Oregon racked up 14 event wins on Saturday as both the men’s and women’s teams won the Columbia East-West Challenge. The men totaled 158 points, beating out Cornell in second place with 124 points and UCLA in third with 103, while the women scored 213 points to dominate the field by more than 100 points.

Including five event wins on Friday, Oregon had a weekend total of 19 individual wins with three Armory records and a collegiate record.

Seven different Ducks found themselves ranked on Oregon’s all-time indoor record list, including Marcus Chambers, who, after opening his day with a win in the 400-meter, broke the school record in the 200 with a time of 20.78 seconds.

Kyree King, coming off a 60-meter win on Friday, also found himself ranked third on the list after placing second with a time of 21.02.

The women’s 200-meter also ended in record-breaking fashion. In her first 200-meter since the Rio Olympics, Deajah Stevens beat the Armory record with a time of 22.65 seconds, an NCAA-leading mark. She was followed by Hannah Cunliffe in 23.00, narrowly beating out Harvard freshman Gabrielle Thomas by .01 second. Ariana Washington and freshman Makenzie Dunmore placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Dunmore also participated in the 400-meter as she and fellow Oregon newcomer, senior transfer Elexis Guster, went 1-2. Dunmore’s time of 53.10 seconds is the third-leading time in Oregon indoor history.

In his highly-anticipated season opener, 15-time NCAA Champion Edward Cheserek won the 3,000-meter in 7 minutes, 46.85 seconds, jumping to the top of the NCAA leaderboard. On the women’s side, with a new personal best time of 9 minutes, 16.59 seconds, Maggie Schmaedick won the event, while Frida Berge followed in 9:30.22.

The NCAA-leading times didn’t stop there. Outdoor and indoor title holder Raevyn Rogers won the 800-meter, finishing in 2:01.75 to take the top time. The time was only .03 second off of last year’s world-leading time of 2:01.72 set by Esther Guerrero. Oregon junior Brooke Feldmeier placed third with a time of 2:06.62.

Redshirt senior Samantha Nadel also made her Oregon debut with a win in the mile. The Georgetown transfer crossed the line in 4:37.38, a personal best and the 8th-leading time in school history. She led a squad of Oregon cross country athletes, including senior Alli Cash, who finished in fifth in 4:40.34 just behind Oregon sophomore Lilli Burdon.

The women also fared well in the jumping events. During her first jump as a Duck, freshman Rhesa Foster hit a distance of 20 feet, 9.25 inches to take the long jump. The distance places her at fourth in school history. Portland State transfer Chaquinn Cook won the triple jump with a new personal best distance of 42 feet, .75 inches.

Another Oregon transfer, Damarcus Simpson, already made his presence known as a Duck on Friday when he was the runner-up in the men’s 60-meter. On Saturday, he backed up that performance on his second attempt in the men’s long jump.

With a distance of 26 feet, 3.5 inches, Simpson became the first Duck to jump over 8 meters, establishing himself at the top of Oregon’s all-time indoor record list. For the rest of the competition, no one else came close and Simpson easily beat out the field by almost two feet.

In the weight throw, Madeline Middlebrooks threw a personal record of 61 feet, 1 inch for the fifth-furthest in Oregon history to take the event.

The evening ended with the 4×400 relays. After spending the whole race neck and neck, Oregon’s two women’s teams went 1-2 with times of 3:33.79 and 3:33.87. The men’s team also won their race, finishing in 4:15.

In Seattle, at the UW Invitational, Mitch Modin won the heptathlon with 5374 points, more than 300 points ahead of the second-place finisher, and Ben Milligan placed third overall in the high jump with a height of 7 feet, .5 inches.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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Oregon’s track and field team started strong on the first day of the Columbia East West Challenge on Friday as the men and women sprinters and distance medley relay teams dominated, winning every event of the day except one.

The day began with a NCAA collegiate record when the women’s distance medley relay team finished in 10 minutes, 48.77 seconds, two seconds faster than the previous record set by Tennessee.

Freshman Lilli Burdon led off for the Ducks, running the 1,200-meter in 3 minutes, 20.55 seconds. She was followed by senior Ashante Horsley in the 400. After a 53.76 second leg, Horsley handed it off to Raevyn Rogers to run the 800 in 2:03.53. Freshmen Katie Rainsberger finished off with a 4:30.92 mile.

