University of Oregon
Don Kirby Elite Invitational
Cunliffe, Rainsberger Lead Ducks in Very Productive Final Day
02/11/17 | Track and Field
HANNAH CUNLIFFE SETS ALL-CONDITIONS COLLEGIATE RECORD WHILE TAKING OVER WORLD AND NCAA LEADS IN 60 METERS, KATIE RAINSBERGER HITS NCAA-LEADING TIME IN 3,000 METERS
Oregon track and field finished up a very productive weekend at the Husky Classic in Seattle and the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque on Saturday, headlined by a world and NCAA-leading time by Hannah Cunliffe in the 60 meters and an NCAA-leading time for freshman Katie Rainsberger in the 3,000 meters.
The Ducks hit a total of 21 personal-bests on Saturday and finished the weekend with two world-leading marks, three NCAA-leading times and a collegiate record.
How it Happened - Don Kirby Elite: Cunliffe stole the headlines early on in the day, setting the collegiate record, as well as the school record, and taking over the world and NCAA lead in the 60 meters with a personal-best time of 7.07 seconds, converted to 7.09 with altitude for NCAA qualifying purposes. The Ducks finished the finals 1-2-3, with Deajah Stevens (7.21) and Makenzie Dunmore (7.25) finishing with PRs of their own.
The women fared well in the 400 meters as well, placing three runners in the top five. Elexis Guster led the way with a second-place finish in 52.85 seconds, third-best in UO history, and Horsley hit her second PR of the weekend in 53.75 seconds to finish in fourth overall. Hannah Waller also hit a PR with a fifth-place finish (53.85). The Ducks closed out the day with a tremendous showing in the 4x400-meter relay, as the quartet of Dunmore, Stevens, Guster and Raevyn Rogers moved into third in the country and second in school history with a winning time of 3:29.85.
For the Men of Oregon in Albuquerque, freshman Braxton Canady had a very impressive showing in the 60-meter hurdles, winning in a PR 7.72 seconds to move into seventh in the NCAA and fourth in UO history. Senior Marcus Chambers won the 400 meters with a PR time of 46.45 seconds, and Jonathan Harvey also improved his personal best to 49.16 seconds.
Junior transfer Damarcus Simpson hit yet another PR for the Ducks in the 60 meters, taking second in 6.66 seconds.
How it Happened - Husky Classic: While the Oregon sprinters were thriving in Albuquerque, freshman Katie Rainsberger led the Ducks' distance runners in Seattle with a tremendous performance. Rainsberger, who finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships to help the Women of Oregon to the national title, took over the NCAA lead in the 3,000 meters in a PR 9:01.21, good for second in school history.
Samantha Nadel also enjoyed a solid race in a career-best 9:05.52, sixth-best in the NCAA and fourth in UO history, and Alli Cash smashed her PR with a 9:06.91 showing to move into 11th in the NCAA and fifth in school history. Jackson Mestler (8:08.16) hit a PR in the 3,000 meters for the Men of Oregon.
The Ducks impressed in the mile on both the men's and women's side, with Matthew Maton (3:58.34) and Tim Gorman (3:58.78) each breaking four minutes to hit personal-bests for the men. For the women, Lilli Burdon moved into seventh in UO history with a PR time of 4:36.98, and Emma Abrahamson (4:39.18) smashed her career-best by more than 14 seconds. Austin Tamagno (4:01.02) and Mick Stanovsek (4:02.69) also set PRs in the mile.
In the throws, redshirt freshman Ronna Stone hit career-bests in both the shot put (14.33m/47-0.25) and the weight throw (17.21m/56-5.75), and Madeline Middlebrooks set a PR in the weight throw (18.80m/61-8.25) to move into fourth in UO history.
What it Means: With only one weekend of competition remaining to secure qualifying times for the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Ducks accomplished the majority of what they set out to do at the two meets and appear to be in a strong position to send a large contingent to College Station, Texas, on March 10-11.
Quotable: Head Coach Robert Johnson
"Overall a productive weekend for the Ducks at both meets; I think we are headed in the right direction. Our objective was to get as many NCAA qualifiers as possible, and I think we did pretty well. Outstanding performances by Hannah, Edward and Katie and their new NCAA-leading marks, and many of their teammates did a fantastic job putting themselves in contention for an NCAA-berth. Awesome job by all!"
Notable: Stevens' time of 7.21 in the 60 meters slots in at fifth in the NCAA and sixth in school history, and Dunmore's 7.25 is 10th in the NCAA and seventh in UO history … Horsley (seventh) and Waller (ninth) each broke into the top 10 in school history in the 400.
Up Next: The Ducks will train the next two weeks before the Championship portion of the season begins at the MPSF Championships in Seattle on February 24-25, their final opportunity to secure qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Players Mentioned
