the individual races and I just took that energy into the 100 and 200.”

Oregon's Iman Brown was fourth in the 200 in 23.08 and Jasmine Montgomery was fifth in 23.28.

Ihemeje, Ellis win triple jump titles

Emmanuel Ihemeje is a three-time NCAA champion, a three-time all-American and an Olympian.

Now the Oregon triple jump star is also a Pac-12 champion.

Ihemeje, the 2021 conference runner-up, won the triple jump title with a mark of 54 feet, 10 inches — more than two-feet better than runner-up Keyshawn King from USC, who jumped 52-8.

The NCAA leader said he didn't feel any pressure to perform Sunday, as he engaged with the crowd and competitors during the competition.

“I eat pressure for breakfast,” said Ihemeje, who was second in the long jump on Saturday. “I like competition. I like being challenged, even if I get second, third, whatever, I know I can do better every time.”

Lexi Ellis also won the women’s triple jump title for the Ducks, as she recorded a mark of 42-11 1/2 to held off USC’s Temitope Ojora, who was second at 42-9.

“I’m just thankful I could pull it out of me,” said Ellis, who came into the meet as the Pac-12 leader.

Returning champion Dominique Ruotolo also jumped 42-9 to finish third, but Ojora’s second-best jump was better than Ruotolo’s.

Webster, Mundy do double duty in hurdles

Oregon’s Alexandra Webster nearly pulled of an upset in the women’s 400 hurdle as she held the late lead before caught right before the finish line by Arizona’s Shannon Meisberger.

“It was so competitive to the very end,” Webster said. “I felt the tension, but I’m so happy with my race the place I got.”

The Ducks sophomore recorded a PR of 56.47, while Meisberger ran a season-best 56.43.

Webster also finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in 13.20 as USC’s Jasmine Jones repeated as conference champion with a time of 12.92.

“I feel amazing,” Webster said. “I was going to go out there and I just wanted to run as fast as I can and I didn’t want to give up.”

Oregon’s Will Mundy also had double duty in the men’s hurdles as he placed second in the 400 hurdles in 51.11 to 50.80 for winner Cass Elliott of Washington, and ourth in the 110 hurdles in 14.19. Arizona State’s Jamar Marshall Jr. repeated as champion in 13.39.

Crowd cheers support Cook in nabbing men’s 800 title

With a boost from the home crowd and one last, hard push, Oregon freshman Elliott Cook won the men’s 800 by a step over Arizona State’s Dayton Carlson.

Cook clocked a personal-best 1:48.81, while Carlson crossed in 1:48.81.

“I’m shocked, the way I was able to do,” Cook said. “I’m just happy I was to step on the line and show up for my team today.”

Cook was in the lead heading into the final lap but Carlson pulled even coming down the homestretch before Cook took back the lead for the final 20 meters.

“I came through 400 meters right about where we were suppose to be,” Cook said. “ … but coming down that last 100 meters, had a guy on my shoulder and with that home crowd cheering me on, it helped a lot to get to the finish line first.”

Oregon’s Matthew Erickson finished third in 1:49.74 and Tomas Palfrey was eighth in a PR 1:51.87.

Cook started his day with a fourth-place finish in the 1,500 as the Ducks scored 12 points with Reed Brown and James Gormley also coming in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Brown, the Pac-12 leader coming into the meet, ran from the front until getting passed by Washington’s Luke Houser with 300 meters to go and slowly fading. Cook and Gormley both set PRs as they finished in 3:40.98 and 3:41.25, respectively. Washington’s Joe Waskom was the winner in a PR 3:40.33.

Oregon sweeps 100-meter titles

Micah Williams and Kemba Nelson gave Oregon a sweep of the 100-meter titles.

Williams ran a blistering wind-legal 9.93 in a convincing victory over Stanford’s Udodi Onwuzurike (10.17) and defending champion Davonte Burnett was third in 10.22.

Williams’ time is the sixth-fastest in collegiate history.

The Ducks’ Xavier Nairne was also fourth in 10.27 and Ryan Mulholland was seventh in a PR 10.35.

