Photo by: Lily Dozier
Ayyildiz Earns Big Ten Weekly Accolades
04/30/25 | Track and Field
The UO junior broke the collegiate record in the outdoor mile at the Drake Relays.
EUGENE, Ore. – With the help of a record-breaking performance at the Drake Relays, UO junior Silan Ayyildiz has been named Big Ten Women's Track Athlete of the Week.
Competing in the World Athletics Continental Tour section of the Drake Relays mile, Ayyildiz posted a time of 4:25.50 to break the long-standing outdoor collegiate record of 4:29.04 set in 1987 by Angela Chalmers of Northern Arizona. It was Ayyildiz's third collegiate record of the year, adding to the mile (4:23.46) and DMR (anchor, 10:42.05) marks from the indoor season.
The Istanbul, Turkey, native was one of two collegians in the pro-heavy field, joined by teammate Mia Barnett (4:26.40) who also ran inside the previous mark. The two finished fourth and sixth in the race, respectively. Ayyildiz finished only behind Karissa Schweizer, Shelby Houlihan and winner Krissy Gear.
Wednesday's announcement marked the second Big Ten weekly honor of the outdoor season. Diana Cherotich earned top freshman accolades (April 9) after breaking the school record at 10,000 meters.
The Ducks are in action this weekend with the OSU High Performance (May 2-3) in Corvallis, Ore., and the Desert Heat Classic (May 3) in Tucson, Ariz.
At the end of conference weekend, the top 48 individuals and top 24 relays advance to the NCAA West First Round (May 28-31) in College Station, Texas. The top 12 in each event from the two region meets move on to the NCAA Championships (June 11-14), hosted by the Ducks in Eugene.
Oregon will also host the Big Ten Championships (May 16-18) at Hayward Field. Tickets for both meets and next week's Oregon Twilight are currently on sale.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Competing in the World Athletics Continental Tour section of the Drake Relays mile, Ayyildiz posted a time of 4:25.50 to break the long-standing outdoor collegiate record of 4:29.04 set in 1987 by Angela Chalmers of Northern Arizona. It was Ayyildiz's third collegiate record of the year, adding to the mile (4:23.46) and DMR (anchor, 10:42.05) marks from the indoor season.
The Istanbul, Turkey, native was one of two collegians in the pro-heavy field, joined by teammate Mia Barnett (4:26.40) who also ran inside the previous mark. The two finished fourth and sixth in the race, respectively. Ayyildiz finished only behind Karissa Schweizer, Shelby Houlihan and winner Krissy Gear.
Wednesday's announcement marked the second Big Ten weekly honor of the outdoor season. Diana Cherotich earned top freshman accolades (April 9) after breaking the school record at 10,000 meters.
The Ducks are in action this weekend with the OSU High Performance (May 2-3) in Corvallis, Ore., and the Desert Heat Classic (May 3) in Tucson, Ariz.
At the end of conference weekend, the top 48 individuals and top 24 relays advance to the NCAA West First Round (May 28-31) in College Station, Texas. The top 12 in each event from the two region meets move on to the NCAA Championships (June 11-14), hosted by the Ducks in Eugene.
Oregon will also host the Big Ten Championships (May 16-18) at Hayward Field. Tickets for both meets and next week's Oregon Twilight are currently on sale.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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