University of Oregon
Oregon Relays
Ducks Have Field Day at Oregon Relays
04/16/16 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore – The Ducks won five events on the second day of the Oregon Relays, Friday, while showing their strength in the field events.
Itohan Aikhionbare took the top spot in the women's shot put while setting her outdoor season best with a throw of 54-4.50 (16.57m), a mark that moved her up to second in the Oregon record book behind current teammate Brittany Mann. The senior transfer was close to picking up a second win approximately 60 minutes later in the discus, leading with a mark of 166-6 (50.74m) until the final round before finishing second.
Fellow thrower Greg Skipper won the hammer competition for the second consecutive week at Hayward Field, following up his victory at the Pepsi Team Invitational with a mark of 223-1. Teammate Cullen Prena took third in both the hammer throw and discus while setting personal bests in each. In the discus, he trailed teammate Ryan Hunter-Simms who won the event while competing unattached, throwing a big personal best of 188-7 (57.48m).
The Ducks went 1-2-3 in the decathlon, led by Mitch Modin who won with a final score of 7,468. Joe Delgado was close behind in second, crossing the 7,400 mark for the first time with a score of 7,402. Blake Kemp took third with 6,813 points.
Delgado set three personal bests in the first day of competition and added another in the pole vault on Friday, clearing 15-3.5 (4.65m). The sophomore received his first taste of NCAA Championships competition last year and will hope to make the cut again after breaking his 2015 score by 63 points.
“Joe Delgado had a fantastic day. He competed like a warrior…I'm definitely excited about him,” head coach Robert Johnson said.
Because the NCAA Championships decathlon field is selected based on a descending order list from regular-season scores, the group was looking to record a score that would secure their bid. After battling some inclement weather on Thursday, Modin said he was pleased with his final tally.
“I think (the score) will be pretty close, luckily we'll have Pac-12s to post a better one,” Modin said. I'm confident that that was what I could do with what I had, so I'm pretty happy with it.”
Travonn White continued the strong day in the field by winning the men's long jump. White jumped to a wind-aided mark of 24-7.75 (7.51m) to top the field by more than a foot.
On the track, the Ducks recorded a 1-2 finish in the men's 200 with Devon Allen leading the way ahead of Marcus Chambers. Allen finished in 20.68 seconds, moving up to fifth on the Oregon all-time list with Chambers on his heels in a personal best of 20.94.
An Oregon signee also pleased the Hayward faithful with a win in the women's 1,500 against collegiate and professional competition. Katie Rainsberger, a senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., held off the field with a time of 4:17.52, the top high school time in the nation this year.
The men's distance team was represented by Jackson Darland and Chris Mulverhill who took third and fourth in the men's steeplechase while Chris Brewer finished second in the 1,500 in 3:45.31.
At the Mt. SAC Relays, Danielle Barbian recorded the sixth fastest 100 meter time in school history, finishing in 11.45. A number of Oregon sprinters will take to the track tomorrow in Norwalk, Calif., against some of the world's fastest competition.
The final day of the Oregon Relays will begin, Saturday at 9:15 a.m., with collegiate competition beginning at noon.