Nelson won her race in 11.05 for her second title of the day as she was also on the Ducks’ winning 4x100 relay team.

Nelson held off California’s Ezinne Abba (11.13) and NCAA leader Celera Barnes of USC (11.21).

Oregon loaded up on points as Jadyn Mays also finished fourth (11.28), Jasmine Montgomery was sixth (11.50) and Jasmin Reed eighth (11.73).

Oregon women win 4x100 title

Oregon opened action on the track Sunday afternoon with a dominating win in the women’s 4x100-meter relay as the team of Jadyn Mays, Kemba Nelson, Jasmin Reed and Jasmine Montgomery finished in 42.91. It was the Ducks’ second-straight conference title in the 4x100 relay. USC was the runner-up in 43.45.

The Oregon placed third in their 4x100 as the team of Rieker Daniel, Micah Williams, Will Mundy and Xavier Nairne ran a time of 39.39. USC was the winner at 38.60 and Arizona State was the runner-up at 39.28.

Oregon in the lead for both team titles after Day 2

The second day of the Pac-12 Track & Field Championship meet ended with a flurry of points for Oregon.

The Ducks had the top two finishers in the men’s and women’s long jump, the top two finishers in the decathlon, and scored 10 points in the women’s steeplechase, giving the Hayward Field crowd of 4,498 plenty to cheer for.

The end result was the Oregon men and women will go into the Sunday’s final day leading the standings and in solid position to win both teams titles.

The Duck men have 67 points, with Washington in second place with 60. The UO women have 60 points to lead Colorado by 24.

“It’s always good to leave the track with 18 points on the board because as you know, we are working to win this title so I’m very excited for that,” said Alysah Hickey, who won her second-straight women’s long jump title.

Hickey’s winning jump of 21 feet, ½ inch came on her first attempt and the only jumper who came close to catching her was teammate Dominique Ruotolo, who was the runner-up at 20-5¾.

Ruotolo, the returning champion in the triple jump, will compete in that event Sunday.

Pierce LaCoste, a junior from Eugene who came to Oregon as a decathlete, won the men’s long jump with a PR of 25-4½.

“I finally got a win that matters,” LaCoste said with a smile. “It feels good.”

The runner-up was Emmanuel Ihemeje, as the Ducks’ three-time NCAA champion triple jumper recorded a PR 25-¾.

Like Ruotolo, Ihemeje will compete in the triple jump on Sunday.

Max Vollmer cruised to a third-straight title in the decathlon, winning by a comfortable margin over teammate Jett Kinder, 7,961-7,124. He joins former Oregon standouts Ashton Eaton, Dakotah Keys and Craig Brigham as three-time conference decathlon winners.

It was hardly a drama-free day for Vollmer, who competed through the final five events with a cramping right hamstring and needing three jumps before clearing his first bar in the pole vault.

Vollmer said his hamstring acted up before Saturday’s first event, forcing him to recalibrate and make his goals more realistic.

“Minimum effort, just get through, don’t get hurt,” he said. “Everything was just strategy, just get the points.”

Nathan Poff also finished sixth as Oregon scored 23 points in the decathlon alone.

The Ducks reached double digits in the women’s steeplechase as well.

Defending champ Aneta Konieczek and Malia Pivec had a 3-5 finish, with Pivec running a PR 10:01.93 to become the sixth-fastest performer in school history. For Konieczek, it was a disappointing finish in 9:50.80 as she faded out of the lead with 500 meters to go.

Colorado’s Madison Boreman — who won the 2017 Pac-12 title in the final conference meet at the old Hayward Field — won in a PR 9:42.22. Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell was second in 9:48.79.

“Honestly, I’m just disappointed and kind of surprised,” Konieczek said. “I made a move because I was confident and training has been good. … I think maybe I just went too early.”

Ross sets school record in women's shot put

Jaida Ross said she came to Oregon last year dreaming of making her mark and establishing a legacy.

She did that Saturday, setting the school record in the women’s shot put and finishing in second place during the Pac-12 Track& Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.

