Oregon women's roster for NCAA Outdoor Championships is set as Ducks add 7 more qualifiers
Oregon more than doubled its list of NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship qualifiers Saturday night.
Seven athletes and both of the Ducks' relay teams extended their seasons on the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary meet at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento to earn a spot on the team headed to Austin, Texas, June 7-10 for the national championship meet.
Overall, Oregon qualified 11 athletes in 12 individual events, including thrower Jorinde van Klinken, who will compete in a pair of events.
Two days after qualifying in the shot put, van Klinken ensured she will be defending her national title in the discus when she threw 205 feet, 11 inches Saturday for the best mark among the 12 qualifiers.
Van Klinken also had the best mark in Thursday's shot put competition when she threw a school record 62-5.
Mine De Klerk (18th, 173-3) and Jaida Ross (22nd, 170-11) also competed but didn't qualify in the discus, though Ross did make the NCAA Outdoor meet in the shot put.
It was also a strong day for the Ducks in the 1,500 meters as three athletes advanced to the national meet.
Klaudia Kazimierska and Maddy Elmore each ran personal-records to advance.
Kazimierska's time of 4 minutes, 8.53 seconds was third-fastest among all qualifiers and made her the fifth-fastest performer all-time at Oregon. Elmore ran 4:08.87 — fifth-fastest on the day — to make her the seventh-fastest performer in program history.
Izzy Thornton-Bott, who started the day as the No. 2 performer in the NCAA this season, was second in her heat to Illinois' Olivia Howell as the two eased across the finish line in 4:12.38 for Thornton-Bott and 4:12.28 for Howell.
Pac-12 champion Shana Grebo finished second in her heat of the 400 hurdles in 56.42 to earn her qualifier, and Ella Nelson ran a PR 2:04.25 to advance in the 800.
The Ducks also had some disappointing finishes, most notably Pac-12 champion Jadyn Mays in the 100. Mays missed out on qualifying after finishing fourth in her heat and 15th overall with a time of 11.25.
However, Mays responded with a strong effort in the 200 as she finished second in her heat in 22.75 to advance.
Mays also ran the second leg of the Ducks’ 4x100 relay team that finished in 43.57 to advance to Austin. Also on the team were Grebo, Lily Jones and Ella Clayton.
Grebo, Clayton, Katriina Wright and Shaniya Hall were on the 4x400 team that had the fifth-fastest qualifying finish in 3:28.84.
Oregon State’s Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Kaylee Mitchell each qualified in the 3,000 steeplechase. Fetherstonhaugh, the Pac-12 champion, won her heat in a season-best 9:38.93. Mitchell also won her heat in 9:40.41.
Oregon’s Harper McClain ran a PR 10:02.68 but finished sixth in her heat and 14th overall to miss out on advancing. Her time makes her the sixth-fastest performer in program history.
Malia Pivec finished in 10:16.27 and also didn’t advance.
Pac-12 triple jump champion Lexi Ellis saw her season and Oregon career end with a 16th-place finish at 42-9¾.
Other Ducks who competed Saturday but didn’t advance were Clayton and Wright in the 400, and Mia Moerck in the 800.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon loads up on women's qualifiers for NCAA Outdoor Championships