Then, it was the men’s turn. The team of Matthew Maton (1,200), Cameron Stone (400), Matt Stanovsek (800) and Edward Cheserek (1,600) finished in 9:30.86 for first place.

The Oregon women swept both the 60 meter dash and the 60 meter hurdles. Hannah Cunliffe won the 60-meter in 7.13 seconds — .01 second off her own school record. Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington followed in second and third, respectively, marking personal record times of 7.23 and 7.30.

In the 60 meter hurdles, Sasha Wallace improved her NCAA-leading time to 7.91 seconds, breaking Brianna Rollin’s Armory collegiate record. Alaysha Johnson and Rhesa Foster followed her across the line with times of 8.19 and 8.39.

The men also fared well in the 60 meter as Kyree King and Damarcus Simpson finished first and second. With a time of 6.62 seconds, King tied Samie Parker’s school record. Simpson’s time of 6.69 moved him to second in school history. Julius Shellmire finished in fifth in 6.86.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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After a successful start to the 2017 season at the UW Indoor Preview, where the Ducks garnered seven event wins, the majority of the Oregon track and field team will travel to New York for the Columbia East-West Challenge on Friday and Saturday.

This clash between the Pac-12 and the Ivy League will feature Oregon and UCLA representing the west and Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Penn State for the east.

The goal for the meet, according to Oregon head coach Robert Johnson, is to hit qualifying marks for the NCAA Championship.

“We’re looking to get those DMRs knocked out of the way,” Johnson said, “so those kids can go on throughout the season and focus on their individual events.”

Johnson said the men’s distance-medley relay team tentatively will include Edward Cheserek in the mile, Cameron Stone (400 meter), Mick Stanovsek (800) and Matthew Maton (1,200.)

For the women, the team will be Katie Rainsberger in the mile, Ashante Horsley (400) and Raevyn Rogers (800). The 1,200 meter leg hasn’t been decided.

A small group of Oregon men are also traveling up to Seattle to compete at the UW Invitational, including: high jumper Ben Milligan, pole vaulter Cole Walsh and heptathletes Joe Delgado and Mitch Modin.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Columbia East-West Challenge

Time: 2:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday (note: times are in eastern time zone.)

Where: Armory Track and Field Center, New York, New York

Online: RunnerSpace +Plus

UW Invitational

Time: 1 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday

Where: Dempsey Indoor Center, Seattle, Washington

Online: Flotrack.com with a premium subscription

Events to watch for:

Women’s events

In the 60-meter, Hannah Cunliffe, coming off a win in the event at the UW Preview, will race alongside 2016 Olympians Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington. The three will also compete in the 200 alongside Oregon freshman freshmen Hannah Waller and Makenzie Dunmore.

The 60-meter hurdles features Sasha Wallace and Alaysha Johnson, both who beat the meet record at the UW Indoor Preview while going 1-2 in the event.

Rogers will make her season debut in the 800 meter as she looks to defend her title. Joining her will be Brooke Feldmeier.

“Indoor always goes pretty fast,” Feldmeier said. “We want to get out there and get some fast times, so we can get qualified for nationals early and not have to stress about it later.”

Rainsberger, coming off a successful debut cross country season which concluded with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the highest ever by an Oregon freshman, will make her indoor debut in the 1,000 meter.

A significant part of the Oregon NCAA champion cross country team will make an appearance in the mile, including Alli Cash and Emma Abrahamson.

Men’s events

After winning the event at the UW Indoor Preview, senior transfer Kyree King will race in 60 meter alongside Julius Shellmire and Damarcus Simpson. King and Shellmire will also compete in the 200 meter with four-time All-American Marcus Chambers.

Simpson is also set to compete in the long jump, an event in which he placed eighth during the U.S. Olympic trials this summer.

School record holder Blake Haney will led a team of four Oregon newcomers in the mile, including redshirt senior transfer Tim Gorman and freshmen Jackson Mestler, Austin Tamagno and Jack Yearian.

In addition to the DMR, Cheserek and Maton will make their indoor debuts in the 3,000 meter.

“I don’t think I’m entirely as fast as I will be by the end of the year, but I’ll be fit enough,” Maton said. “I think it’s going to hurt, for sure.”

