EUGENE, Ore. – On the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary, the No. 3 Women of Oregon collected nine additional qualifiers to add to their total heading to Austin for the NCAA Championships. Coupled with Taylor Chocek in the heptathlon and the team’s efforts Thursday, the UO women are sending 14 entries to the national meet.
Saturday’s highlights featured qualifying performance by Jadyn Mays in the 200 meters, Ella Nelson in the 800 meters, the trio of Klaudia Kazimierska, Maddy Elmore and Izzy Thornton-Bott at 1500 meters, Shana Grebo in the 400-meter hurdles, Jorinde van Klinken in the discus and both relay teams.
Van Klinken, the two-time NCAA champion in the discus, will be back to defend her title with Saturday’s qualifying efforts. She improved with each attempt and finished with a best of 62.76m/205-11 in round three. All three measures were beyond 60 meters, easily giving van Klinken the top qualifying spot. She also advanced to the national meet in the shot put earlier in the week.
The Ducks picked up their second NCAA qualifier of the day in the 4×100 relay. The quartet of Lily Jones, Mays, Grebo and Ella Clayton combined for a time of 43.57, good for second in their heat and a spot at the national meet.
With their trio in the 1500, the UO women have their most in the event since 2015 when the Ducks had four advance to the national meet. Like Thursday’s opener, Kazimierska and Elmore found themselves in the faster heat which produced another set of top-10 program performances. Kazimierska lowered her season best to 4:08.53 which put her fifth on the UO list while Elmore crossed in 4:08.87 to move to the No. 7 spot in Oregon history.
Thornton-Bott, competing in the first of two heats Saturday, posted an auto qualifier of 4:12.38 to clinch her second-consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Thornton-Bott’s 4:08.64 from earlier this year sits sixth in UO history, sandwiched between her teammates’ times from the second quarterfinal.
The Ducks’ middle-distance crew advanced another runner with Nelson’s showing in the 800 meters. In the first of three heats, the Walla Walla, Wash., native posted a lifetime best of 2:04.25 which stood up through the remaining heats as the fastest on-time qualifier. Nelson was seventh in the overall results and will be making her debut at the NCAA outdoor meet.
Grebo went from fifth to second over the final 100 meters to guarantee a lane at the national meet in the 400-meter…
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