Beavers persevere on wet, cold day at High Performance Meet

Corvallis, Ore. – Cool and wet conditions at the Whyte Track & Field Center couldn't dampen the performance of the Oregon State women's track & field team on Friday on Day 1 of the annual High Performance Meet.
 
The Beavers won four events and set five all-time top-10 marks in their penultimate tuneup for the Pacific-12 Conference Championships.
 
"Across the board, today was awesome," OSU coach Louie Quintana said. "The big thing was the weather. We were lucky.
 
"I wanted to make sure it would be good for the technical events, we got though that so I feel good about that.
 
"The kids did not let the weather affect their performance. They ran hard and competed hard."
 
Junior Anneke Moersdorf won the long jump for the second weekend in a row with a leap of 19-9.50, the No. 5 mark in school history. A PR by 1.25 inches, she was ranked sixth all-time before Friday at 19-8.25, her first-place mark at last weekend's Oregon Relays.

Now recovered from a hamstring injury that slowed her earlier in the season, she posted her third top-10 all-time finish in a week by repeating in the long jump. She also set the school record in the triple jump (40-8.25) at the Eugene meet.

"Everything is clicking and I'm just at that point of the season when everything is coming together," and she feels as if a big mark is possible on every jump, Moersdorf said.

Moersdorf took 15th in the pentathlon at the Pac-12 Indoor Championships in February, so she did not compete in open events. She is skipping the heptathlon at the May 13-15 outdoor championships, though, and she is aiming for a top-8 finish in the long and triple jumps.

"I'm looking to score, and basically [must continue] to do what I've been doing at practice," she said. "Hopefully that will lead to PRs in both events," and breaking the 20-foot barrier in the long jump and the 41-foot barrier in the triple jump.

Added Quintana: "She's moved up to fifth or sixth in the conference, so that's huge, and has put herself to No. 42 for NCAA regionals, which is big. She's very consistent over 19 feet, and we're loving that."

Sophomore Adael Scatena captured the 400 hurdles in a PR of 1:01.29, tying her for fifth all-time. She recorded her former best, 1:01.41, at Eugene last weekend. Junior Taylor Weidinger was third at 1:03.02.

Redshirt freshman Jade Whitfield took the discus in 159-5, edging teammate Keely McLaughlin by slightly more than two feet. A redshirt senior, McLaughlin PRed at 156-9 and moved from a tie for seventh to fifth place on OSU's all-time list.

Sophomore Amber Jackson was third in the invitational 3000 steeplechase in 10:42.63 and moved from ninth to seventh on OSU's all-time list. Freshman Christina Geisler was sixth in 10:53.31, good for 10th-best all-time.

Redshirt junior Kaylee Mitchell (4:19.17) and senior Mari Friedman (4:20.09) went 2-3 in the invitational 1500. Redshirt senior Delia DeLeon ran a sub-70 second final 400 meters and won the open 1500 in 4:38.29.

Freshman Jada Hurley PRed in the 200 and took third in 25.06, just .04 off a top-10 all-time clocking. Her previous best was 25.10 at the Pacific Northwest Invitational at OSU on March 19.

The meet concludes on Saturday. Track events begin at 2 p.m. with the women's 400 relay. The men's 1600 relay concludes the meet at 5:15 p.m. Field events start at 11 a.m. with the women's javelin.

OSU's seniors will be recognized in a special 1:45 p.m. ceremony preceding Saturday's track events.

Up next

The Beavers will compete at the Oregon Twilight Meet at Hayward Field on May 6-7. It will be their third meet in Eugene this outdoor season; they also competed at the Hayward Premier on April 1-2 and the Oregon relays on April 22-23.

The Twilight Meet is the final competition before the Pacific-12 Conference Champions, set for May 13-15 at Hayward Field.

High Performance Meet
Corvallis, Ore. | Whyte Track & Field Center

Friday's OSU results

Field events

Hammer: 3. Keely McLaughlin, 176-3. 4.  Markayla Billings, 172-2. 7. Jade Whitfield, 161-8. 12. Caitlyn Marx, 150-0.
 
Long jump: 1. Anneke Moersdorf, 19-9.50. 7. Chelsea Howard, 17-8.75.
 
Discus: 1. Jade Whitfield, 159-5. 2. Keely McLaughlin, 156-9. 5. Caitlyn Marx, 141-7. 8. Jordan Spradlin, 137-2. 14. Markayla Billings, 126-10.
 
Track events
 
400 hurdles: 1. Adael Scatena, 1:01.29. 3. Taylor Weidinger, 1:03.02. 13. Jade Newton, 1:07.23.
 
200: 3. Jada Hurley, 25.06. 6. Abby Buckley, 25.54. 24. Chelsie Emmerson, 27.03.
 
5000 open: 2. Eimy Martinez (unattached), 17:30.30.
 
1500 open: 1. Delia DeLeon, 4:38.29. 7. Aleen Golla, 4:40.26. 12. Kate Intile, 4:42.83. 13. Emily Perez, 4:44.25. 36. Lexy Hayes, 4:51.32. 47. Emily Foote, 4:54.83. 60. Libby Rinck, 5:06.83. 63. Sydney van der Zee, 5:09.63.
 
1500 invitational: 2. Kaylee Mitchell, 4:19.17. 3. Mari Friedman, 4:20.09.
 
3000 invitational steeplechase: 3. Amber Jackson, 10:42.63. 6. Christina Geisler, 10:53.31. 9. Liv Downing, 11:24.14.
 
5000 invitational: 4. Alyssa Foote, 16:45.46. 9. Gabby Peterson, 17:13.37. 12. Audrey Lookner, 17:47.75.
 
Saturday's OSU entrants
 
Field events
 
Javelin (11 a.m.): Isabelle Esler, Jordynn Slater, Ella Knott, Jazlyn Romero, Savannah Reilly.
 
High jump (12:30): Emma Nelson, Lara Denbow, Anneke Moersdorf, Savannah Reilly.
 
Shot put (1 p.m.): Keely McLaughlin, Taylor Crockem, Jordan Spradlin, Anneke Moersdorf.
 
Triple jump (1 p.m.): Anneke Moersdorf, Jaaden Steele.
 
Track events
 
800 (2:50 p.m.): Mari Friedman, Delia DeLeon, Sydney van der Zee, Paige Sefried.
 
100 hurdles (3:45 p.m.): Adael Scatena.
 
400 (4:15 p.m.): Taylor Weidinger, Chelsie Emmerson.
 
100 (4:40 p.m.) Jada Hurley, Abby Buckley, Chelsea Howard.