Oregon Men Looking To Wrap Up 15th Straight Conference Title Today

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

The Oregon men's track team is ready to win its 15 consecutive Pac-12 Conference title. 

The three-day meet at Hayward Field concludes today and Oregon goes in with 67 points and a lot of scoring potential remaining on the final day's schedule. 

The Ducks collected 40 points out of two events -- the decathlon and long jump -- on Saturday. Max Vollmer won his third consecutive conference decathlon title, while Jett Kinder and Nathan Poff took second and fifth, respectively. In the long jump, Eugene native Pierce LaCoste won the conference title and teammate Emmanuel Ihemeje was second and skipped his final three attempts. 

"It feels good to finally get a win that matters in my senior year," said LaCoste, who got his first exposure to the historic Hayward Field as an infant, grew up around the track and attended Marist High. His winning mark was 25-4.50 (7.73m).

Ihemeje is coming back today and is the favorite to win the triple jump. 

Kim Spir Photos

Phil Yearian Photos

LIVE RESULTS

INTERVIEWS

Washington goes into Sunday's competition trailing Oregon by seven points but has few opportunities remaining to catch up. 

The Huskies' Brian Fay, a standout distancer runner from Ireland, ran his first steeplechase in a Washington uniform on Saturday and won the Pac-12 title with 8:32.47. 

Fay is one of 52 men entered in the 5,000 meters near the end of Sunday's schedule, but it's not clear how many will go to the starting line. There are 47 women entered in the women's 5,000. 

The Oregon women lead the competition with 60 points and have a 16-point lead over Colorado. The Ducks have the top-seeded 4x100 relay team and have four finalists in the 100 meters and three more in the 200. 

The Ducks got a 1-2 finish from defending champion Alysah Hickey and Dominique Ruotolo in the long jump. 

Colorado's Madie Boreman won the conference steeplechase crown five years after she won it for the first time and has the distinction of having won the races in both versions -- old and new -- of Hayward Field. 

Boreman won the 2017 steeplechase as a freshman. 

On Saturday, she saved a kick to get clear of Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell and Oregon's Aneta Konieczek, who were second and third. Boreman's tiime of 9:42.22 is a personal best -- and 24 seconds faster than her winning time in 2017. 

Arizona State's Jorinde Van Klinken and Cal's Josh Johnson both won the shot put titles on Saturday. Van Klinken threw 60-1 (18.31m) to best Oregon's Jaida Ross, who threw a school record 57-7 (17.55m). Johnson threw a career best 65-5.50 (19.95m). 

Van Klinken, an Olympian in the discus, will try to defend her Pac-12 title in that event today.