In the shot put, freshman Sebastian Barajas will join two redshirt seniors Ryan Hunter-Simms and T.J. Brassil and redshirt junior Austin White.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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What was supposed to be the biggest race of Hannah Cunliffe’s life ended in tears.

During the prelims for the 100-meter dash at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Cunliffe, a favorite to win the title, began to cry, her face in a pained grimace, before pulling out of the race midway through.

She exited the track and later took to Twitter to explain that she had sustained a hamstring injury to her right leg.

What started as an uncomfortable spasm during practice may have cost the Ducks the repeat of the national title since the points that Cunliffe was expected to score were necessary to close the 10-point gap between Oregon and the eventual winner, Arkansas.

The ill-timed injury also cost Cunliffe a potential chance at a lifetime dream, competing at the Olympics.

After a summer of frustration and missed opportunities, Cunliffe has returned to the track and could be the most important piece of Oregon’s loaded sprint core that has its eyes set on an NCAA title.

“She’s done a fantastic job in [the tests],” Oregon head coach Robert Johnson said. “She’s someone that came to us last year and showed early promise, and then did well throughout the year.”

Oregon teammates Ariana Washington and Deajah Stevens, who did their best to make up for Cunliffe’s absence at NCAA’s, represented the United States at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last summer, while Cunliffe stayed home, impatiently recovering.

“When Hannah got hurt, it was heartbreaking,” Stevens said. “Being around someone and knowing how hard they work for something and then seeing it get taken away from them, it’s frustrating.”

It wasn’t until the beginning of the 2017 season that Cunliffe was able to run again. When she came back, she was better than before. Her results on yearly tests to check athlete progress were very encouraging.

Oregon sprinter Hannah Cunliffe pulls up on the track during the 100 meters. The NCAA Track & Field National Championship is held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on June 9, 2016. (Kaylee Domzalski/Emerald)

After the season Cunliffe had last year, in which she was honored with the Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year title, she had a chance to make the Olympic team in either the 100, 200 or, like Washington, the 4×100 relay.

“I was really excited for my teammates, but it was also kind of frustrating at the same time because I wish I was there with them,” Cunliffe said. “But I think it definitely made me a lot stronger and more motivated for the season.”

Before Oregon, Cunliffe ran at University of Oklahoma during her freshman year. She was the runner-up in the 60-meter at the 2015 Big 12 Indoor Championships, clocking a time of 7.28, a personal best at the time. After competing at only one meet during the outdoor season, Cunliffe transferred with four years of eligibility remaining for the outdoor season and three for indoor.

Since her arrival, Cunliffe’s personal goal to “outwork everyone” has pushed her teammates to improve, especially Washington.

“I think Hannah coming in really kind of pushed me because once Jenna [Prandini] left I kind of felt like I was going to be by myself,” Washington said. “She’s a really really hard worker, and sometimes I’m not.”

Last Saturday, Cunliffe ran her first race since the injury — the 60-meter dash at the UW Indoor Preview. She faced a deep field of athletes, including Washington and Stevens, whom Cunliffe cited as her top competition.

With an NCAA-leading time of 7.19, the fifth-fastest in school history, Cunliffe took the win. She beat out Washington sophomore Kennadi Bouyer and Oregon freshman Makenzie Dunmore by .1 second — both clocked times of 7.29.

“I just go into a meet, and I just want to execute what I’m doing in practice,” Cunliffe said after the race. “My goal is to win the race.”

With a heartbreaking end to her sophomore season behind her, Cunliffe could qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and compete in her first international competition since the 2013 World Junior Championships.

“You just gotta come in every day with a positive attitude and a motivational tool to just push yourself,” Cunliffe said. “Doesn’t matter how hard the workout is.”

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03.

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With a disappointing 2016 season behind it, the Oregon football team has it sights set on next season under the leadership of new head coach Willie Taggart.

The Pac-12 released its finalized schedule for the 2017 season on Wednesday. The Ducks’ season will include five home games and four road games.

The Ducks will kick off their 2017 season with two home games: on Sept. 2 with a tune-up game against Southern Utah University and on Sept. 9 with a rematch against Nebraska, who narrowly defeated the Ducks 32-35 to give them their first loss last season. Oregon’s final nonconference game will be a road game against Wyoming.

To start off Pac-12 play on Sept. 23, Oregon will travel down to Arizona State. The first home game of conference play will be against Cal on Sept. 30. The Cal Bears recently hired former Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, who spent 30 years with the Ducks until Mark Helfrich was fired at the end of the season.

