Oregon women’s track and field had plenty of reason to celebrate Saturday after winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship.
“Overall it was a success,” Duck head coach Robert Johnson said in a release. “Like most championship meets, you have the good and the bad. We had some specific agendas going into the meet, in terms of what we wanted to get done, and we were able to achieve most of those this weekend.”
The women won with 108 points, ahead of Stanford (73.75) and USC (59). The men took fourth with 72 points.
The meet served as the last tune up before the NCAA Indoor Championships and a chance for Duck athletes to pick up qualifying marks.
Brittany Mann threw a season-best of 56-0.50 in the shot put on her first attempt to win the event.
Mitch Modin was able to finish with a personal best of 5713 points in the heptathlon — fourth best in Oregon school history and enough to put him in position to qualify. The junior put it all on the line in the 1000, collapsing at the finish line in 2:45.72.
“It was great for Mitch to gut it out in the 1,000,” Johnson said. “Not enough can be said about his teammates there – Joe Delgado and Blake Kemp who helped him along. I’m proud of all three of our heptathlon guys and very excited for Mitch.”
This is the first time Modin will be going to the NCAA Indoor Championships after he failed to make it last season by three points.
Devon Allen set a personal record in the 60 hurdles by crossing the line in 7.60. In the process he broke Johnathan Cabral’s school record, the MPSF meet record, Ashton Eaton’s Dempsey Indoor record and made him the NCAA co-leader.
The Oregon women picked up wins across the board. Sasha Wallace and Alaysha Johnson finished first and second in the 60 hurdles, with Wallace finishing in 8.07.
Ashley Maton (4:38.32) and Lilli Burdon (4:39.42) also finished first and second in the mile.
The Ducks scored big in the women’s 60, led by sophomore Hannah Cunliffe who won in a time of 7.21. Jasmine Todd took third, Ariana Washington fifth and Deajah Stevens seventh.
Click here for a complete list of results.
An official announcement will be made on Tuesday, March 1, on the final NCAA Championship field.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur