Gillespie Caps Saturday With School Record

Saturday, April 27

Corvallis, OR

All Day

University of Oregon

OSU High Performance

Photo by: Ben Crawford

04/27/19 | Track and Field

Saturday Results

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – At the end of a busy day, redshirt senior Cravon Gillespie had one last bit of magic to pull off which resulted in a new school-record at 200 meters. Leading a group of five Ducks in the top eight at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Gillespie stopped the clock in 20.23 to place his name atop the program's top-10 list.

The school record capped a Saturday that 17 Duck victories and 11 top-10 program marks between a pair of meets that also included the OSU High Performance in Corvallis. Saturday's Desert Heat Classic was held at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, site of the 2019 Pac-12 Championships.

With his showing, Gillespie surpassed Kyree King (20.27, 2017) as the No. 1 200-meter performer in UO history. Based on times entering the weekend, the time of 20.23 puts Gillespie first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the NCAA this year. He took first at 100 meters in a wind-legal PR of 10.11 earlier in the day.

Gillespie teamed with Rieker Daniel, Oraine Palmer and Spenser Schmidt for a season-best 39.02 and a win in the 4x100-meter relay. It also represents the second-fastest relay performance in school history, trailing only the 38.76 set by King, Damarcus Simpson, Julius Shellmire and Marcus Chambers in 2017.

Individually, Palmer added his name to the Oregon top-10 lists at both 100 and 200 meters. He posted times of 10.32 (t-No. 10) and 20.68 (No. 8), respectively, as the runner-up in each race.

The Ducks swept the 4x100-meter relays in Tucson with the Women of Oregon securing a season best of their own. The team of Venessa D'Arpino, Jasmin Reed, Briyahna DesRosiers and Brianna Duncan got the baton around the track in 43.46 which is a top-five national mark. Duncan returned to the track to post a season best of 11.38 in winning the 100 meters.

Junior Jonathan Harvey clocked a time of 50.05 to nearly take a full second off his lifetime best in the 400-meter hurdles. He entered the day with a best of 51.03 from the Sun Angel Classic earlier this year. With his new PR, Harvey ranks No. 2 in the Pac-12 and fifth on the national performance list, and jumps to No. 3 on the Oregon all-time list.

In the 110-meter hurdles, freshman Eric Edwards Jr. lowered his personal best to 13.63 in a victory. The time also moves him to No. 5 in program history. In the same race, teammate Joseph Anderson finished third in a time of 13.85 which is a PR for the Duck sophomore.

Oregon also collected a personal best in field action Saturday with freshman Lexi Ellis in the triple jump. She was in second with one attempt remaining and responded with a day's best of 12.91m/42-4.25 to overtake the top spot in the sixth round. Redshirt junior Jackson VanVuren also came away with a win, taking first in the javelin for his third victory of the season.

In another pair of UO top-10 efforts, Orwin Emilien and Emily Sloan improved their standing in the 400 meters and 100-meter hurdles, respectively. Emilien (45.95) became the seventh man in Oregon history to dip below 46 seconds. Sloan dropped her personal best to 13.22 which helped her become the No. 3 performer in school history.

Eight of the Ducks' 17 wins Saturday came from the team's efforts in Corvallis on Saturday afternoon. Defending NCAA 1,500-meter champion Jessica Hull won the elite section of the 800 meters. The race was her first since posting a 15:34.93 at 5,000 meters in late March.

Shellmire and Khadejah Jackson were double winners at the High Performance meet. Shellmire ran an all-conditions best of 10.43 (+3.4) over 100 meters and was back on the track with a season-best time of 21.46 into a headwind to win the 200 meters.

Jackson registered an all-conditions best of her own with a 13.87 (+3.6) to win the 100-meter hurdles. In her final race of the day, she was just shy of her lifetime best to win the 400-meter hurdles. She crossed in a time of 59.48, a scant .02 off her personal best. The time moves her into the top eight in the Pac-12.

Junior Kiana Phelps picked up her second win in as many days by taking first in the shot put. The early lead in the competition belonged to teammate Ronna Stone who got the implement out to a personal-best 15.14m/49-8.25 in the first round. Phelps answered with a mark of 15.38m/50-5.5 on her third toss of the day.

Rachel Vinjamuri and Carly Kleefled round out the group of Oregon winners from Saturday's meets. Vinjamuri, who was third over 400 meters, closed her day with a season-best 25.40 in the 200 meters. In two laps of the track, Kleefled had a time of 2:15.37 to win section one of the 800 meters.

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