Seven Wins Highlight Oregon Team Invite

Saturday, April 19

Eugene, OR

All Day

University of Oregon

Oregon Team Invitational

Matthew Erickson, 1500 post-race celebration (April 18)

04/20/25 | Track and Field

The Ducks also added two top-10 program marks Saturday at Hayward Field.

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon track and field teams combined for seven win and two top-10 program performances Saturday during the Oregon Team Invitational at Hayward Field. With an emphasis on team competition, the Ducks went head-to-head with K-State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, No. 1 Texas A&M, Utah and Wichita State.

"I definitely want to say 'thanks' to all the other teams and coaches that came out here for our Team Invitational," head coach Jerry Schumacher said during a post-meet interview on the Big Ten Network. "The team concept is very present at the end of the season when we're doing championship meets but there's not a lot of it during the season. Our idea is to bring more team competitions to the sport."

To remain in accordance with NCAA qualifying rules, the Team Invitational was a non-scored meet but an unofficial 'fan score' was used to better engage audiences and encourage participation. Each team was allowed up to two entries in each event with points given to all competitors based on finish.

In the men's team competition, Oregon topped the field with 137.5 points followed by Texas A&M (129) and Oklahoma State (101.5) rounding out the top three. The UO women tallied 182.5 points to finish as runner-up behind Texas A&M (222.5) and ahead of Oklahoma State (156).

NCAA Indoor champion Matthew Erickson capped his weekend by winning the 800 meters in 1:47.59, besting a field that included teammate Koitatoi Kidali—second in 1:48.11—and three runners ranked inside the national top 10 entering the week: Kimar Farquharson and Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M, and Hafez Mahadi of Oklahoma State. Farquharson (1:48.57) and Mahadi (1:49.08) finished third and fourth, respectively

Erickson registered a lifetime best of 3:40.54 over 1500 meters during Friday's Oregon Open.

Kazimierska made it a 2-for-2 weekend, coupling Friday's triumph in the 800 meters with a victory over 1500 meters Saturday. She pulled away over the last half of the bell lap to stop the clock in 4:07.28 and led a 1-2 UO finish with Mia Barnett who clocked in at 4:08.75. With that time, Barnett moves onto the program's all-time list as the No. 7 performer.

The women's distance crew added two more victories with Silan Ayyildiz at 800 meters and newcomer Juliet Cherubet in the 5,000 meters. Ayyildiz, in her first outing since the NCAA Indoor meet, finished in 2:03.11 to grab the win and establish a new lifetime best. Teammate Ella Nelson crossed in 2:03.79 and finished third.

Cherubet turned in a dominant performance Saturday with a time of 15:28.86 over 5,000 meters, good for a 14-second victory over the field. Additionally, Cherubet became the No. 4 performer in UO history in the event. Two weeks ago at Stanford, she ran 32:02.78—No. 2 at Oregon—in the 10,000 meters.

Redshirt freshman Kobe Lawrence powered his way to a victory in the shot put, getting the implement out to 19.28m/63-3.25 on his fourth attempt. His last four measures were all farther than his previous season's best and all six throws were good enough for the win. Based on marks entering the weekend, Lawrence is now ranked 15^th nationally.

Training partner Aidan Elbettar added a win of his own, fighting through two early fouls and recording a day's best of 57.81m/189-8 on his fourth throw of the day. Lawrence, off his win in the shot put, picked up a runner-up finish (55.35m/181-7) in the discus. He moved from third to second with his sixth-round toss.

In his debut in an Oregon kit, Shaun Miller Jr. took the top spot in the high jump with a final 2.11m/6-11 clearance. With the victory in hand, he took attempts at a would-be 7-0.25 mark. Miller, a transfer from Ohio State, had previously competed at Hayward Field at the 2022 NCAA Championships where he was ninth.

SATURDAY RESULTS
Oregon Team Invitational (Eugene, Ore.)
MEN
100 Meters
5. Rodrick Pleasant – 10.66
8. Jaelon Barbarin – 10.79

400 Meters
4. Fuad Omer – 47.73
10. Will Heslam – 50.58

800 Meters
1. Matthew Erickson – 1:47.59
2. Koitatoi Kidali – 1:48.14

1500 Meters
2. Rheinhardt Harrison – 3:39.07
6. Jeffery Rogers – 3:41.76

5,000 Meters
4. Aiden Smith – 14:04.63
5. Quincy Norman – 14:06.01

110m Hurdles
5. Aiden Carter – 14.60w (+2.5)
8. Ethan Bartee – 15.13w (+2.5)

4x400m Relay
5. Omer/Bartee/Katahdin/Kessler – 3:20.87

High Jump
1. Shaun Miller, Jr. – 2.11m/6-11
T3. Trey Tintinger – 2.06m/6-9

Long Jump
4. Bryce Simpson – 7.28m/23-10.75
5. Safin Wills – 7.23m/23-8.75

Shot Put
1. Kobe Lawrence – 19.28m/63-3.25
6. Aidan Elbettar – 15.94m/52-3.75

Discus
1. Aidan Elbettar – 57.81m/189-8
2. Kobe Lawrence – 55.35m/181-7

WOMEN
100 Meters
4. Lily Jones – 11.56
6. Amirah Shaheed – 11.68

400 Meters
3. Ella Clayton – 53.63
12. Lakely Doht-Barron – 57.35

800 Meters
1. Silan Ayyildiz – 2:03.11
3. Ella Nelson – 2:03.79

1500 Meters
1. Klaudia Kazimierska – 4:07.28
2. Mia Barnett – 4:08.75 [UO #7]

5,000 Meters
1. Juliet Cherubet – 15:28.86 [UO #4]
5. Ella Thorsett – 15:54.95

100m Hurdles
4. Annaleise Taylor – 13.89

4x400m Relay
4. Clayton/Hall/Taylor/Nelson – 3:38.80

High Jump
T4. Annika Williams – 1.70m/5-7
11. Ryann Porter – 1.55m/5-1

Long Jump
6. Cassie Atkins – 5.75m/18-10.5
10. Hannah Ganashamoorthy – 5.52m/18-1.5

Shot Put
4. Annika Williams – 14.42m/47-3.75
10. Kohana Nakato – 8.75m/28-8.5

Discus
9. Kohana Nakato – 23.12m/75-10
10. Josephine Krohn – 19.05m/62-6

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