Oregon track and field's Alysah Hickey has record-setting opener

Oregon long jumper Alysah Hickey emerged as a rising star during the 2021 outdoor track and field season, winning a Pac-12 title and finishing fifth at the NCAA championships.

On Friday, Hickey picked up where she left off as she opened her 2022 indoor season with an eye-popping performance in the long jump during Day 1 of the Razorback Invitational meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

The sophomore set a school and meet record with a jump of 21 feet, 10 1/4 inches, which is also the best mark by a collegian so far this season.

It was the top jump by a Duck since Jenna Prandini went 21-10 to win the NCAA title in 2015, the year she also won The Bowerman Award.

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Hickey’s previous best was 20-4 1/4. The previous meet record was 21-10, set by Chantel Malone of Texas in 2011.

“It’s extremely motivating to know that this is my opener and I still have a lot of things to fix,” said Hickey in a statement released by Oregon. “There are things I can tell on my own, and then I can go back to talk to (coach Robert Johnson). It makes me happy that there are still things to fix because I know I can get progressively better. There’s a lot to do and there’s a lot of time so I’m very excited about what’s to come.”

Hickey’s victory was the only one of the day for the Ducks, though there were several other notable performances.

Second-year freshman Mason Strunk became Oregon’s No. 2 performer all-time in the men’s weight throw with a mark of 68-4 1/2, which placed him fourth in the competition.

Senior Iman Brown ran a PR 23.25 in the women’s 200 for a fourth-place finish. She replaced English Gardner as the No. 8 performer on the Oregon all-time list.

In the women’s high jump, Tori Sloan took over sole possession of seventh-place on the Oregon all-time list with her sixth-place finish in 5-8 3/4.

Max Vollmer is in fourth place in the heptathlon with a first-day score of 3,134 points. He trails Georgia’s Kyle Garland by 494 points heading into Saturday’s final three events.

The men’s distance medley relay team of James Gormley, Evan Mafilas, Luis Peralta and Jack Yearian finished second in 9:31.07.

The Oregon women finished third in their DMR in 11:11.80 with a team of Aneta Konieczek, Shaniya Hall, Mia Moerck and Keely Small.

The final day of the meet is Saturday.

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 track and field's Alysah Hickey has record-setting opener