Distance, Throws Crews Head to Stanford

Friday, March 31

Stanford, CA

University of Oregon

Stanford Invitational

03/30/23 | Track and Field

Two-day Stanford Invitational begins Friday at 11 a.m.

EUGENE, Ore. – With a focus on its distance and throws groups, the Oregon track and field team takes on the Stanford Invitational this weekend. The Ducks' schedule starts Friday at 11 a.m. with invitational sections of the women's shot put and javelin.

The two-day meet will be streamed live by FloTrack with a focus on running events. On Friday, the UO distance crew will compete at 1500 meters and in the steeplechase with Malia Pivec in the invitational section of the latter.

Stanford Invitational (Stanford, Calif.)
Watch | Live Results

Indoor All-American and Medford, Ore., native Jaida Ross will be joined by teammate Mine De Klerk in the shot put. Ross is the school-record holder in the event with a best of 17.83m/58-6 from last year's NCAA Championships where she finished fifth. De Klerk (17.19m/56-4.75) enters the weekend third on the UO top-10 list.

In the javelin, sophomore Kohana Nakato leads an Oregon trio that also includes Josephine Krohn and Riley Traeger. Nakato opened her outdoor campaign with a 48.45m/158-11 at the Oregon Preview. On the men's side, Dalton Rasmussen will look to build on his 64.70m/212-3 opener.

Shelby Moran competes in the hammer for a second time in an Oregon kit at 3 p.m. In her first meet of the year, she registered a day's best of 64.42m/211-4 to win at the Oregon Preview. That measure made Moran the No. 4 performer in program history. She has a PB of 70.58m/231-7 from her career at Arizona State.

The first Duck on the track will be Luke Affolder in section four of the men's 1500 meters. He ran a time of 3:51.75 at the Oregon Preview and owns a best of 3:49.20, running unattached last season.

Pivec enters the Stanford Invitational with a lifetime best of 10:01.93 in the steeplechase, a time that puts her sixth on the UO top-10 list. Harper McClain will run in section two with eyes on improving on her PB in the event of 10:20.21 from the 2022 Oregon Twilight. McClain began her outdoor campaign with a 33:44.62 outing over 10K at the Oregon Preview.

In the men's steeplechase, Alex Slenning will make his debut in the event as a Duck and carries a best time of 8:43.23 from his 2019 season at Washington. He is scheduled to run in section two at 6:05 p.m. After running a 2,000-meter steeplechase to start the season, Vincent Mestler and Giuliano Scasso will take on the full distance Friday in section four at 5:39 p.m.

How They Rank
Through the first two meets of their outdoor season, the Ducks carry 13 top-30 national marks into the weekend in Stanford with top-10 efforts from Jadyn Mays (100), Aaliyah McCormick (100H) and Shelby Moran (hammer).

MEN
10,000 Meters
16. Abdinasir Hussein – 28:57.08

4x100m Relay
14. Ryan Mulholland/Micah Williams/Xavier Nairne/PJ Ize-Iyamu Jr. – 39.72

Javelin
30. Ty Hampton – 66.37m/217-9

WOMEN
100 Meters
3. Jadyn Mays – 11.19

200 Meters
27. Ella Clayton – 23.51

10,000 Meters
15. Harper McClain – 33:44.62
18. Maddy Elmore – 33:51.49
19. Anika Thompson – 33:51.70
23. Melissa Berry – 34:04.92

100m Hurdles
7. Aaliyah McCormick – 13.23

Discus
19. Jaida Ross – 54.31m/178-2

Hammer
8. Shelby Moran – 64.42m/211-4

Javelin
29. Kohana Nakato – 48.45m/158-11

Up Next
Day two of the Stanford Invitational will feature Elliott Cook and Matthew Erickson in the 800 meters in addition to invitational flights of the women's discus and men's hammer.

Oregon's schedule picks up with four meets during a 10-day stretch beginning with the Brutus Hamilton Mutlis (April 6-7) in Berkeley, Calif., and Triton Invitational (April 7-8) in La Jolla. The stretch is also set to feature the Mt. SAC Relays (April 12-15) and Bryan Clay Invitational (April 13-15).

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