UO release - By: Rob Moseley - EUGENE, Ore. — A day that began and ended in frustration for the Oregon women still featured plenty of highlights at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  The Ducks on Thursday picked up their first team points of the meet from Emily Fitzsimmons in the pole vault, advanced three entries to Saturday's 1,500-meter final and saw Aaliyah McCormick post the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100 hurdles. That was the meaty middle at Hayward Field, on a day that began with Oregon's 4x100 relay team not advancing and ended with freshman phenom Diana Cherotich stepping off the track just past the halfway point of the 10,000.  Mia Barnett, Klaudia Kazimierska and Silan Ayyildiz all advanced through the 1,500 semis, with Barnett posting a season-best 4:09.61 to take second in her heat, one spot ahead of Kazimierska. That followed a third-place finish by Ayyildiz in her heat, and less than an hour later McCormick breezed through her heat of the hurdles in 12.76 seconds.  "It feels so good to know that my teammates are out there and they all qualified," McCormick said. "So it makes me now reassure myself, like, OK, if they can do it, I can do it. And you know, Ducks travel in a pack, so if one Duck goes, I'm going with them."  Day 2 of the 2025 NCAA D1 Track and Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on June 12, 2025 - Fitzsimmons earned all-America honors with her sixth-place finish in the pole vault, picking up three team points for the Ducks. She cleared each of her opening three heights on her first attempt, then vaulted a personal-best 14 feet, 6.75 inches on her second attempt, a mark that held up for sixth place.  "It's been awesome," Fitzsimmons said. "I'm really proud of the time and work that I've put in with my coach, so seeing that all play out and getting to show off a little bit, especially at home, has been so awesome.  "It was a little bit of a rough warm-up; I had to make a lot of adjustments. Even the first couple bars, I did first attempt but they weren't the prettiest of jumps. Cleaning that up throughout the competition is just kind of what it's about, so I enjoyed that process."  After the 4x100 relay opened events on the track Thursday, the 1,500 heats took the spotlight. Ayyildiz was in the first heat, and battled through traffic before finally finding open running room in the home stretch to finish third in 4:11.65.  With about 500 meters to go, Ayyildiz made a move inside to the rail, but at the bell she was pushed and nearly lost her footing. Though she ended up back in traffic, she kept her footing — and her wits about her.  "It was so scary," Ayyildiz said. "I thought, oh my gosh. If someone pushed me, if I just lost my balance, usually I'm just mentally done. But today I just felt really so strong, so I just kept going."  Kazimierska also had a rough ride in the second heat, briefly fighting her way to the front of the pack before ultimately taking third in 4:09.94. She ran most of the heat near Barnett in the pack, just behind the leaders.  "I feel like I wasn't running my full stride, which was kind of annoying," she said. "I feel like for the final I need to control that more, but I feel like the final will also be faster. So I feel like it's gonna let me run my own stride, because I feel like when I have space in front of me or a little bit of room, I can just let my legs go."  Though Barnett also was running in the same pack, she avoided any entanglements and enjoyed a smooth trip to second place in the heat.  "I think I got in a really good spot from the get-go, and I think I'm just peaking at the right time," Barnett said. "My training has been going really well, and I feel like I haven't been able to do that in the past. For me to feel this good at this point is honestly such a huge relief. And I'm so excited to see what I can do in the final now."  Single-day tickets for Friday's and Saturday's NCAA finals are currently on sale.  Up Next: The men's team race will culminate Friday with the Ducks carrying six scoring opportunities to go along with the five points already scored by Kobe Lawrence in Wednesday's shot put. Day three also marks the start of the heptathlon which features UO senior and Big Ten champion Annika Williams.  For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and X.