UO Outdoor Preview, Day I

UO release - EUGENE, Ore. – EUGENE, Ore. – Benjamin Balazs led a 1-2-3 finish in the men's 2,000-meter steeplechase to close out a rainy day one of the Oregon Preview at Hayward Field. Collectively, the Ducks had six top-three finishes Friday including a runner-up effort by newcomer Pat Vialva in the men's javelin. The Oregon Preview marks the beginning of the Ducks' outdoor campaign. Tickets for the entire 2025 home schedule at Hayward Field including the Big Ten Championships (May 16-18) and NCAA Championships (June 11-14) are currently on sale. In the final race of the day, Balazs stopped the clock in 5:33.42 to secure a win in the truncated version of the steeplechase. He was followed by teammates Sergio Del Barrio and Vincent Mestler in the Ducks' sweep of the top-three spot. Kohana Nakato was third in the women's javelin with a day's best of 45.92m/150-8. That throw came in the third round of the competition. Vialva, making his Oregon debut, saved his best measure for the final round. Sitting in second for most of the day, he unleashed a toss of 67.57m/221-8 to temporarily take over the overall lead. Vialva came into the round with a then-day's best of 64.90 meters from round two. The lead was short-lived though with Laurenz Waldbauer (68.93m/226-1) of Northwest Nazarene reclaiming the top spot with the final throw of the competition. Competing unattached, sophomore Katie Clute and freshman Maleigha Canaday-Elliott picked up wins in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:24.09) and triple jump (12.64m/41-05.75), respectively. Alum and school-record holder Shelby Moran won the hammer (70.15m/230-2) in the opening event of the day.

UO Outdoor Preview, Day II

UO release - EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon track and field team collected four wins Saturday to close out the Oregon Preview at Hayward Field. The Ducks' winners circle included Jaelon Barbarin in the men's 100 meters, Nicole Humphries in the women's 800 meters, Kyle Gibbs in the men's pole vault and Aidan Elbettar in the men's discus. Barbarin and teammate Andrew Walker went 1-2 in the men's 100 meters, both crossing the finish line in 10.72 and separated by just .003 on the clock. Overall, the Ducks occupied four spots in the top seven with Mihaly Akpamgbo, competing unattached, and Reggie Witherspoon III in fourth and seventh place, respectively. After finishing sixth in Friday evening's 1500 meters, Humphries tallied the first win of her UO career in Saturday's 800. The Flower Mound, Texas, native stopped the clock in 2:11.54 to win the two-lapper by more than a second. Gibbs needed a third-attempt clearance at his opening height to extend his outdoor debut. Making the proper adjustments, he needed just one try to clear the next height at 5.30m/17-4.5 to pad the winning margin. With the victory in hand, Gibbs took three attempts at a would-be personal best and first-ever clearance of 18 feet. The Ducks' final victory of the weekend came from Elbettar. The UO newcomer got the discus out to a day's best of 57.04m/187-1 on his fourth attempt of the day, surpassing teammate Ben Smith for first place. Elbettar led a 1-2-3 finish for the Oregon throws group with Kobe Lawrence finishing third. Smith, competing unattached, won the men's shot put (18.99m/62-3.75) with Lawrence in second. Annika Williams, preparing for her first heptathlon of the season, posted a pair of top-three finishes on Saturday. She was second in the shot put with a best of 14.30m/46-11, a measure that came in the last round. Williams opened her day with a third-place effort (14.35) in the 100-meter hurdles. The UO women also got runner-up outings from Hannah Ganashamoorthy in the long jump and Noreen Hussain in the pole vault. Ganashamoorthy (5.71m/18-8.75) moved from seventh place to second with her final attempt of the afternoon. Hussain had a day's best clearance of 3.88m/12-8.75, good for a new lifetime best. The Oregon Preview doubled as the Ducks' outdoor opener, and was the first of six collegiate meets set for Hayward Field. Tickets for the entire 2025 home schedule which includes the Big Ten Championships (May 16-18) and NCAA Championships (June 11-14) are currently on sale. Oregon is scheduled for a trio of meets next weekend with the Battle at the Beach in Long Beach, Calif., the Stanford Invitational in the Bay Area and the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif.