In Eugene, Monster Throws Established New NCAA Leading Marks In Three Events; Oregon's Nelson, UCLA's Anderson Shine in Sprints at Arizona

By Nick Rosenberger for DyeStat/Photos courtesy Chuck Aragon

Even without needing to use many of their most successful runners, Oregon managed to win both men’s and women’s titles Saturday at the West Coast Classic, held simultaneously with distance and throwing events hosted in Eugene, Oregon, and sprints and jumps in Tucson, Arizona.

Although the distance races, traditionally Oregon’s strength, were held in Eugene, most of the Ducks’ points came from the sprints and jumps. 

Alysah Hickey and Rhesa Foster went 1-2 in the women’s long jump, with Hickey, a redshirt freshman, moving from fourth place to first on her final jump, 21 feet, 2.75 inches (6.47m). Hickey is now the No. 4 performer in Oregon history.

“I would have liked to see what my second attempt was because it felt like a big one, but I scratched,” Hickey said. “With the last jump, I proved to myself what I could really do when it comes together.”

Kemba Nelson and Jasmine Reed went 1-2 in the women’s 100 meters, with times of 11.18 and 11.48, respectively, and Jonathan Harvey and Will Mundy finished 1-2 in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with times of 51.14 and 52.47.

Nelson, who won the NCAA Division 1 Indoor 60-meter title, moved to No. 6 on the outdoor performance list in the 100.

Cal's Deshae Wise edged out Oregon's Emily Sloan in the 100-meter hurdles, 13.15 to 13.16.

UCLA's Shae Anderson beat Nelson in the 200 meters, 22.96 to 23.08.

The Bruins' Harrison Schrage jumped 26-1.75 (7.97m) to win the long jump and move to No. 6 on the NCAA list. 

The Ducks picked up one other win in Arizona: Gaston Bouchereau won the men’s 100 meters in 10.29.

In Eugene, the biggest news came in the throwing events. Arizona State's Turner Washington launched a lifetime-best in the discus with 217-5 (66.26m) to move to No. 6 on the all-time collegiate list. The indoor shot put champion also won that event with his outdoor season debut of 68-3 (20.80m).

Samantha Noenning of Arizona won the women's shot put with an NCAA-leading mark of 59-7.50 (18.17m). And former Arizona State teammate Jorinde Van Klinken threw the second-best discus throw in the nation with 195-11 (59.71m).

Cal's Camryn Rogers threw a lifetime best mark of 239-9 (73.09m), which also got her the Olympic 'A' standard and improved her to the No. 3 thrower in NCAA history, as well as the No. 2 all-time Canadian competitor.

Alyssa Wilson of UCLA logged the second-best NCAA throw of the season with 228-3 (69.58m).

Jackson Mestler fended off a late surge on the outside from Stanford’s Ky Robinson in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in 8:44.84 to Robinson’s 8:45.32, the eighth-and ninth-fastest NCAA times this season.

“My technique has been solid,” Mestler said. “The build-up has been solid, and I knew I was in shape. I had a PR (in the 1,500 meters) two weeks ago so I felt confident going into the race. 

“The water jumps all felt a lot better, which is something I’ve been working on since my last (steeplechase) race.”

Many of the Eugene races were decided by a strong finishing kick.

In the men’s 800 meters, Garrett MacQuiddy of Cal edged Oregon’s Elliot Cook by .01, finishing in 1:49.97 to Cook’s 1:49.98. It was MacQuiddy and Cook’s first time under 1:50. 

In the women’s 800 meters, Christina Aragon of Stanford passed three runners in the homestretch to finish first in a time of 2:08.72. 

In the women’s 1,500 meters, Stanford’s Ella Donaghu raced from the front with Hannah Reinhardt of Oregon following right on her heels, and that’s how they finished. Donaghu fought off Reinhardt, keeping just ahead of her with 100 meters to go, finishing at 4:14.15 to Reinhardt’s 4:14.91. 

Reinhardt set a personal best by more than nine seconds after two years without running the event following her transfer from Albany.

“I know I’m in a great spot, and I just want to keep getting better,” she said.

In the men’s 1,500 meters, Air Force’s Sam Gilman launched past Stanford’s Cole Sprout in the last 100 meters to win in a personal-best 3:41.86.

Stanford freshman Charles Hicks ran 13:34.63 to win the men's 5,000.

In a unique end to a unique event, Oregon ran three teams in a 3x400-meter mixed relay with women running the first two legs before handing the baton off to the men. 

The Oregon men won the two-venue meet with 96 points. UCLA was second with 61 points and Arizona was third with 60. 

On the women's side, Oregon scored 114 points, UCLA was next with 54.50 and Arizona State was third with 54.