Ross opened with a throw of 57-7, breaking Brittany Mann’s previous school best of 57-4¾ from 2016.

“I felt very on in warmups and told myself I’m not taking as many warmups as I usually do, I’m going to chill out,” Ross said.

Arizona State’s Jorinde van Klinken won the event as the Dutch Olympian threw 60-1 on her fourth attempt and had five attempts of at least 57-0.

Arizona’s Samantha Noennig was third at 57-5½.

Oregon’s Mine de Klerk was fourth with a throw of 55-8½ on her first attempt, as the Ducks came scored 13 points.

The Ducks continue to load up Sunday qualifiers

The Oregon men will have three scoring chances in the 800 final come Sunday, as Elliott Cook, Matthew Erickson and Tomas Palfrey all advanced out the prelims.

Cook ran 1:50.20 to win his heat, Erickson automatically qualified with a second-place finish in 1:49.39 and Palfrey qualified on a time of 1:50.18, a personal record.

Carly Kleefeld and Ella Nelson were among the last two qualifiers in the women’s 800 final, and they both needed to run PRs to get there.

Running in the same heat, Kleefeld finished fourth in 2:04.94 and Clayton was fifth in 2:05.02 as they advanced on time.

Webster and Mundy double up in hurdles

Oregon’s Alexandra Webster qualified for her second final of the weekend in style Saturday, as she ran the fastest time in either of the 100-meter hurdle preliminary heats.

Webster’s finish in 13.04 seconds was a personal record and moved her into a tie for third all-time at Oregon with teammate Emily Sloan, who is out with an injury this season.

On Friday, Webster qualified for the 400 hurdles final.

The Ducks’ Will Mundy also will race in both men’s hurdles finals on Sunday. He qualified for the 400 hurdles Friday and then followed with a second-place finish in his 110 hurdles heat Saturday in 14.33.

Oregon also advanced two in the women’s 400 final as Ella Clayton and Katriina Wright both finished second in their heats to automatically qualify. Clayton ran a PR of 53.09 and Wright ran 53.66.

Chocek sets PR in heptathlon finish

Oregon’s Taylor Chocek put together a career-best performance in the heptathlon as she finished in fourth place Saturday with 5,523 points, moving her to No. 4 on the Ducks’ all-time list.

The second-year freshman set three event personal-records, including two on Saturday as she threw 134 feet, 3 inches in the javelin and had a mark of 18-8½ in the long jump.

Stanford’s Allie Jones won the title with 5,731 points, followed by Colorado's Avery McMullen (5,576) and Arizona’s Skylar Sieben (5,542).

Chocek started Saturday in third place with 3,290 points. She tied her PR in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5¾ and then ended the first day with a PR in the 200 as she ran 25.09.

Day 2 underway at Hayward Field

The second day of the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships began Saturday morning at Hayward Field with Oregon's Max Vollmer running the fastest time in the decathlon 110-meter hurdles.

Vollmer's time of 14.83 seconds earned him 870 points to extend his total to 4,948. With four events to go, Vollmer has built a 530-point lead over teammate Jett Kinder as he attempts to win his third-straight conference title.

Also Saturday, Oregon's Aneta Konieczek and Alysah Hickey will go for their second-straight Pac-12 titles in the women's 3,000 steeplechase and the women's long jump, respectively, and the Ducks' sprinters will be back on the track at as they attempt to qualify for Sunday's men's and women's 100 finals.

Hampton tops men's javelin, leading Duck's 22-points in the event

A year ago, Ty Hampton was at home and injured, watching the Pac-12 Track & Field Championship meet on television.

Friday, the second-year freshman became a conference champion.

Hampton threw his way to a title in the men’s javelin, leading Oregon’s 22-point effort in the event.

Hampton threw 242 feet, 4 inches to win by 19 inches over runner-up Roan Allen of Washington.

Sidelined by a back injury for all of the 2021 season, Hampton has been the top javelin thrower in the conference all season and he came into the meet as the favorite.

