Three Big Ten Titles on Day One

Friday, February 28

Indianapolis, IN

All Day

University of Oregon

Big Ten Indoor Championships

B1G wDMR, post race celebration (Feb. 28)

02/28/25 | Track and Field

B1G Indoor - Friday results B1G Indoor - Saturday start lists

The Ducks sit in second place of the men’s and women’s team races after Friday.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Oregon track and field team won three Big Ten Indoor titles Friday on the opening day of the conference meet in Indianapolis, Ind. Connor Burns and Silan Ayyildiz swept the men's and women's 5,000-meter titles and the UO women closed out the night with a victory in the distance medley relay.

Through six events, the Oregon women are in second place with 42 points and trail Illinois (50) in the team standings. On the men's side, the Ducks have 29 points and also sit in second place in the team race; Wisconsin has 33 points.

The Ducks picked up 17 qualifiers—eight men, nine women—out of Friday's preliminary rounds. The men will have 20 total scoring chances Saturday and the women will have 18.

In the first running final of the weekend, Burns pulled away from Wisconsin's Bob Liking over the final lap to win the program's first-ever Big Ten indoor title. He stopped the clock in 13:39.25 to move into the No. 10 spot on the Oregon all-time list. The Ducks got another four points from Abdel Laadjel who was fifth (13:50.95) in Friday's final.

Ayyildiz followed that with a 5K title of her own, out-leaning teammate Juliet Cherubet—15:56.81 to 15:56.89—at the line for an Oregon 1-2-3 finish in the women's 5K along with Anika Thompson. The podium sweep of the top-three spots gave the Ducks 24 points toward the team total. Friday marked Ayyildiz's second Big Ten title overall after winning the cross country individual crown in November.

The DMR quartet of Wilma Nielsen, Moriah Oliveira, Samantha McDonnell and Mia Barnett combined for a time of 10:56.97 to win a second title for the Oregon women. Their time came within a half of a second of the Big Ten Indoor meet record. The Ducks were the only team to dip under 11 minutes.

Barnett and Nielsen were back on the track after qualifying for the mile final earlier in the day. Barnett (4:39.04) was the fastest qualifier in the prelims, and the two Ducks will be joined by freshman Ali Ince in Saturday's final.

The Ducks' first points of the weekend came from Kyle Gibbs and his fourth-place showing in the pole vault. The UO newcomer registered a lifetime-best clearance of 5.45m/17-10.5 to score five points for the Men of Oregon. That effort moves Gibbs into a tie with former standout Cole Walsh for fourth on the program's all-time indoor list.

Another five points for the Oregon men came from Safin Wills in the long jump. He entered the meet tied for 17^th on the Big Ten performance list and finished in fourth place. On his final pass, he posted a measure of 7.61m/24-11.75 which doubles as an indoor best. Wills is now a two-time scorer in the Big Ten long jump coupled with a third-place finish in 2022 while at Purdue.

Wills returns to the field Saturday in the triple jump.

Gianna Bullock secured the first points of the weekend for the Women of Oregon, getting four points with a fifth-place finish in the pentathlon. With the help of a big effort in the shot put, Bullock tallied 3,999 points over the five-event, one-day competition. On her final attempt, she tallied a new best of 13.87m/45-6.25 which added more than four feet to her previous best in the shot put.

Among the team's qualifiers, Matthew Erickson and Koitatoi Kidali for the UO men and Ella Nelson for the women will pull double duty Saturday in the 600 and 800 meters. Jadyn Mays, additionally, was a double qualifier with eyes on a sprint double—60 and 200 meters—on day two of the Big Ten meet.

Running together in the second of three heats in the 800, Kidali and Erickson posted times of 1:46.55 and 1:46.58, good for the fastest times of the day. Those efforts also made them the respective No. 3 and 4 performers in program history. Kidali and Erickson will be joined by James Harding in Saturday's final. Harding (1:47.96) successfully qualified after just missing advancement out of the mile prelims.

PJ Ize-Iyamu, the second-overall qualifier in the men's 60, dropped his lifetime best to 6.63 to become the seventh fastest on the UO all-time list. He came into the weekend with a best of 6.67 from the Don Kirby meet and a spot just outside the program's top 10.

Additional Friday qualifiers were Ella Clayton in the women's 400, Elliott Cook and Tomas Palfrey in the men's mile and Aaliyah McCormick in the 60 hurdles.

Redshirt freshman Koby Kessler leads a trio of UO men in the heptathlon with 3,239 points, good for second after day one of the seven-event competition. He went 4-fof-4 with personal bests in all four events Friday, and finished inside the top three of the 60 meters (6.90), long jump (7.21m/23-8) and high jump (2.03m/6-8).

Kessler sits just 11 points off the lead with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters on the schedule for day two. The heptathlon resumes Saturday at 7:20 a.m. PT.

