OSU at Drake Relays

OSU release - DES MOINES, Iowa – The Oregon State Track & Field team had a big win in the 4x1600-meter relay behind Abigail Pradere, Maya Baechler, Ruby Broadbent and Ainsley Herron to highlight the three-day Drake Relays. The Beavers got the win in 19:04.83 to finish .05 better than Notre Dame on the second day of competition.

UO track

UO release - Klaudia Kazimierska won the Drake Relays 800 meters, her second title of the weekend. EUGENE, Ore. – Klaudia Kazimierska picked up her second Drake Relays win of the weekend and Silan Ayyildiz broke the outdoor collegiate record in the mile Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. At Penn Relays, the Men of Oregon broke the school record in the 4x800 meters. After anchoring the Ducks to 4x800 victory Friday evening, Kazimierska collected a second Drake title with her come-from-behind victory in the World Athletics Continental Tour section of the 800 meters. Kazimierska, the only collegian in the field, split 62 seconds on the bell lap to overtake the lead group down the stretch to stop the clock in 2:02.03, a season's best. Already the indoor record holder in the mile, Ayyildiz added the NCAA outdoor mark to her standout campaign with Saturday's 4:25.50 at the Drake Relays. She took down the long-standing standout of 4:29.04 set by Angela Chalmers (NAU) in 1987. Teammate Mia Barnett clocked an absolute personal best of 4:26.40 to also finish under the previous collegiate standard. Barnett was also part of the Ducks' victorious 4x800 relay Friday evening. The two Ducks finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in Saturday's race which was also run as part of the Continental Tour schedule, and were the only collegians in the field. Krissy Gear (Hoka) ran 4:23.69 to win. The UO men leave Philadelphia with a pair of runner-up finishes, capping their weekend at Penn Relays with a school record in Saturday's 4x800-meter relay. Simeon Birnbaum, Rheinhardt Harrison, Koitatoi Kidali and Matthew Erickson combined for a time of 7:14.10, second behind Georgetown (7:13.95) that pulled ahead over the final strides of the shorter finishing stretch at Franklin Field. Birnbaum, Harrison, Kidali and Erickson eclipsed the previous UO standard of 7:15.46 run at last year's Penn Relays. That team consisted of Erickson, Harrison, Elliott Cook and James Harding. The Ducks get the final month of the regular season started with the OSU High Performance (May 2-3) in Corvallis, Ore., and the Desert Heat Classic (May 3) in Tucson, Ariz. The team's next home meet is set for May 9 with the Oregon Twilight. The Ducks will also host this year's Big Ten Championships (May 16-18) and NCAA Championships (June 11-14) at Hayward Field. Tickets for the Twilight and both championship meets are currently on sale.