On Oct. 7, Oregon will face off against Washington State. Then, Oregon travels down to California to play Stanford on Oct. 14 and UCLA on Oct. 21. Instead of playing USC, Oregon will face UCLA for the first time since the 2014 season. Oregon currently holds the streak for the match-up at six games.

Oregon will come back home to play Utah on Oct. 28, whom Oregon upset last season for a 30-28 victory. This year, the Ducks will not face Colorado, the Pac-12 South Champions.

One of the Ducks’ more anticipated games will be on Nov. 4 against Washington, who steamrolled the Ducks for a 70-21 win that snapped Oregon’s 12-year matchup win streak, the longest streak ever in their rivalry.

For the Ducks’ final road game, they will play Arizona on Nov. 18. To finish their season as usual, the Ducks will face off against Oregon State for the 121st Civil War, this year hosted at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 24. The Ducks will be looking for revenge after the Beavers snapped Oregon’s eight-year win streak with a 34-24 victory last season.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the location of Oregon’s first three 2017 games. The story has been updated.

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—Three Oregon football players were hospitalized following grueling conditioning workouts last week, the Oregonian’s Andrew Greif reported on Monday.

— After defeating USC 59-53 on Friday to start its Southern California road trip, the Oregon women’s basketball team was plagued with turnovers, tallying 20 by the end of the game, as the Ducks dropped a 79-63 contest to No.17 UCLA on Sunday.

— To start off its 2017 season, the Oregon track and field team racked up seven event wins, including a 1-2 finish in the 60-meter hurdles by senior Sasha Wallace and sophomore Alaysha Johnson at the UW Indoor Preview on Saturday, reports The Register Guard.

— After opening its season with a 6-1 win against Portland, the Oregon women’s tennis team fell to No. 11 Georgia Tech, coach Alison Silverio’s alma mater, by the same score on Sunday. The lone victory for the Ducks came from one of the three doubles matches when Nia Rose and Rifanty Dwi Kahfiani beat Nami Otsuka and Nadia Gizdova 7-5.

— In the 347th Civil War men’s basketball game on Saturday,  Oregon steamrolled over Oregon State in a 85-43 victory, bringing the Ducks to 5-0 in conference play. The Emerald’s Jarrid Denney points to improved ball movement as a contributing factor to the team’s recent success.

— Oregon football head coach Willie Taggert added two coaches to his growing staff on Thursday: Alabama’s Mario Cristobal as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, and WSU’s Joe Salave’a as assistant head coach and defensive line coach. The Register Guard’s Austin Meek comments on Taggert’s new hires here.

Follow Jarrid Denney on Twitter @jarrid_denney

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Four Ducks achieved personal bests and a meet record was broken as Oregon racked up seven event wins during the Ducks’ season-opener on Saturday at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle.

After she sustained hamstring injury at last season’s NCAA Outdoor Championships that kept her from competing in the final, Hannah Cunliffe began her season on a strong note with a win in the women’s 60-meter dash. Cunliffe beat out a deep field of athletes, including fellow Ducks and Olympians Ariana Washington and Deajah Stevens, with an NCAA-leading time of 7.19 seconds.

Washington was eliminated after placing 10th in prelims, missing the qualifying time by .03 seconds, but Stevens placed fourth overall with a time of 7.31, a personal best.

Western Kentucky transfer Kyree King burst onto the scene with an NCAA-leading time as he won the men’s 60-meter dash in 6.65 seconds, the second fastest time ever by a Duck.

In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, both Sasha Wallace and Alaysha Johnson topped the meet record of 8.12 seconds, set last year by Nia Ali, as they went 1-2 in the event. Wallace finished in 7.96 seconds for a new NCAA-leading time, the second fastest in Oregon history, only .05 off her own record, while Johnson crossed the line in 8.09. Tara Davis, running with Plyometric Fusion Track Club, placed third after winning her heat in 8.31.

Johnson came up big during the women’s 200-meter as well, winning the race in 24.09 seconds, a personal best. Her old record of 24.28 was achieved at last season’s meet. Redshirt senior Ashante Horsley came in third.

