Oregon will have a well-balanced women's team and just one men's qualifier at the NCAA Indoor Championships
The Oregon women have assembled a well-balanced group of qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as it seeks its first podium finish since 2019.
The No. 4 Ducks have a collegiate record holder, a pair of veteran jumpers, a contender in the distance medley relay, standout freshmen in the hurdles and mile and several other potential point scorers entered in the meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico.
All together, Oregon has eight individuals entered in seven events plus the DMR.
“The women’s team is obviously very exciting right now,” first-year coach Jerry Schumacher said. “They’ve grown and gotten better with every competition.”
At the top of Oregon's list of contenders is Jorinde Van Klinken, a senior transfer from Arizona State who is the returning champion in the shot put.
In her first meet as a Duck in January, Van Klinken broke the Oregon record in the shot put. Four weeks later she broke the collegiate record with a throw of 64 feet, 2½ inches.
“Her work ethic, I mean, she works to be perfect at her craft,” Schumacher said. “Very focused, very determined, she’s everything you want to see in an athlete. There’s no surprise that she has the success that she does, and she’s earned every bit of it.”
Long jumper Alysah Hickey has the second-best mark in the nation this season with her school-record of 22-3½. She was fourth at the NCAA meet last season.
Freshman Klaudia Kazimierska recorded the second-fastest mile in program history two weeks ago when she ran 4 minutes, 32.03 seconds, which is also seventh-fastest among mile entries this week.
She’ll be racing alongside teammate Izzy Thornton-Bott, who has a season-best time of 4:32.69.
Barring any setbacks, those two are also expected to join Mia Moerck and Ella Clayton in the DMR. That group owns the third-fastest time in the nation at 10:49.07, which is also the second-fastest in program history. Thornton-Bott and Moerck were on the DMR team last season that placed third.
Freshman Aaliyah McCormick has the fifth-fastest time in the 60 hurdles at 8.01, which also has her tied with Alaysha Johnson for No. 2 all-time at Oregon.
Also entered is returning scorer Jadyn Mays in the 60 and 200. She was third in the 60 last season.
Lexi Ellis is entered in the triple jump and Jaida Ross is entered in the shot put.
“It’s really fun to go to a national meet and have so many event areas covered with good athletes and opportunities to compete and score,” Schumacher said.
It’s a different story entirely for the Oregon men, whose only qualifier is miler Elliott Cook, the reigning Pac-12 outdoor 800 champion.
Just two years ago, the Ducks won the NCAA Indoor title with a historically dominant performance, getting six individual wins and scoring 79 team points. It was the second-highest men’s score in meet history and the highest since 1994.
But Oregon doesn’t have that type of team at the moment and Schumacher said they chose not to emphasize the indoor season, opting instead to look ahead to the outdoor season that begins March 17-18 with the Oregon Preview at Hayward Field.
“I just feel like we have a lot of work to do with the team and with the program as a whole,” Schumacher said. “I think we have some talent and some bright spots, but we obviously have to be a lot better and cover a lot more areas than where we’re really at right now.
"We were hoping to use those couple of months to help them develop and kind of push us further along than maybe would’ve had the chance to if we really stopped and competed. It really helped us to develop a little bit more.”
Schumacher had hoped to have sprinter Micah Williams this weekend but the 2021 national champion in the 60 strained his hamstring during the Texas Tech Open on Jan. 28 and they chose to shut him down.
Williams was tied for the NCAA lead at 6.51 when his season ended.
“It always hurts to lose someone like that from your lineup,” Schumacher said. “He’s healthy now and he’s getting back to work again. We’re really excited about that and happy with that. It didn’t seem like it was worth risking his health this late in the indoor season.”
As for Cook, the sophomore has posted a PR 3:55.34 which is 11th fastest in what is the fastest mile field ever assembled for the NCAA Indoor meet as all 16 entries have run at least 3:56.20 and four have recorded a time that put them among the top-10 collegiate performers ever.
“It’s his first national meet and I think he’ll learn a lot,” Schumacher said. “He’s done a really nice job. I think he’s improved in a lot of different areas of his game and getting him out there in the mile will be good for him.”
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Friday and Saturday at Albuquerque Convention Center
OREGON ENTRIES
Men
Elliott Cook, mile — Semifinal: 6 p.m., Friday. Final: 6 p.m., Saturday
Women
Lexi Ellis, triple jump — Prelims/Final, 2:45 p.m., Saturday
Alysah Hickey, long jump — Prelims/Final, 3 p.m., Friday
Klaudia Kazimierska, mile — Semifinal: 3 p.m., Friday. Final: 3 p.m., Saturday
Jadyn Mays, 60/200 — Semifinal: 3:15 p.m., Friday. Final: 3:10 p.m. Saturday/Semifinal: 4:25 p.m., Friday. Final: 3:50 p.m., Saturday
Aaliyah McCormick, 60 hurdles — Semifinal: 3:55 p.m., Friday. Final: 3:40 p.m., Saturday
Jaida Ross, shot put — Prelims/Final: 3 p.m., Saturday
Izzy Thornton-Bott, mile — Semifinal: 3 p.m., Friday. Final: 3 p.m., Saturday
Jorinde Van Klinken, Shot put — Prelims/Final: 3 p.m., Saturday
Distance medley relay — Final: 4:45 p.m., Friday
OREGON STATE ENTRIES
Women
Grace Fetherstonhaugh, 3,000 — Final: 4 p.m., Saturday
Kaylee Mitchell, mile/3,000— Semifinal: 3 p.m., Friday. Final: 3 p.m., Saturday/Final: 4 p.m., Saturday
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks compete at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships
