Devin Hart, Dalia Frias Run Well Enough To Secure Regional Qualifiers On Oregon's Senior Day

By Lori Schontz and Doug Binder

Kim Spir PHOTOS

EUGENE - The rain was unrelenting and a night filled with distance races required an extra layer of toughness. 

It will be required again next week when Oregon and other West coast schools travel to Boulder, Colo. for the final Pac-12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. 

RESULTS/VIDEOS | INTERVIEWS

Maddy Elmore, for instance, ran 4:11.05 for second place in the 1,500 meters behind first-year pro Kaylee Mitchell of the Bowerman Track Club (4:09.45) and then came back to "pace" teammate Dalia Frias in her first 5,000. 

Elmore stayed in it until the event, finishing right behind Frias as they both ran 15:56. Frias moved onto the regional qualifying list at No. 32 (top 48 advance).

"I'm a little nervous," said Elmore of the prospect of doubling the 5,000 and 10,000 next weekend. "I haven't done that much running at altitude." 

Frias was making her season debut. 

"The plan was to help her stay on 16-minute pace through 3k or 4k and if I felt good I could just to the whole way," she said. 

Behind Mitchell and Elmore in the 1,500, Michaela Meyer was third in 4:14.87 and Gabriela DeBues-Stafford was fourth in 4:15.26.

Devin Hart, who joined Oregon a couple of months ago after transferring from Texas, accomplished his mission of running under 13:50 and most likely locking up a chance to compete at the NCAA West Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. A race that began with 17 men, many of whom were in it for pacing help, finished with just seven.  His time of 13:47.56 puts him 36th in the West.

Charles Hicks of the Bowerman Track Club won and ran 13:29.36, while Moh Ahmed, Sean McGorty, Duncan Hamilton, Thomas Ratcliffe and Kieran Tuntivate all picked a spot and dropped out. 

Hamilton and Ahmed earlier went 1-2 in the McChesney 1,500 meters, with 3:42.28 and 3:42.54. 

Oregon' Harrison Rheinhardt and Elliott Cook and ran to help teammate Tomas Palfrey, who finished third in a personal best time of 3:42.63.

High school junior Josiah Tostenson of the Rogue River TC (Crater OR) was in the race and 4:38.98 for eighth. 

In the women's 800, Oregon's Ella Nelson kicked in the final 20 meters to pass Mia Barnett to win, 2:07.35 to 2:07.83. Nelson inadvertently took out BTC's Christina Aragon when she clipped her heel on the backstretch. And Nelson felt so guilty about it in the moment she almost stopped. 

Collin Dylla of Tracksmith took command at the 600-meter mark of the men's 800 and won in 1:47.87. Second-place James Harding of Oregon set a season’s best of 1:48.74.

Benjamin Balasz of Oregon took the lead with two and a half laps to go in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, passing Gonzaga’s Cooper Laird, who had led most of the way. Balsaz beat his PR by four seconds, finishing in 8:45.36. Laird was second in 8:50.07.

Marisha Thompson of Victoria (B.C.) led the whole way and won the women's steeplechase in 10:25.88, more than 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Kate Donaldson of Gonzaga, who ran 10:56.30.

Bear Creek WA's Braelyn Baker ran a new best in the women's 400-meter hurdles, breaking her own Washington all-time best with 58.47 seconds.

In the women's discus, Oregon's Jaida Ross managed to score a new personal best in the discus despite the rain, throwing 192-0 (58.53m).

Kobe Lawrence, a Jamaican and Oregon redshirt, who took silver at the World U-20 Championships in 2022, threw a personal record 65-10.25 (20.07m) to win the men's shot put.