“It’s kind of crazy to think it’s just last year I was not considering being in this position,” said Hampton, who was a high school standout for North Bend. “I’m happy I made the safe road to recovery and I’m able to perform.”

Oregon’s Eric Lyon was third at 217-6, Dalton Rasmussen was fifth in 213-9 and Asher Krauel was seventh at 204-7 to help the Ducks finish the day with 28 points and in first place as they continue their quest for a 15th conference team title.

Stanford is in second with 27 points and Washington is third with 20.

The Huskies sit atop the women’s team standings with 32 points. Oregon is fifth with 14.

An announced crowd of 3,581 sat through a constant rain that accompanied the meet, making conditions cold on the track and slippery on the runways.

Not that it slowed Hampton. who hit his best throw on his second attempt, forcing everyone else to try and track him down.

“The plan was be loose, be relaxed, don’t try forcing anything,” he said. “That’s all I went out there and did.”

Oregon’s Zarbo makes record-breaking 10K debut — finishes second

As far as 10,000 debuts go, that was pretty good for Alessia Zarbo.

The Oregon sophomore finished in second place in what was the fastest championship 10K in meet history as the top four runners all beat the previous race record.

Colorado’s Abby Nichols was the winner in 32:27.25, followed by Zarbo in 32:28.57, Colorado’s Emily Covert in 32:30.82 and Washington’s Haley Herberg in 32:34.67.

The previous meet record was 32:38.73, set by former Duck Carmela Cardama Baez last year. Zarbo is now the No. 3 performer on Oregon's all-time list.

“It was my first 10K so I didn’t know what to expect,” said Zarbo, who’s primarily been a 5,000 runner. “I was worried it was going to hurt real bad but I felt very comfortable.”

Zarbo’s finish earned the Ducks eight points.

Stanford’s Charles Hicks successfully defended his title in the men’s 10,000 with his win in 28:11.17.

Washington’s Kieran Lumb was second in a personal-record 28:11.49 and Oregon’s Aaron Bienenfeld was third in 28:14.67 to earn six points for the Ducks.

It was Bienenfeld's first 10K since the 2021 NCAA outdoor championships and his time gave him the qualifying standard of 28:15.0 for the European Championships later this summer. Bienenfeld, who is from Germany, moved into fifth place on Oregon's all-time list.

Oregon's Mundy, Webster advance to 400 hurdle finals

The Ducks will have a finalist in both the men’s and women’s 400 hurdles on Sunday, as Will Mundy and Alexandra Webster advanced out of the preliminaries.

Webster won her women’s heat in 58.89. Mundy ran 51.99 to finish second in his men’s heat.

The Pac-12 leader in each race will not compete in the finals.

That includes Oregon freshman Shana Grebo, who was entered in the meet earlier in the week but wasn’t on the start list that came out Friday morning. Oregon didn’t respond to a request for information on why Grebo missed the race.

In the men’s race, Jamar Marshall Jr. of Arizona State was disqualified from his prelim heat. The reigning 110 hurdles champion will compete in the prelims in that event on Saturday.

Nakato scores first points for Oregon women

Oregon freshman Kohana Nakato finished in third place in the women's javelin in her Pac-12 championships debut and scored the first points of the weekend for the Ducks women.

Nakato threw 158-11 on her third attempt for a six-point finish.

“I just wanted to relax and have fun,” Nakato said. “I knew that the weather was going to be a little gloomy so I didn’t want that to put me down. So I just relaxed a bit and had fun and it turned out well.”

Stanford’s Virginia Miller was the winner with a throw of 178-6 and Washington State’s Valentina Barrios Bornacelli was second at 165-0.

California’s Camryn Rogers now at three-time hammer champ

California’s Camryn Rogers dominance in the hammer continued Friday as the two-time NCAA champion became the second women in conference history to win three-straight titles.

The senior threw 241-10 to get the win by a comfortable margin.

“I feel like my coach and I really focus just on the things that we need to do and it keeps things very simple,” said Rogers when asked if she feels any pressure as the prohibitive favorite. “For us, we found that simplicity very much is key because I’m very guilty of being an over thinker.”