The Oregon women also found success in the 600-meter. Raevyn Rogers, who broke the collegiate record in the event last year with the second fastest time ever by an American at 1 minute, 26.34 seconds, repeated her win and nearly repeated the record with a time of 1:26.97. Fellow Duck Brooke Feldmeier came in third, crossing the line .01 second after Stanford junior Olivia Baker with a time of 1:28.23.

The Ducks’ sixth event win didn’t come away from the track — Cole Walsh earned a personal record while winning the men’s pole vault. His finishing height of 17 feet, 8.5 inches not only bested his old indoor record of 17-3.75, but it is also the fifth-highest in Oregon indoor history.

In the throwing events, two redshirt freshman had solid debuts. Max Lydum threw a distance of 56 feet, 6.75 inches for third place in the men’s weight throw, while Ronna Stone placed fourth in the women’s weight throw with a distance of 53-2.25.

A few of the other Oregon freshman had successful debuts, including Braxton Canady, Austin Tamagno and Jack Yearian.

Canady took third overall in the men’s 60-meters with a time of 8.02 seconds. He finished second in his heat, following Evo Track Club’s Siddhanth Thingalaya who won the event with a meet record of 7.70 seconds. The time beat former Duck Jonathan Cabral’s record by .07 seconds.

Tamagno came in third during the men’s 1,000-meter, finishing in 2:25.63 after former Duck Eric Jenkins, who also won the mile in 3:58.68, and Stanford freshman Issac Cortes. Yearian placed eighth in the event with a time of 2:26.62.

The two also ran in the 800-meter, Tamagno placing fifth and Yearian at eighth. However, another Duck, redshirt freshman Mick Stanovsek, fared better. Coming in just .04 seconds after the eventual winner Edward Kemboi, Stanovsek crossed the line in 1:50.98.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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A “mixed bag” of athletes, as University of Oregon head coach Robert Johnson calls it, will be making their 2017 debut in Seattle on Saturday at the UW Indoor Preview.

There, the Ducks will encounter fellow Pac-12 competitors Washington State, Stanford and Washington, along with athletes from other schools mostly along the west coast.

The Ducks will find most of their success in the running events. For the women, the most exciting event will be the 60-meter, which will feature U.S. Olympians Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington, and 2016 Pac-12 Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year Hannah Cunliffe, who is coming off a hamstring injury she sustained at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

“My goal was really to outwork everyone else, and I think I did a pretty good job of that especially since I felt like I was behind because of my injury,” Cunliffe said.

Two Oregon newcomers will also make their debut in the 60-meter: Iowa transfer Elexis Guster, a six-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion, and freshman Makenzie Dunmore.

Senior Marcus Chambers headlines the men’s 60-meter dash for the Ducks. The six-time All-American is adamant about having a better indoor season than his previous ones. He believes that a good indoor season will lead to an excellent outdoor one.

“I haven’t really been so successful in the indoor season, but this year I had the best fall I’ve had so far,” Chambers said. “Hopefully I do well in the indoor season, and that’ll bring more momentum to my outdoor season.”

Another exciting event for the women will be the 600-meter run. Last year, during the event, Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers broke the indoor collegiate record, crossing the line in 1 minute, 26.34 seconds for the second fastest time ever by an American. Her teammate, three-time All-American Brooke Feldmeier, will also be in the event this year.

For the women’s distance events, sophomore Lilli Burdon will be making her debut in the 1,000-meter, along with two athletes who didn’t, or barely, competed in last year’s indoor season. Brianna Nerud, who was a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier and the school record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Kelly O’Neill.

Freshmen Jack Yearian and Austin Tamagno will run in both the men’s 800-meter and 1,000-meter. Both outstanding prep-runners, Tamagno, hails from Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California, and Yearian, from Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Washington.

Oregon is particularly deep in the women’s sprints and the men’s distance events this year. So deep that Johnson believes that he could send a field of five or six guys for the mile and all will run under four minutes.

“I’d be lying if I said it’s not a good problem to have,” Johnson said. “I’d rather have three cars than one cause you never know when you’re going to get a flat tire.”

This year, however, Johnson believes that the Ducks will be more well-rounded in the other events with the additions of a deep recruiting class, some of whom are making their debuts Saturday.

“I think we’re pretty balanced, as we’ve always been,” Johnson said. “We’re going to score in a multitude of event areas. That’s how we’ll attack this upcoming year.”

