UO release – The Ducks had four top-three program marks Saturday and finished the meet with 40.5 points. EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon women’s track and field team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships Saturday afternoon at Hayward Field. The Ducks’ day was highlighted by bronze finishes by Jadyn Mays and Klaudia Kazimierska at 200 and 1500 meters, respectively, and four top-three program marks. The team finished the meet with 40.5 points. NCAA Scoring: The Ducks 1st Place: Jaida Ross, shot put* 3rd Place: Jadyn Mays, 200 meters; Klaudia Kazimierska, 1500 meters 4th Place: Jadyn Mays, 100 meters; Shelby Moran, hammer* 6th Place: Shana Grebo, 400 hurdles 7th Place: 4×400 Relay; (tie) Cheyla Scott, high jump; 8th Place: 4×100 Relay; Annika Williams, heptathlon (from Thursday). In her final race of the day, Mays ran her way to third place in the 200 meters in a lifetime best of 22.19 which makes her the No. 2 UO performer in the event. She becomes the second Oregon woman under 22.2 seconds, and only trails school-record holder Deajah Stevens (22.09) in program history. Mays, back from relay duties, clocked a slightly wind-aided 10.95 (+2.2) to finish fourth in the 100 final. The race was her third windy sub-11 in the past two meets to go along with her 10.83 and 10.87 efforts at the NCAA West Preliminary. The Ducks’ first points of the day came from the 4×100 relay where Mays combined with Lily Jones, Shaniya Hall and Ella Clayton for eighth place. Kazimierska, making her second appearance in the 1500 final, turned in a third-place performance for the Ducks to collect six points. She emerged out of a large chase pack with just under a lap to go, and by the final home stretch, had moved into third where she eventually finished. Kazimierska finished with a time of 4:08.22 to improve on her fourth-place effort from a season ago. For a third-consecutive race, Shana Grebo lowered her own school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a 55.30 performance. That time is nearly a full second faster than the 56.28 mark that stood to begin the season. Grebo, in her first individual NCAA final, finished sixth overall to grab three points in toward in a tight team race. The 4×400 relay team of Clayton, Grebo, Hall and Katriina Wright closed out the meet with a season best of 3:25.82 and a seventh-place finish. The quartet took a second and a half off its previous best (3:27.34) from the Pac-12 Championships and now stand third on the program’s all-time list in the event. It is the fastest Oregon 4×400 relay since the 2017 season. In the first field final of the afternoon, Cheyla Scott tied for seventh in the high jump. She had a clutch, third-attempt clearance at 1.87m/6-1.5 to keep herself in scoring position. Scott’s make was just under her lifetime best of 6-2 from the Pac-12 Championships. She split three points with Cierra Allphin from BYU, good for 1.5 for each. Annika Williams, a late addition to the meet after a scratch on the qualifiers list, made the most of her opportunity with a new lifetime best of 5,832 points and an eighth-place finish for the Ducks. Needing a big-time effort in the 800 meters, she responded with a season-best time of 2:28.09 which kept her in scoring position and grabbed a point. With that score, Williams now ranks third on the Oregon all-time list behind Brianne Theisen and Kelly Blair. In a tight race for third place, the Ducks finished just half a point behind Texas who secured the bronze spot with a third-place finish in the 4×400 relay. The UO women have now finished fourth in the past three NCAA track and field championships: 2023 outdoor, 2024 indoor and 2024 outdoor. Notable: Jaida Ross (54.99m/180-5) finished 14th in the discus…Taylor Chocek (5,674 points) finished 15th in the heptathlon…Silan Ayyildiz (15:47.85) finished 16th at 5,000 meters. Final Team Scores (top 10) 1. Arkansas – 63; 2. Florida – 59; 3. Texas – 41; 4. OREGON – 40.5; 5. Ole Miss – 38; 6. LSU – 41; 7. Texas Tech – 26; 7. Alabama – 26; 9. Nebraska – 25.5; 10. Texas A&M – 25.