Her teammate Anna Purchase was second at 226-1 and Arizona State’s Shelby Moran was third at 217-5.

Duck women sprinters open with 200 prelim success

The Ducks' first direct shot at the mighty USC women's sprint program came Friday as Oregon qualified three to Sunday’s 200 final while the Trojans failed to advance out of the preliminaries.

Iman Brown (23.40) and Kemba Nelson (23.68) both won their respective heats to automatically advance and Jasmine Montgomery (23.67) qualified on time.

The Oregon men also qualified two into the 200 finals as Micah Williams (20.73) and Ryan Mulholland (20.95) moved on to Sunday.

The USC men, who are trying to end the Ducks’ 14-year winning streak at the meet, can get some serious traction in the standings as four Trojans qualified for the final, led by reigning conference champion Davonte Burnett, who ran 20.72.

Ducks stack the 1,500 finals scheduled for Sunday

Oregon loaded up on qualifiers in the men’s 1,500 as four men advanced out of the prelims to make Sunday’s final.

Reed Brown (3:43.38), Jack Yearian (3:43.68), James Gromley (3:43.79) and Elliott Cook (3:43.99) were the first four across the line in the first heat to automatically advance.

“That was something special out there,” said Brown, who is the Pac-12 leader this season at 3:36.44. “That’s what we planned on, just take the race from the beginning and our whole goal was just to qualify everyone in that heat and we got everyone through. Just looking behind and seeing those guys right behind me lit my day up. I’m super excited for Sunday.”

Washington’s Joe Waskom had the top time in the two prelim heats with a personal-record 3:41.62.

Oregon's Izzy Thornton-Bott also advanced to Sunday’s final in the women’s 1,500 as she ran 4:20.83 to finish fourth in her heat.

The top time of the day was by Colorado’s Micaela Degenero, who ran 4:17.46.

Oregon's Max Vollmer looking for third-straight decathlon title

Max Vollmer wasted little time setting on a tone in the decathlon Friday afternoon as the Oregon junior set a PR in the first event of the meet as he ran 10.72 in the 100 to take the early lead.

It wasn’t the only PR of the day for Vollmer, who is off to a good start in his quest for a third-straight conference title.

Vollmer is on top after five events with 4,078 points, leading a 1-2-3 start for the Ducks, who also have Jett Kinder in second at 3,739 and Nathan Poff third at 3,645.

Vollmer set a PR in the high jump as he cleared 6 feet, 5 inches, and also threw 45-9 1/4 in the shot put, had a mark of 22-7 in the long jump and ended with a 48.67 in the 400.

Kinder also set a PR in the 100 with his finish in 11.30.

What to watch: Standout events and individuals at the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships

Pac-12 Track & Field Championships return to Hayward Field

The Pac-12 Track & Field Championships are back at Hayward Field for the first time since 2017 and the host team is looking to sweep the team titles.

The meet will be Friday, with events starting at 2 p.m.; Saturday, first event at 11 a.m. and Sunday, with first event at 11 a.m. at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

UO men and women:Oregon Ducks looking for title sweep at Pac-12 Track & Field Championship meet

The Oregon men have won 14 straight conference championships and the Oregon women are the favorites after three-straight runner-up finishes to Southern California.

The meet will feature 13 reigning Pac-12 individual champions, and eight individuals who lead the NCAA in their respective events.

This file will be updated throughout the meet. Check back Friday through Sunday for the latest news.

How to watch

Friday

Women’s hammer final: 4:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, and Pac-12.com

Men’s and women’s javelin and pole vault finals: 5:15 p.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Men’s and women’s 10,000 final: 7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Saturday

Men’s hammer final: 1:45 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Men’s and women’s long jump and shot put finals: 3:45 p.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Men’s and women’s 3,000 steeplechase finals: 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Sunday

Field events finals: 11:30 a.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com

Track events finals: 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app Pac-12.com

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks sweep Pac-12 Track & Field Championships team titles