'Some good, some bad': Hayward Premiere a mixed bag for Oregon's track teams
Oregon’s first home meet of the season concluded under sunny skies at Hayward Field Saturday and with Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechaser Aneta Konieczek on the track running a leg of the women’s 4x400-relay.
Needless to say, the Ducks are still working some things out.
“Some good, some bad,” coach Robert Johnson said of the Hayward Premiere results. “Got a good idea of what we need to do moving forward.”
Still, there were some impressive performances by the Ducks for the announced crowd of 6,104 to enjoy, especially from the women’s team.
A middle-distance standout emerging
Izzy Thornton-Bott gave a taste of her talent Friday night when she was second overall and the top collegian in the women’s 1,500 Invitational in a personal-record 4 minutes,16.56 seconds.
Saturday she returned to the track and won the 800 Invitational in 2:04.98.
“That’s the fastest opener I’ve ever had,” Thornton-Bott said. “After the 1,500 (Friday) night as well, I did want to open with somewhere around 2:05 so it’s exactly where I was hoping it would be and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.”
The redshirt junior transfer burst onto the scene in September when she won the Bill Dellinger Invitational cross country meet soon after arriving from Australia to join the team. But a stress fracture in her left leg ended her cross country season soon after and she was out until January.
She returned to action in time for the indoor postseason and helped Oregon place third in the distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
Her double-duty weekend was all about getting prepped for a strong outdoor season, which she said would be focused on the 1,500 with a few more 800s sprinkled into her schedule.
“Part of it was practicing championship racing,” she said. “The race (Friday) was to simulate a heat and the faster race today would simulate a final. We just wanted to come in and see where I was at and get in some solid racing under the belt.”
Throws duo continues to impress
Freshmen training partners Jaida Ross and Mine De Klerk each came away with a victory and a runner-up finish Saturday.
For Ross, it was the result of two personal records. She won the women’s discus competition with a mark of 173 feet and was second in the shot put at 56-2 1/2. Her previous bests were 169-0 and 55-1 1/2, respectively.
De Klerk won the shot put with a mark of 56-4 1/2 and was second in the discus at 166-8.
More: Highlights from Day 1 of the Hayward Premiere
Their day started in the discus ring, with Ross taking the lead on her first throw as she became Oregon’s No. 8 all-time performer.
“You know what’s weird is I haven’t been drilling the training even,” she said.
De Klerk, who reset her own South African U20 record in the discus last week when she threw 177-10, struggled on Saturday as she sent four attempts into the net.
“I need to get my release right,” she said.
De Klerk rallied to win the shot put later in the afternoon, as she recorded her winning throw on her sixth and final attempt to move ahead of Ross, who was on the verge of a two-win day.
“The shot was pretty good,” De Klerk said. “I feel like I’ve been more consistent. The discus didn’t go that great today. I’ll just focus on practice and work on the little things to make it better.”
Ducks fine-tuning short relays
The lineups for both of Oregon’s 4x100-relay teams remain a work in progress. But however it shakes out for the men’s unit, it appears star sprinter Micah Williams will be in charge of the long second leg.
Williams, who handled leadoff duties last season, confirmed the switch after the Ducks ran 39.53 for their second win of the season.
It was the only race of the weekend for Williams, who wasn’t entered in the 100 or 200.
“But when you did see him he looked really good over there on that relay,” Johnson raved. “He came storming down that backstretch and that’s what we’re working on for him.”
More: Slew of home meets will put Hayward Field in the spotlight
Covering up to 110 meters of track on the second leg is the easy part for Williams, who was a member of the U.S. relay pool at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Mastering the art of receiving and delivering the baton is the challenge.
“It’s definitely hard but I’m getting it down,” he said. “It’ll take some time. I’ll be ready when it matters.”
The team of Ryan Mulholland, Williams, Rieker Daniel and Xavier Nairne ran 39.29 last week at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego. It was the eighth-fastest time in the NCAA this season coming into the weekend.
On Saturday, Will Mundy replaced Daniel on the third leg.
“We’re working on multiple options there,” Johnson said. “So if later in the season we have a hiccup, someone can jump right in without missing a beat.”
The Oregon women’s 4x100 team also picked up its second win of the season Saturday, clocking 43.95.
They too used a slightly different lineup to who competed last week in San Diego, when they ran 43.80 to put them sixth in the NCAA.
Saturday’s team, in order, was Jadyn Mays, Iman Brown, Shaniya Hall and Jasmine Montgomery. Last week it was Jasmin Reed on the third leg.
“We had some good exchanges, good handoffs, just smooth all the way around,” said Mays, who turned 20 on Saturday. “That’s the goal at the beginning of the year. Getting used to everybody, getting handoffs right, just getting a time in so we can work from there.”
Notable
It was a busy day for the freshman Montgomery, who not only anchored the women’s 4x100 victory, but also won the 100 and placed third in the 200. Her 11.52 in the 100 was a season-best but not even close to her personal record of 11.44, which she set last summer as a high school senior when she won the NSAF Outdoor Nationals race at Hayward Field. Her victory Saturday led a 1-2-3 finish for the Ducks, as she was followed in the final standings by Ella Clayton (11.68) and Sydney Holiday (11.72).
Hall also picked up an individual win as she ran a personal record 23.63 in the 200 to earn the victory lap. Clayton also finished second in 23.72, Montgomery was third in 23.92 and Katriina Wright was fourth in 24.08.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks track get mixed results at Hayward Premiere meet
