Oregon Women Fourth at NCAA Championships
UO release – AUSTIN, Texas – The Women of Oregon are bringing a team trophy back to Eugene by way of a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The Ducks ended the meet with 44 points, securing a podium finish in the program’s first season under head coach Jerry Schumacher. Individually, Jorinde van Klinken won her third-consecutive NCAA title in the discus and Izzy Thornton-Bott ran to a national runner-up finish in the 1500 meters. The UO women now have 15 top-four team finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and the first since winning the national title in 2017.
Duck Men at NCAA
UO release – AUSTIN, Texas – Micah Williams finished seventh in the 100-meter final Friday evening at the NCAA Championships. In a race featuring seven runners under 10 seconds, the UO junior posted a season’s best of 9.99 from lane nine. Williams was appearing in the third NCAA final of his career and replaced his previous season’s best of 10.03 from Wednesday’s semifinals. The Portland, Ore., native now has nine sub-10 performances in his career and Friday’s outing was his first during a national meet. With the result, Williams also becomes the second Duck to go sub-10 at the NCAA Championships and the first since Cravon Gillespie ran 9.93 in the 2019 final, also held in Austin. The top seven in Friday’s race were all under 10 seconds and finished within a tenth of one another; Courtney Lindsey of Texas Tech (9.89) was the winner.
OSU Women at NCAA
OSU release – AUSTIN, Texas – Grace Fetherstonhaugh, Kaylee Mitchell and Jade Whitfield each earned first team All-America honors on Saturday, setting a new standard for the Oregon State Track and Field program. The Beavs had three All-Americans for the first time since the NCAA National Championships started in 1982 and for the first time at a national championship meet since 1979. “We were three-for-three in point scorers and first team All-Americans. Definitely a great day for our emerging program. I know that Grace and Kaylee had their eyes on contending for an NCAA title – so maybe not the outcome they had hoped, but what that means for our program is that this is the standard. We are competing not only to get to the NCAA meet but to win a title. So, I love what they have done for Beaver Nation. Jade was amazing. She very well may be our first champion in future years. Tremendous job by her and Coach Dumble,” Oregon State head coach Louie Quintana said. Fetherstonhaugh and Mitchell opened the day with sixth and seventh place finishes in the 3000m steeplechase. They battled through the Texas heat to score for OSU, bringing in five points between the two of them. The dynamic duo closed their outdoor careers as the first women in OSU Track and Field history to earn All-America honors both indoor and outdoor in back-to-back seasons. Mitchell is the ninth Beav ever to score at two NCAA meets. Whitfield closed the day with her first All-America honor, placing eighth in the discus with a throw of 57.63m/189-1. Her toss was just two feet behind her school record in the event. She is the first Beaver thrower to earn first-team NCAA All-American honors since Connie Peterka in 1986. Whitfield is OSU’s first All-American in the discus since 1973 (Beth Smith).