LUBBOCK, Texas – Powered by three lifetime bests Thursday, Eugene native Taylor Chocek registered a career-best 4,075 points in the pentathlon at the Texas Tech Open & Multis. All three UO women in the event—Chocek, Colleen Uzoekwe and Gianna Bullock—posted top-10 scores in program history.
Jett Kinder leads a trio of UO men after day one of the season-opening heptathlon. Through four events, he sits in seventh place with 3,092 points, ahead of teammates Rafael Raap and Nathan Poff in ninth and 17th place, respectively.
With her performance, Chocek becomes the fourth woman in Oregon history to top 4,000 points in the pentathlon, joining Brianne Theisen, Mathilde Rey and Kalindra McFadden. Chocek entered the day as the No. 7 performer in Oregon history with her score of 3,701 points from last season but is now up to fourth on the top-10 list.
After an 8.54 to start the day in the 60-meter hurdles—just .02 off her PB—Chocek had personal bests in the next three events: high jump – 1.72m/5-7.75, shot put – 13.35m/43-9.75 and long jump – 5.74m/18-10. Based on scores entering the day, Chocek is tied for ninth in the NCAA this year.
Uzoekwe completed her first collegiate pentathlon with 3,904 points, good for ninth place in Thursday’s standings and the No. 7 spot on the Oregon top-10 list. She opened the day with a personal best of 8.45 in the 60-meter hurdles, a time that makes her the 10th-fastest performer in UO history. Uzoekwe went up the overall standings with back-to-back marks of 13.59m/44-7 and 5.81m/19-0.75 in the shot put and long jump, respectively.
On her way to a lifetime-best 3,823 points, Bullock established personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles (8.71), shot put (11.41m/37-5.25), long jump (5.57m/18-3.25) and 800 meters (2:26.37), and tied her current best clearance in the high jump. Bullock’s mark in the long jump came on a third attempt after two fouls to start the event. Her final tally now sits at No. 9 on the UO top-10 list, improving on a score of 3,570 points from last year.
Kinder opened his day with a 7.24 effort in the 60 meters, just .05 off his lifetime best, and followed up with an indoor PB of 6.96m/22-10 in the long jump. With a personal best of 14.48m/47-6.25 in the shot put, he moved from 12th to eighth in the overall standings. All three of Kinder’s marks improved on his previous best of 14.35 meters from 2021.
The Brentwood, Tenn., native came through with a third-attempt…
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