Split Squad Heads to Corvallis, Tucson

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon track and field team will close out the month of April with a pair of meets this weekend. The Ducks will compete at the OSU High Performance meet in Corvallis and the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz.

April 26-27
OSU High Performance (Corvallis, Ore.)
Live Results | Meet Schedule

The two-day meet will feature a distance carnival Friday night. Among the entries, senior Weronika Pyzik is scheduled to make her outdoor debut at 10,000 meters. The Ducks already have a pair of regional top-20 performers at the distance in Phily Bowden and Carmela Cardama Baez. Friday's 10K is set for a 9:07 p.m. (PT) start at the Whyte Track & Field Center.

Junior Kiana Phelps, ranked 21^st nationally in the discus, is entered in both the discus and shot put at the meet. Redshirt Alexis Rigmaiden will look to build on her lifetime-best performance from last weekend in the javelin. Her throw of 50.68m/166-3 is a top-25 national mark. The javelin is scheduled on Saturday at 12:45 p.m.

Defending NCAA 1,500-meter champion Jessica Hull will be on the track Saturday in her first competition since the Stanford Invitational. In that meet, she established a personal best of 15:34.93 at 5,000 meters which stands as the third fastest in the country. Hull is entered in the 400 and 800 meters, both of which will be run Saturday.

Keira McCarrell, Dalen Hargett and Max Vollmer will focus on 2-3 events in Corvallis before next week's Pac-12 multis meet. All three posted personal-best point totals last week at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Vollmer (7,840 points) ranks fifth nationally in the decathlon while McCarrell scored 5,336 points in the heptathlon, good for a top-25 mark in the NCAA

April 27
Desert Heat Classic (Tucson, Ariz.)
Live Results | Meet Schedule

Competing at the same facility that will host the Pac-12 Championships, the Oregon sprinters will get a feel for the track at Roy P. Drachman Stadium this weekend. The Ducks will be back in Tucson April 11-12 for the conference meet. The Desert Heat Classic is a one-day meet that will start Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Redshirt senior Cravon Gillespie owns the No. 3 time in the NCAA at 100 meters. He opened his outdoor season with a wind-aided 10.04 (+2.2) at the SDSU Aztec Invitational. Freshman Eric Edwards Jr. also has a top-10 national time with his No. 10 ranking (13.70) in the 100-meter hurdles.

Both Oregon 4x100-meter relays sit just outside the top 10 on the national performance list. The women have a season best of 43.82—No. 11 in the NCAA—while the men posted their season best of 39.32 last weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays; that time ranks 13^th nationally.

John Nizich and Jackson VanVuren will also travel to The Grand Canyon State to compete in the javelin. VanVuren is 19^th on the NCAA performance list with his mark of 69.82m/229-1 at the Sun Angel Classic and Nizich enters the meet with a season best of 67.38m/221-1 from last weekend's Beach Invitational.

Next Weekend
May 2 – Payton Jordan Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.)
May 3 – Portland Twilight (Portland, Ore.)
May 4-5 – Pac-12 Multis Championships (Tucson, Ariz.)

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