With multiple meet records, Oregon wins and overall Hayward magic, the final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships proved everything it cracked up to be.
Going into the final event the Ducks’ women’s squad held a narrow, one point lead over USC, and their triple crown title was in jeopardy going into the 4x400m relay. Unfortunately for Oregon, the Women of Troy were just too much to keep quiet, and their dominant relay performance secured a Big Ten team title for USC.
The Ducks’ men’s team finished first in the conference with 110 points after entering the day with a three point lead over Nebraska while the Women of Oregon placed second with 113 points after entering Sunday in fourth.
Early in the day, Oregon remained quiet with results such as Safin Wills’ second place in the men’s triple jump with a 15.60, Emily Fitzsimmons’ NH in pole vault and heptathlon winner Annika Williams’ NH in high jump.
While expected to take a win in the 1500m, Silan Ayyildiz and Mia Barnett placed second and third behind Washington’s Sophie O’Sullivan, which came as a slight disappointment to the duo, but securing those points for the team victory proved crucial for the Ducks.
As the only sub-13 hurdler in the women’s 100m hurdles, Aaliyah McCormick dominated the competition all weekend and took home the conference championship with a season best 12.86.
“I haven’t gone under 13 until right now, so it definitely reassures me that I’m in the right position and it’s so exciting honestly. I love being under 13 seconds,” McCormick said.
McCormick’s win put the Ducks ahead in the women’s team title race, which continued to be a major motivator for the junior.
“It is amazing because I had been hearing that we are up for a triple crown, which is awesome,” McCormick said. “Just to know that my points are putting us in the lead is awesome. This is our first year in this conference and it’s very important to all of us to win at home.”
Oregon’s men’s team jumped to a 20 point lead going into the final seven events, which the Ducks wouldn’t relent.
After a photo-finish in the men’s 800m, Matthew Erickson missed out on the Big Ten individual title by one-thousandth of a second to Penn State’s Allon Clay, each scoring a 1:47.93. Koitatoi Kidali placed third with a 1:47.94 to secure 14 team points in the event for Oregon, but was disqualified and the team only gained eight.
“I thought about diving,” Erickson said about the finish. “I really wanted this in front of the home crowd.”
Shortly after, Ryann Porter won the women’s triple jump with a personal best 13.55 and was closely followed by Oregon freshman Cassandra Atkins’ personal best 13.39 — each achieved it on their final jump.
“I knew all the other girls were jumping far, so I had to match that and jump even further,” Porter said. “For us to both get (personal bests) was so exciting for us, we knew we needed some more points on the women’s side.”
Klaudia Kazimierska eased to a win in the women’s 800m, and the Poland-native beat the rest of the competition by almost two whole seconds with her 2:02.92. Kazimierska took an early lead which only grew as she continued running.
“I feel like today was a different plan (than usual),” Kazimierska said. “I was supposed to just observe what was happening and depending if it’s a slow race, I was supposed to go for it after 400. I have to make these decisions during the race.”
Going into the 5000m races, the Oregon men’s squad practically wrapped up the team title, but the Women of Oregon still hung behind the USC Women of Troy by 14 points.
Simeon Birnbaum bounced back from a disappointing 1500m race where he placed third to win the 5000m with a meet record time of 13:31.87. Birnbaum hung back behind the top five most of the race and then sprung himself to victory in the final two laps to win by less than a second.
“I got out-kicked in the 1500, so I got really fired up and ready to go for this race,” Birnbaum said. “I wanted to go out there and ice this meet for us.”
Ayyildiz also made up for her lackluster 1500m by racing a meet record 5000m with a 15:37.11, which gave her the win by less than half a second. Oregon freshman Diana Cherotich held a large lead going into the final few laps, and it looked like she would take an easy win, but the competition caught up.
Luckily for the Ducks, it was Ayyildiz who came out on top, and Cherotich finished sixth, along with freshman Ella Thorsett in seventh.
“Simeon (Birnbaum) really inspired me,” Ayyildiz said. “I tried to go with (Cherotich), but it was kinda early and I waited a little bit. In the last 600, I was just counting the laps in my mind. I was just like ‘I can do just the last 200 or last 100.’”
Ayyildiz did just that and carried her momentum into a phenomenal last stretch which pushed her to a massive win in the 5000m. That gave Oregon enough points to take a one point lead going into the 4x400m, which was the closing event of the weekend.
The Women of Troy took first place in the relay, while Oregon placed eighth. The dream of a Big Ten triple crown was squashed in that final event.
The Oregon men’s squad took home the Big Ten crown, which added a silver lining, however. The Ducks will return to Hayward Field for an NCAA regional.
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