EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon track and field team racked up seven wins and four top-10 program efforts Saturday at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Coupled with their marks at the High Performance in Corvallis, the Ducks finished the penultimate weekend of the regular season with 19 top-three finishes and more than 30 lifetime and season bests.
Up Next: The Ducks close out the regular season next Friday, May 5, by hosting the Oregon Twilight. The meet will double as Senior Day with a ceremony scheduled for approximately 6:15 p.m. to celebrate and honor this year’s class.
Shelby Moran secured the first win of the meet with a day’s best of 65.32m/214-3 in the hammer throw. She finished ahead of two unattached entries in second and third, and out-distanced the closes collegian by nearly 20 feet.
To complete the sweep in the UO sweep in the hammer, Mason Strunk registered a season-best mark of 65.27m/214-1 to close out the men’s competition. The Salem, Ore., native went from fourth to first with his third-round attempt of 65.04m/213-4 which would have stood up for the win. Strunk went on to add another measure of beyond 65 feet in the fifth round.
Strunk began the day with a season best of 64.42m/211-4 from the Mt. SAC Relays (April 15) and ended just off his lifetime best of 65.43m/214-8 from last year’s Oregon Twilight.
The throws crew continued its winning ways with Jorinde van Klinken leading a quartet of UO women in the top nine of the discus. She got the implement out to a day’s best of 59.76m/196-0 in round four and finished 1-2 with teammate Jaida Ross (53.64m/176-0) who saved her best throw for the final round. In fifth place, Mine De Klerk posted a measure of 51.68m/169-6 for a season best.
Oregon’s first win on the track came in the 4×100-meter relay. The quartet of Aaliyah McCormick, Jadyn Mays, Shaniya Hall and Ella Clayton combined for a time of 43.85, the only team of the day to dip below 44 seconds.
The Men of Oregon got a top-10 program mark from their 4×100-meter relay team of Ryan Mulholland, Micah Williams, Xavier Nairne and PJ Ize-Iyamu. The team passed the baton around the track in 39.08 to establish a season best and become the eighth-fastest relay in UO history. The Ducks came into the day with a best of 39.72 from the Aztec Invitational in late March.
Williams was back on the track to post a time of 10.13 in his season opener over 100 meters. He finished as the top collegian in the field,…
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