New hurdlers, throwers, and jumpers have been added to deepen Oregon’s roster, including freshman long jumper and California state champion Rhesa Foster, and sophomore  triple jumper ChaQuinn Cook, who transferred from Portland State after winning a 2016 Big Sky triple jump title.

Redshirt freshman Ronna Stone will compete in both the shot put and weight throw, joining redshirt junior Madeline Middlebrooks for the latter.

With the departure of Devon Allen, the Ducks needed new talented hurdlers. Freshmen Braxton Canady and Jonathan Harvery will make their debuts on Saturday during the men’s 60-meter hurdles. The women’s event will feature senior Sasha Wallace and redshirt sophomore Alaysha Johnson, both of whom competed in the 100 hurdles at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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Braxton Burmeister, rated a four-star quarterback by 247Sports, has flipped his commitment from Arizona to Oregon.

The La Jolla, California, native did not show up to the Arizona campus with the rest of the early enrollees on Jan. 9. He’s rated the No. 10 dual-threat quarterback by 247Sports.

The 6-foot, 211-pound dual threat signal-caller committed to Arizona last May. But on Jan. 3, rumors of a possible flip arose after a late offer from Oregon.

Burmeister then said that he would either enroll at Oregon or Arizona. The following Sunday, the day before Burmeister was set to enroll at Arizona, no announcement was made. The next day, Burmeister didn’t show up on the Arizona campus.

After several days of waiting, Burmeister committed to Oregon over Arizona on Friday. The other quarterbacks on Oregon’s 2017 roster include Justin Herbert, Terry Wilson, Travis Jonsen and Taylor Alie.

https://twitter.com/Braxton1B/status/820048051205115904

Burmeister is the lone quarterback pledge in the Ducks’ 2017 class.

During his senior year, Burmeister threw for 4,461 yards and 53 touchdowns, averaging 278.8 yards a game while throwing only eight interceptions. He also rushed for 1,470 yards with 27 touchdowns, while rushing for over 100 yards seven times.

Oregon’s new head coach Willie Taggert has been busy as of late, filling up his coaching staff and adding new recruits, such as four-star cornerback Thomas Graham Jr.

Burmeister decided on Oregon over offers from Boston College, Cal, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon State, San Diego State, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

Here are some highlights from his senior year at La Jolla Country Day:

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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Coming off a season during which both the men’s and women’s track and field teams took home the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championship title, Oregon will begin the 2017 indoor season with high hopes and expectations.

The women’s team holds a preseason ranking of first nationally, while the men rank second, according to rankings from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The men trail Florida, despite the Gator’s seventh place finish at last year’s championships. Florida also began the 2016 season ranked first.

The Ducks’ 2017 schedule is very similar to last year’s; however instead of competing at the Razorback Invitational, where the Ducks racked up nine event wins and three school records last season, Oregon will travel to Seattle for the Washington Invitational and to New York for the Columbia East-West Challenge.

Oregon’s season begins on Jan. 14 with a trip to Seattle where the team will face off against two other Pac-12 schools; Washington State and Washington. The Huskies’ men’s teams ranks 25th while women’s team ranks 19th nationally.

Then, part of the Oregon squad will travel back to Seattle for the Washington Invitational on Jan. 27, while the others will compete at the Columbia East-West Challenge, where the Ducks will meet fellow Pac-12 competitor USC. Even though Cornell’s men’s team holds a preseason ranking of 15th nationally, USC will be the Ducks’ main competition. The Trojan men’s team is ranked sixth, while the women’s team finds itself bearing down on Oregon at fourth.

That will not be the final time the Ducks will make an appearance in Seattle. On Feb. 10 and 11, the team will split again as part of the team will compete at the Husky Classic while others will travel down to Albuquerque where they will compete at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational hosted by the University of New Mexico, concluding Oregon’s pre-championship meets.

On Feb. 24 and 25, the team will once again travel to Seattle for the final time to compete in the MPSF Indoor Championships, a meet which the women’s team won last season. The MPSF, or the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, was established to give competition to schools in the Big West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conferences. The championship will be comprised of all the Pac-12 schools and seven other schools in smaller northwestern conferences.

The MPSF Indoor Championships is an important last tune-up for the Ducks before the NCAA Championships, which will take place on March 11th and 12th at Texas A&M. The men’s team hopes to defend their 3-year title streak, while the women hope to establish a streak of their own.

Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03

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