Oregon’s shot put record holder, Brittany Mann, continued her winning ways with a sweeping victory in the women’s shot put at the Oregon Twilight meet Friday night.
Mann won Friday’s competition with a throw of 56′ 6¾, just short of 56′ 7¼, a personal best she set at the USATF outdoor championships last year.
Mann, who placed fifth at NCAAs and won the Pac-12 title in the shot put last year, hopes Friday’s success will help propel her into the championship season.
“This is honestly the best situation I could put myself into going into Pac-12s next week,” she said. “Coaches have these strategies for getting us ready for Pac-12s, regionals and nationals, and you love to see, and I know they love to see, when it falls right into place right in time.”
In her Pac-12 victory in this event last year, Mann was the sole Oregon thrower. This year she will be joined by teammate Itohan Aikhionbare, a fifth-year graduate transfer from UC Irvine, who placed third in Friday’s competition.
Aikhionbare’s addition to the team has helped Mann train and compete.
“I was blessed with her fifth year, she deciding to come here and have someone to push me every day,” Mann said. “It’s a person you compete with every day, so you show up to the meet and you’re just showing up and competing the same way you compete at practice.”
Aikhionbare has a similar sentiment about training with Mann.
“It’s awesome training with Britt,” Aikhionbare said. “We push each other every day. She pushes me so much harder.”
Outside of pushing each other to work hard physically, the two help each other deal with the mental aspect of training and competition, as well.
Mann and Aikhionbare will continue to look to each other for competition and support when they head up to Seattle next week to compete together at Pac-12s.
“We get along very well,” Aikhionbare said. “Cracking jokes trying to stay loose and what not before meets and during meets, high pressure situations and everything.”