Teammates Aiden Carter (2,957 points) and Arthur Katahdin (2,708) are eighth and 12^th, respectively, through the first four events. Both established indoor personal bests in the shot put.

In addition to qualifiers from the prelims and timed sections of the 3,000 meters and 4x400 relays, the day-two schedule will include field finals in the high jump, triple jump and shot put. Running finals will begin with the mile at 10:20 a.m. PT.

Day two of the 2025 Big Ten Indoor Championships will be streamed on B1G+ and RunnerSpace.

B1G Indoor Championships (Indianapolis, Ind.)
MEN
60 Meters – prelims
2. PJ Ize-Iyamu Jr. – 6.63Q (PB, UO #7)
12. Rodrick Pleasant – 6.74 (SB)

400 Meters – prelims
19. Fuad Omer – 47.93

600 Meters – prelims
3. Matthew Erickson – 1:16.83q
8. Koitatoi Kidali – 1:17.64q

800 Meters – prelims
1. Koitatoi Kidali – 1:46.55Q (SB, UO #3)
2. Matthew Erickson – 1:46.58Q (PB, UO #4)
5. James Harding – 1:47.96Q
16. Ben Greene – 1:50.90

Mile – prelims
6. Elliott Cook – 4:00.44Q
10. James Harding – 4:02.43
17. Tomas Palfrey – 4:10.81Q
18. Rheinhardt Harrison – 4:11.02
19. Jeffery Rogers – 4:11.03

5,000 Meters
1. Connor Burns – 13:39.25 (PB, UO #10) [10 points]
5. Abdel Laadjel – 13:50.95 [4 points]
10. Evan Bishop – 13:53.03
12. Quincy Norman – 13:59.49

Distance Medley Relay
4. Rogers/Omer/Palfrey/Cook – 9:36.60 [5 points]

Pole Vault
4. Kyle Gibbs – 5.45m/17-10.5 (PB, =UO #4) [5 points]

Long Jump
4. Safin Wills – 7.61m/24-11.75 (PB) [5 points]
12. Caleb Foster – 7.27m/23-10.25

Heptathlon
2. Koby Kessler – 3,239 points
               1. 60 Meters – 6.90 (PB) [918 points]
               3. Long Jump – 7.21m/23-8 (PB) [864]
               7. Shot Put – 12.32m/40-5 (PB) [626]
               2. Hight Jump – 2.03m/6-8 (PB) [831]
8. Aiden Carter – 2,957 points
               11. 60 Meters – 7.27 [789 points]
               7. Long Jump – 6.97m/22-10.5 [807]
               9. Shot Put – 12.09m/39-8 (PB) [612]
               7. Hight Jump – 1.94m/6-4.25 [749]
12. Arthur Katahdin – 2,708 points
               7. 60 Meters – 7.12 (SB) [840 points]
               14. Long Jump – 6.27m/20-7 [646]
               4. Shot Put – 12.76m/41-10.5 (PB) [653]
               14. Hight Jump – 1.73m/5-8 (SB) [569]

WOMEN
60 Meters – prelims
2. Jadyn Mays – 7.17Q (SB)
10. Lily Jones – 7.35
16. Amirah Shaheed – 7.41 (PB)

200 Meters – prelims
1. Jadyn Mays – 22.61q
16. Amirah Shaheed – 23.76

400 Meters – prelims
7. Ella Clayton – 53.10q
13. Moriah Oliveira – 54.37

600 Meters – prelims
3. Ella Nelson – 1:29.54q

800 Meters – prelims
4. Ella Nelson – 2:05.32Q
12. Samantha McDonnell – 2:07.54

Mile – prelims
1. Mia Barnett – 4:39.04Q
3. Ali Ince – 4:40.43Q
7. Wilma Nielsen – 4:42.75Q

5,000 Meters
1. Silan Ayyildiz – 15:56.81 [10 points]
2. Juliet Cherubet – 15:56.89 [8 points]
3. Anika Thompson – 15:59.06 [6 points]
9. Ella Thorsett – 16:20.42

60m Hurdles – prelims
2. Aaliyah McCormick – 8.10Q
13. Annaleise Taylor – 8.53

Distance Medley Relay
1. W. Nielsen/Oliveira/McDonnell/Barnett – 10:56.97 [10 points]

Pole Vault
5. Emily Fitzsimmons – 4.36m/14-3.5 (=PB) [4 points]
T14. Isabella Nilsen – 4.01m/13-1.75

Long Jump
17. Cassie Atkins – 5.93m/19-5.5 (SB)

Pentathlon
5. Gianna Bullock – 3,999 points [4 points]
               8. 60m Hurdles – 8.63 [989 points]
               11. High Jump – 1.64m/5-4.5 [783]
               2. Shot Put – 13.87m/45-6.25 (PB) [785]
               11. Long Jump – 5.59m/18-4.25 [726]
               13. 800 Meters – 2:28.16 [716]

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