Women of Oregon Finish Third at NCAA Indoor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Bolstered by 18 points on the final day of competition, the Women of Oregon placed third at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Jessica Hull capped the Ducks' weekend with a national-title run at 3,000 meters while Chaquinn Cook added runner-up points in the triple jump with the help of a school record.

On the men's side, Oregon picked up a pair of fourth-place national finishes from Cravon Gillespie at 60 meters and Cooper Teare at 3,000 meters to go along with a top-eight outing from Charlie Hunter in the mile. Gillespie, who entered the NCAA indoor meet as the No. 16 national qualifier, tied the UO school record of 6.57 in his race.

The Women of Oregon now have a top-three national indoor finish in nine of the past 10 years. The outlier? A fifth-place showing last season. The Ducks finished the two-day meet with 32 points.

The Makings of a Podium Finish
1^st – Amanda Gehrich/Makenzie Dunmore/Susan Ejore/Jessica Hull, distance-medley relay
1^st – Jessica Hull, 3,000 meters
2^nd – Chaquinn Cook, triple jump
5^th – Rhesa Foster, long jump

"I couldn't be more proud of them for their efforts and what they've done this weekend," head coach Robert Johnson said. "I'd be crazy not to shout-out Jess Hull and her outstanding performance. One of the better meets she's had, and on top of that, Helen Lehman-Winters…she's outstanding. The job that she has done in such a short amount of time with our women's distance group is phenomenal.

"Then you add Chaquinn and Rhesa as our other point scorers. It was a good job, all around. We had eight good women that came in and were able to put some things together, get some momentum and stay together."

Less than 24 hours removed from anchoring the Ducks' victorious distance-medley relay, Hull returned to the track to win the fourth NCAA title of her career, and second of the weekend. She took the lead at the bell and pulled away from the chase pack for the program's third NCAA title at 3,000 meters and first since 2011 (Jordan Hasay).

A year after advancing to the national meet but missing the final, Cook was back in her senior season to add eight points to the women's team total. In the third round, she measured in at 13.83m/45-4.5 which extended her own school record by nine inches.

"This puts me in a good spot for the outdoor season," Cook said. "I had a scratch on a big jump, barely but it was about 14 meters. I've been able to be more consistent with those kind of jumps which is something I struggled with last year. To see where I am today when I didn't even make the final last year, I can be happy about that."

After Hunter got the men on the scoreboard with his effort in the mile, Gillespie added a fourth-place finish at 60 meters. Running out of lane one, the Duck senior tied Kyree King (2017) for the fastest time in school history. Saturday's performance was Gillespie's school record of the season, having set a new mark of 20.73 at 200 meters during the Don Kirby Invitational in early February.

"To come here and compete against these guys is an honor and to get the school record, I'm satisfied with that," Gillespie said. "This is a great set up for the outdoor season. I'm a guy that transitions later so I pick up some speed after 50 meters. To come in here and work on that first 60 (of a 100-meter race) is going to really help me outdoors."

Teare was back on the track after running the opening leg of Oregon's distance-medley relay on Friday. He responded with a time of 7:55.50 over 3,000 meters, good for fourth in the race. The Men of Oregon finished tied for 18^th in the team standings with 11 points.

2019 NCAA Indoor Championships
Day 2 – Saturday, March 9

60 Meters
4. Cravon Gillespie – 6.57 [t-school record]

Mile
8. Charlie Hunter – 4:09.36

3,000 Meters
Men
4. Cooper Teare – 7:55.50
15. James West – 8:18.00

Women
1. Jessica Hull – 9:01.14

Triple Jump
2. Chaquinn Cook – 13.83m/45-4.5 [school record]

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