The Register-Guard will be providing updates throughout the Pac-12 Track & Field Championship at Hayward Field, which runs Friday through Sunday.
Oregon’s Mundy, Webster advance to 400 hurdle finals
The Ducks will have a finalist in both the men’s and women’s 400 hurdles on Sunday, as Will Mundy and Alexandra Webster advanced out of the preliminaries.
Webster won her women’s heat in 58.89. Mundy ran 51.99 to finish second in his men’s heat.
The Pac-12 leader in each race will not compete in the finals.
That includes Oregon freshman Shana Grebo, who was entered in the meet earlier in the week but wasn’t on the start list that came out Friday morning. Oregon didn’t respond to a request for information on why Grebo missed the race.
In the men’s race, Jamar Marshall Jr. of Arizona State was disqualified from his prelim heat. The reigning 110 hurdles champion will compete in the prelims in that event on Saturday.
Nakato scores first points for Oregon women
Oregon freshman Kohana Nakato finished in third place in the women’s javelin in her Pac-12 championships debut and scored the first points of the weekend for the Ducks women.
Nakato threw 158-11 on her third attempt for a six-point finish.
“I just wanted to relax and have fun,” Nakato said. “I knew that the weather was going to be a little gloomy so I didn’t want that to put me down. So I just relaxed a bit and had fun and it turned out well.”
Stanford’s Virginia Miller was the winner with a throw of 178-6 and Washington State’s Valentina Barrios Bornacelli was second at 165-0.
California’s Camryn Rogers now at three-time hammer champ
California’s Camryn Rogers dominance in the hammer continued Friday as the two-time NCAA champion became the second women in conference history to win three-straight titles.
The senior threw 241-10 to get the win by a comfortable margin.
“I feel like my coach and I really focus just on the things that we need to do and it keeps things very simple,” said Rogers when asked if she feels any pressure as the prohibitive favorite. “For us, we found that simplicity very much is key because I’m very guilty of being an over thinker.”
Her teammate Anna Purchase was second at 226-1 and Arizona State’s Shelby Moran was third at 217-5.
Duck women sprinters open with 200 prelim success
The Ducks’ first direct shot at the mighty USC women’s sprint program came Friday as Oregon qualified three to Sunday’s 200 final while the Trojans failed to advance out of the preliminaries.
Iman Brown (23.40) and Kemba Nelson (23.68) both won their respective heats to automatically advance and Jasmine Montgomery (23.67) qualified on time.
The Oregon men also qualified two into the 200 finals as Micah Williams (20.73) and Ryan Mulholland (20.95) moved on to Sunday.
The USC men, who are trying to end the Ducks’ 14-year winning streak at the meet, can get some serious traction in the standings as four Trojans qualified for the final, led by reigning conference champion Davonte Burnett, who ran 20.72.
Ducks stack the 1,500 finals scheduled for Sunday
Oregon loaded up on qualifiers in the men’s 1,500 as four men advanced out of the prelims to make Sunday’s final.
Reed Brown (3:43.38), Jack Yearian (3:43.68), James Gromley (3:43.79) and Elliott Cook (3:43.99) were the first four across the line in the first heat to automatically advance.
“That was something special out there,” said Brown, who is the Pac-12 leader this season at 3:36.44. “That’s what we planned on, just take the race from the beginning and our whole goal was just to qualify everyone in that heat and we got everyone through. Just looking behind and seeing those guys right behind me lit my day up. I’m super excited for Sunday.”
Washington’s Joe Waskom had the top time in the two prelim heats with a personal-record 3:41.62.
Oregon’s Izzy Thornton-Bott also advanced to Sunday’s final in the women’s 1,500 as she ran 4:20.83 to finish fourth in her heat.
The top time of the day was by Colorado’s Micaela Degenero, who ran 4:17.46.
Oregon’s Max Vollmer looking for third-straight decathlon title
Max Vollmer wasted little time setting on a tone in the decathlon Friday afternoon as the Oregon junior set a PR in the first event of the meet as he ran 10.72 in the 100 to take the early lead.
It wasn’t the only PR of the day for Vollmer, who is off to a good start in his quest for a third-straight conference title.
Vollmer is on top after five events with 4,078 points, leading a 1-2-3 start for the Ducks, who also have Jett Kinder in second at 3,739 and Nathan Poff third at 3,645.
Vollmer set a PR in the high jump as he cleared 6 feet, 5 inches, and also threw 45-9 1/4 in the shot put, had a mark of 22-7 in the long jump and ended with a 48.67 in the 400.
Kinder also set a PR in the 100 with his finish in 11.30.
What to watch: Standout events and individuals at the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships
Pac-12 Track & Field Championships return to Hayward Field
The Pac-12 Track & Field Championships are back at Hayward Field for the first time since 2017 and the host team is looking to sweep the team titles.
The meet will be Friday, with events starting at 2 p.m.; Saturday, first event at 11 a.m. and Sunday, with first event at 11 a.m. at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.
UO men and women:Oregon Ducks looking for title sweep at Pac-12 Track & Field Championship meet
The Oregon men have won 14 straight conference championships and the Oregon women are the favorites after three-straight runner-up finishes to Southern California.
The meet will feature 13 reigning Pac-12 individual champions, and eight individuals who lead the NCAA in their respective events.
This file will be updated throughout the meet. Check back Friday through Sunday for the latest news.
How to watch
Friday
Women’s hammer final: 4:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, and Pac-12.com
Men’s and women’s javelin and pole vault finals: 5:15 p.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Men’s and women’s 10,000 final: 7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Saturday
Men’s hammer final: 1:45 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Men’s and women’s long jump and shot put finals: 3:45 p.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Men’s and women’s 3,000 steeplechase finals: 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Sunday
Field events finals: 11:30 a.m., Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com
Track events finals: 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app Pac-12.com
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Live updates: Kohana Nakato scores first points for Oregon women