Shelby Moran also improved on her own school record in the hammer
UO release – EUGENE, Ore. –Jaida Ross turned in a repeat performance Saturday, tying her own collegiate record in the shot put at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Ducks posted six top-10 program marks on a busy day that saw the team competing across four meets. Along with Ross’ showing in the shot, Shelby Moran improved on her own school record in the hammer. Other changes to the Oregon top-10 lists came from PJ Ize-Iyamu in the 100 meters, Silan Ayyildiz in the 1500, Mason Strunk in the hammer and Moran—again—in the discus. Shana Grebo and Tomas Palfrey, competing at the OSU High Performance, joined Moran, Ross and Strunk as winners Saturday. The Ducks also competed at Drake and Penn Relays to close out the penultimate weekend of the regular season. Ross put together an all-time series Saturday in Tucson with four measures beyond 19 meters including a 19.71m/64-8 mark that tied her own collegiate record. She is now the third collegian with at least five throws of 19 meters or more, and the first with four within one competition. Ross first set the collegiate record April 6 at the Triton Invitational. Moran, already the school-record holder, eclipsed that mark three times during Saturday’s series at the Desert Heat Classic. The Sherwood, Ore., native unleashed a final measure of 70.02m/229-8 on her sixth attempt. Moran set the previous school record of 68.96m/226-3 on the way to winning the Pac-12 title last season. She had three throws beyond that Saturday. In addition to the school record and win, Moran also hit the Olympic Trials standard of 70 meters. She is the third woman over 70 meters in the NCAA this season. Following up her outing in the hammer, Moran added a runner-up finish and lifetime best in the discus. She got the implement out to 54.84m/179-11 on her third attempt and becomes the No. 6 performer in school history in the event. Strunk threw his way to victory with a lifetime best of 69.11m/226-9 in the hammer, completing the UO sweep with Moran. Strunk led through the first two rounds, and momentarily fell to second behind Matt Ward of Colorado before recording a day’s best on the final throw of the third round. With the effort, he goes from sixth to No. 3 on the program’s all-time list. The Salem, Ore., native carried a best of 67.72m/222-2 from the Beach Invitational (April 12). Including his new PB, Strunk had two measures during Saturday’s series that surpassed his previous best. Already part of the program’s top 10 in the 100, Ize-Iyamu improved his standing in UO history with his lifetime best of 10.20 Saturday evening. He is now tied with Xavier Nairne as the No. 7 performer after taking down his previous best of 10.25 from last year’s conference meet. The Pasadena, Calif., native is currently ranked fifth in the Pac-12 based on times entering the day. Overall, Ize-Iyamu was third in both the 100 and 200 meters. In the latter, he clocked another personal best with his 20.70 performance. In both cases, he won his section of the timed final and only passed by two runners in the ensuing section. Grebo secured the Ducks’ first win on the track in the desert with the help of a season-best and Pac-12-leading time of 56.33 in the 400-meter hurdles. In her opener last weekend, she ran a time of 56.71 at the Mt. SAC Relays. Grebo’s outing Saturday is the second fastest of her career, trailing only her school record (56.28). In her first appearance Saturday, Grebo combined with Lily Jones, Jadyn Mays and Alexa Rossum to run a season’s best 43.16 in the 4×100 relay. The quartet took nearly half a second off their previous best of 43.63 from Mt. SAC. The Ducks finished second in the race. Individually, Mays and Jones were second and fifth, respectively in the 100 meters. Mays ran a season’s best of 11.17, just shy of her personal best (11.16) from the 2022 Desert Heat meet. The UO senior has an all-conditions best of 11.09 (+2.2) from last year. Jones lowered her best from 11.46 to 11.35 running out of section six of eight. The Oregon women tallied one last season’s best with their effort in the 4×400-meter relay. Grebo, Ella Clayton, Katriina Wright and Shaniya Hall teamed up for a 3:32.96, and a second-place finish in the final event of the night. The Ducks’ busy day got started in Philadelphia where the Men of Oregon were runners-up in the 4×800, matching their highest ever finish in the race at Penn Relays. James Harding, Rheinhardt Harrison, Elliott Cook and Matthew Erickson combined for a time of 7:15.46, good for the fastest by a UO quartet at the storied meet. In 2010, the team of Travis Stanford, Mac Fleet, Elijah Greer and Andrew Wheating ran 7:15.55, also in a second-place effort. The UO men were also second in the Penn Relays 4×800 in 2012. Ayyildiz recorded a lifetime best at 1500 meters for a second-consecutive outing, crossing the finish line in 4:09.34 at Drake Relays. With the performance, she moves from ninth to No. 8 on the UO all-time list, and becomes the third Oregon woman under 4:10 this season, joining Klaudia Kazimierska (4:08.43) and Maddy Elmore (4:09.36). Saturday’s race was contested as part of the World Athletics Continental Tour. Ayyildiz and Kazimierska finished third and fifth, respectively, as the only collegians in the field. After running a 4:02 mile at last week’s Oregon Relay, Palfrey officially began his outdoor season with a 1:49.36 over 800 meters at the OSU High Performance. He took the lead with just over 250 meters to go and pulled away from the field down the home stretch. Luke Affolder (1:51.26) finished fourth in his first collegiate 800. Up Next: The Ducks are back at Hayward Field to host the Oregon Twilight (May 3) in the regular-season finale. The UO senior class will be recognized at approximately 6:30 p.m. before the start of the evening session. Visit GoDucks.com for ticket information.
