Brianne Theisen-Eaton (2022) - Hall of Fame - University of Oregon Athletics

Brianne Theisen-Eaton

Induction:
2022
Class:
2012

Seven-time NCAA champion Brianne Thesien-Eaton is one of the most accomplished track and field athletes in collegiate history. In 2012, she became just the fourth woman in the college ranks to win seven career NCAA titles. Theisen-Eaton finished her Oregon tenure holding five school records and ranking in the top 10 in an astounding 12 different events. At the 2012 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, in her final meet as a collegian, she broke the Pac-12 heptathlon record set by Olympic track and field icon Jackie Joyner-Kersee of UCLA. She won her first conference and NCAA heptathlon titles as a sophomore in 2009, becoming just the second Duck to win the NCAA heptathlon crown, scoring a school-record 6,086 points. In 2010, Theisen-Eaton won both the NCAA indoor pentathlon (4,396 points) and outdoor heptathlon (6,094 points), breaking both school records in the process. She also won her second conference heptathlon title that season. A side note to the 2010 Outdoor Championship meet – after winning the heptathlon, Theisen-Eaton was called into action on Oregon’s 4x400 meter relay team when a teammate’s long jump competition ran long. She took the baton for a leg on the relay team that clipped Texas A&M by .03, setting the school record in the process with a time of 3:28.54. Competing only indoors in 2011, Theisen-Eaton again won the NCAA pentathlon title, this time breaking the collegiate record by scoring 4,540 points. The Humboldt, Saskatchewan, native saved her best season for last. She opened 2012 by resetting the collegiate record in the pentathlon and also breaking the Canadian record in the event with a total of 4,555 points at the Texas A&M Challenge. At the end of the indoor season, Theisen-Eaton won her third NCAA pentathlon crown to join Arizona State’s Jacquelyn Johnson (2006-07-08) as the only other three-time champion in the event. Outdoors, she claimed her third Pac-12 heptathlon title to set the stage for a momentous performance at the NCAA’s outdoor meet. Theisen-Eaton set four personal bests at the 2012 NCAA Championships, running 13.30 in the 100 meter hurdles (setting the school record in that event the process), jumping 20-7.25/6.28m in the long jump, throwing 152-2/46.38m in the javelin and throwing 42-4.75/12.92m in the shot put, in winning her third NCAA heptathlon title. Her Pac-12 and school-record 6,440 points broke the previous league best of 6,390 points set by Joyner-Kersee in 1983 and was the second-highest score ever by a collegian. In addition to her combined events records, Theisen-Eaton also held the school record indoors in the 60 meter hurdles (8.25) and high jump (6-2/1.88m) at the time of her graduation. She was twice named the USTFCCCA Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, the USTFCCCA Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and the Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Year. The 2012 Bowerman Award finalist earned 10 All-America certificates in her career. She was also named a second-team academic All-American in 2012 before going on to a successful professional where she would become a world champion and an Olympic medalist for Canada in the combined events.