AZUSA, Calif. – Silan Ayyildiz and Mason Strunk posted top-10 program marks Friday at the Bryan Clay and Beach Invitational meets, respectively. Collectively, the Ducks added 14 personal and season bests between the two LA-area competitions.
Two weeks removed from teammate Maddy Elmore breaking the school record, Ayyildiz threatened to rewrite the mark once again with her 15:15.84 in Friday’s fast section of the 5,000 meters. She now sits at No. 2 on the program’s all-time list, just five-hundredths off Elmore’s record from the Stanford Invite. Ayyildiz finished sixth overall in the loaded field, and was the second collegian across the finish line.
Friday marked the third Oregon top-10 time of the season for Ayyildiz. She posted the No. 2 mile time and third-fastest 3K performance during the indoor season.
Strunk got the Ducks started in Long Beach with a lifetime-best performance in the hammer. On his fifth attempt of the afternoon, the Salem, Ore., native got the implement out to 67.72m/222-2 and secured a sixth-place finish in the invitational section. Strunk moved up a spot to No. 7 on the program’s top-10 list and replaced his previous best of 67.33 meters from last year’s Pac-12 meet.
Three of Strunk’s measures were beyond his season best entering the day, a toss of 65.56m/215-1 from last weekend at the Triton Invitational.
School-record holder Shelby Moran was the top collegian and second overall in the hammer, recording a season-best mark of 67.87m/222-8 in round two. All of five of her legal marks were good enough to hold on to her runner-up position. Moran led the way until the penultimate throw of the competition, a mark of 68.98 meters by Joy McArthur to take over the top spot.
Kohana Nakato posted a season-best have of 51.27m/168-2 to finish in seventh in the invitational flight of the javelin. It was her first throw over 50 meters this year after a previous best of 49.84m/163-6 from the Oregon Preview (March 22).
On the men’s side, Gavin Korkeakoski continued his meet-to-meet improvement in his first season with the Ducks. The UO sophomore registered a personal best of 63.23m/207-5 on his first attempt, good for the best mark of the two non-invitational flights. Korkeakoski had a then-lifetime best of 61.69m/202-5 from the Oregon Preview, a mark that doubled as his first-ever beyond 200 feet.
Kicking off the Ducks’ day on the track in Azusa, Ella Nelson ran an outdoor PB of 2:04.22 in her first 800 of the season. It was her first race since running the 800-meter leg of the UO distance-medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships in early March. Nelson replaced her previous outdoor best of 2:04.25 from last year’s West Preliminary in Sacramento.
For the men, Matthew Erickson (1:47.87) and James Harding (1:49.56) each carded season bests in the 800. Erickson finished 12th overall and fifth among collegians in the field.
Competing her first heptathlon of the season, junior Gianna Bullock totaled 5,165 points to establish a new lifetime best by three points. She had a season-best effort of 5.50m/18-0.5 in the long jump while ending her day with a time of 2:26.15 in the 800 meters, an outdoor PB. Bullock owned a previous best of 5,162 from the 2022 Pac-12 Championships.
Arthur Katahdin, in Group A of the decathlon, tallied a lifetime-best score of 6,777 points over the two days at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
In the final result of a busy Friday schedule, Melissa Berry ran to a lifetime best of 16:14.03 in heat four of the invitational sections of the 5,000 meters. She took more than two seconds off her previous best (16:16.38) set at last year’s Bryan Clay meet.
Up Next: The Ducks add a third meet to their weekend slate with the Lane Invite, a one-day competition Saturday in Eugene. The final day of the Bryan Clay and Beach Invite meets will feature invitational heats and sections of the 1500 meters, shot put and discus. The fast heats of the 1500 will start at 6:40 p.m. in Azusa while the shot put in Long Beach featuring collegiate-record holder Jaida Ross is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
Friday Results
Beach Invitational (Long Beach, Calif.)
MEN
Hammer – invitational
6. Mason Strunk – 67.72m/222-2 (PB) [No. 7 UO]
Javelin
18. Gavin Korkeakoski – 63.23m/207-5 (PB)
34. Zach Young – 55.22m/181-2
WOMEN
2. Shelby Moran – 67.87m/222-8 (SB)
Javelin – invitational
7. Kohana Nakato – 51.27m/168-2 (SB)
Bryan Clay Invitational (Azusa, Calif.)
800 Meters – invitational
12. Matthew Erickson – 1:47.87 (SB)
35. James Harding – 1:49.56 (SB)
Decathlon ‘A’
7. Arthur Katahdin – 6,777 points
7. 110m Hurdles – 15.46 [795 points]
7. Discus – 38.07m/124-11 [625]
3. Pole Vault – 4.70m/15-5 [819]
9. Javelin – 41.38m/135-9 (SB) [462]
8. 1500 Meters – 5:10.25 [502]
28. Ella Nelson – 2:04.22 (PB)
117. Allura Markow – 2:13.06
5,000 Meters – invitational
(Heat 1)
6. Şilan Ayyildiz – 15:15.84 (PB) [No. 2 UO]
(Heat 4)
11. Melissa Berry – 16:14.03 (PB)
Heptathlon ‘A’
11. Colleen Uzoekwe – 4,924 points
13. Long Jump – 5.32m/17-5.5 [648 points]
9. Javelin – 31.41m/103-0 (SB) [503]
13. 800 Meters – 2:57.24 [391]
Heptathlon ‘B’
7. Gianna Bullock – 5,165 points (PB)
9. Long Jump – 5.50m/18-0.5 (SB) [700 points]
10. Javelin – 30.39m/99-8 [484]
12. 800 Meters – 2:26.15 (PB) [742]
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