Oregon women come away with 11th-place finish at NCAA Indoor Championships
Lexi Ellis set a school record, Jadyn Mays had two top-five finishes and a pair of freshmen came away with impressive debuts for Oregon during the women's NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
But there were also some disappointments for the Ducks.
None more so than defending national women's shot put champion Jorinde Van Klinken, who set the collegiate record earlier this season, finishing sixth with a throw of 58 feet, 3¾ inches — nearly 6 feet off her personal best.
When the two-day meet concluded Saturday night at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Ducks had totaled 22 points to tie with LSU for 11th place in the team standings and one point out of the top 10.
Most of those points came from Mays, who scored eight combined thanks to fifth-place finishes in the 60 and 200 meters on Saturday.
Mays, who set PRs in both races during Friday's prelims when she ran 7.07 seconds in the 60 and 22.58 in the 200, finished in 7.13 and 22.63 in Saturday's finals, respectively.
She is the first Duck woman to score in the 60 and 200 at the NCAA indoor meet since Hannah Cunliffe and Ariana Washington did so in 2017.
Ellis finished eighth in the triple jump to score one point, but she did so in style, recording a mark of 45-10 on her final jump to break the school record of 45-4½ set by Chaquinn Cook in 2019.
Klaudia Kazimierska, the only freshman to make the mile final, finished sixth in 4:37.82. Izzy Thornton-Bott (4:44.34) finished ninth, one spot out of scoring position.
Freshman Aaliyah McCormick finished in sixth place in the 60 hurdles as she matched her PR of 8.01.
Jaida Ross also finished eighth in the shot put with a throw of 57-7½ on her final attempt.
Alysah Hickey scored the first points of the weekend when she finished sixth in the long jump on Friday with a mark of 21-3¼.
The Ducks underperformed in the distance medley relay Friday night. Oregon came into the meet with the third-fastest time in the nation, but the team of Thornton-Bott, Ella Clayton, Ella Nelson and Kazimierska faded to an 11th-place finish in 11:26.40, well off its season-best of 10:49.07.
Elliott Cook, the only entry for the Oregon men, finished seventh in the mile final on Saturday in 4:04.27.
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.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks experience highs and lows at NCAA Indoor Championships
