Who brought the broom? It’s unclear, but the Oregon men’s and women’s teams enjoyed celebrating their sweep with it. Photo by Kevin Neri
It had been five years, at old Hayward Field, since the University of Oregon men’s and women’s track and field teams won the Pac-12 championship simultaneously. That changed today.
Both teams won conference titles Sunday at new Hayward Field, doubling for the 10th time.
This was the men’s 15th consecutive Pac-12 title. The Ducks scored 161 points, 56 points ahead of second-place Washington.
However, it hasn’t been such a glorious road for the women, who’ve had a dry streak and finished second to USC the past three years. This year, however, they scored 167 points, 64.5 points ahead of Colorado.
“For us to be able to win a Pac-12 Championship on both sides with the men and women, here at Hayward Field, you know that’s definitely going to be one of the things I remember out of this year and out of my years here,” said Robert Johnson, Oregon track and field head coach.
The Ducks, who won eight titles on the final day of the three-day meet, ended Sunday by dancing to the tune of “Shout!” and celebrating their sweep.
“This championship wasn’t going to be won by the kids that were one, two, three, it was going to be won by those sixth, seventh and eighth places,” said Johnson.
The Ducks led at the start of the day in both the men’s and women’s standings, but were clearly dominating after the finals of the first several events.
The women had a strong start. On the field Jaida Ross, who had set a new school record in the shot put on Saturday, placed third in the discus. She threw 182 feet on her third throw, and secured six points for the Ducks.
In addition, the women’s 4×100-meter-relay team won with a season-best time of 42.91 seconds.
“Winning the relay gave us a lot of momentum going into the rest of the meet,” said Jadyn Mays, first leg of the women’s 4×100-meter-relay team.
Kemba Nelson, who was also part of the women’s 4×100-meter-relay team, won in the women’s 100- and-200-meter dashes. Nelson won the 100 with a season-best time of 11.05 and set a new personal record of 22.72 in the 200.
Mays, as well as Lexi Ellis, winner of the women’s triple jump, spoke on the positivity and camaraderie that goes on between the women on the team.
“I was hyping all my girls up yesterday because we were looking great,” said Ellis. “And I kept telling everybody ‘tomorrow’s the day, tomorrow’s the day.’”
The 4×100 meter relay didn’t go as well for the Oregon men, which had last minute substitutions and a rough handoff to the anchor. The team finished third.
Yet, that didn’t stop Micah Williams from not only winning the 100- and-200-meter dashes, but also setting two new personal records in the events. Williams won the 100 with a time of 9.93 seconds, and 20.05 seconds for the 200.
“I came here and wanted to win cause we were predicted not to win,” said Williams. “So, now we won by a mile.”
Additionally, Elliott Cook won the men’s 800 meters. Cook was neck and neck with second place winner, Dayton Carlson of Arizona State, in the last 20 meters, but had a little more in him to bring him to victory.