OSU High Performance Meet
OSU release – CORVALLIS, Ore – Oregon State recognized Dick and Gretchen Evans, the lead donors on the new additions to the Whyte Track & Field Center, amid an excellent weekend at the Oregon State High Performance Meet. The new grandstands were named for the Evans’ – longtime Oregon State Track & Field supporters who were the lead donors on the project – and officially dedicated in a pre-meet ceremony on Saturday morning. “Today was a special day for our program. Getting to see so many alumni and donors who have given to lift this program up. It was especially incredible to recognize the impact that Dick and Gretchen Evans have had to the building of the grandstands and track improvement project. It has been and will continue to be a game changer for our program. It’s one of the best standalone track facilities on the west coast,” head coach Louie Quintana said. On the track OSU piled up 24 season or personal best marks with four new OSU Top-10 performances. Two athletes recorded marks that put them in regional qualifying position while three others put themselves in the neighborhood. “No offense to the beauty of Hayward, but Oregon State High Performance brings the vibes and punk rock energy that is highly needed in track and field. We had a fantastic crowd even amidst difficult weather conditions and some amazing performances across the board all weekend capped off with the 4×4 school record once again,” Quintana said. “Friday was amazing. Anneke said as great in the LJ and our 5k group brought in their A games. Sages run may get her to NCAA west prelims. Also, Adael and Kate continue to rock and roll in the 400m hurdles. Jade continued her great season in the discus.” “Saturday saw a nice continuation of a great weekend. Dede and Grace were fantastic in HJ, loved seeing Sara have such a great series of throws in the javelin as well as Jaz have a seasons best. Great weekend all around,” Quintana continued. Friday – Claire Lee and Anneke Moersdorf highlighted the early results. Lee, a freshman, cleared 3.64m/11-11.25 in the pole vault, a collegiate best in spite of some difficult vaulting weather in the early morning. Moersdorf missed her own school record by just three-quarters of an inch in the long jump, winning in 6.15m/20-2.25. Later in the day, the senior posted a PB in the 200 meters, finishing in 24.76. Abby Buckley also recorded a personal best with a 25.25. Adael Scatena had the first day’s best sprint results, notching a 58.10 to improve OSU’s no. 2 time. The senior edged fellow senior Kate Sorensen (58.20) for the victory. Both runners appear to be safely into regionals with their marks. Delaney Griffin opened the distance carnival with a victory in the open 5,000 meters. The senior recorded a season-best mark of 17:06.57, pulling away from the field over the final 1,200 meters. The 5,000 meters was OSU’s best event of the day as Sage Brooks and Kate Laurent both improved their top-10 standing and Brooks potentially punched her ticket to NCAA West Regionals in the invite section. Brooks 16:06.24 mark is OSU’s fifth-best all-time, a personal best by 10 seconds and moves her into the west’s top-48. Laurent moved into the no. 7 spot all time and set a PR by seven seconds with a 16:15.92. Erika Cunniam placed 10th in 16:29.10 and Molly Latincsics raced to a PB in 16:32.29. Saturday – Sara Sanders started the day off with a new season best in javelin, throwing 46.85m/153-08 to secure second place. Sanders missed the last two years of competition due to injury and the season-best was only four feet short of her personal best before getting injured. The mark ranks 47th in the west, currently a regional qualifier. Following closely behind was Jazlyn Romero with a strong 42.01m/137-10, also setting a season best. Dede Norman soared to first place in the high jump with a height of 1.77m/5-9.75. Grace Proudfoot impressed with a personal best of 1.72m/5-7.75, securing second place. Delaney Bahn marked a season best as well. Ava Gross placed second in the 400 meters with a PB in the event. Mersayis Shedd also recorded a new lifetime best. Jillian Brown led Oregon State in the 800m Invite, earning a new personal best of 2:10.24. In the 800m Open, Abby Pradere competed unattached and earned second place. Running unattached, Ainsely Herron shaved two seconds off her previous best for a new PB of 2:13.79. Ava McKee and Griffin also recorded personal bests, with Griffin coming from behind to win her section. Oregon State’s #1 4x400m team of Jada Hurley, Moersdorf, Scatena and Sorensen shaved over a second off their own school record, finishing with a time of 3:41.57. COMING UP: The Beavs will stay close to home next week as they travel to Eugene for the Oregon Twilight Meet on May 3.
