Ross, Raap Win Pac-12 Titles Saturday

BOULDER, Colo. – Jaida Ross and Rafael Raap won Pac-12 titles Saturday and the Ducks combined to advance 10 to conference finals. Ross out-distanced the field in the shot put and Raap out-lasted the pack in the decathlon. At the end of day two, the Women of Oregon lead the Pac-12 Championships with 65 points.
 
The Ducks were also aided Saturday by runner-up outings from Katie Clute in the steeplechase, Cheyla Scott in the high jump and Taylor Chocek in the heptathlon.
 
The UO women take a nine-point lead over UCLA into Sunday's competition and will have 16 scoring opportunities in 11 events on day three. The Men of Oregon are currently tied for fourth in the team standings and will have 13 scoring chances in eight events.
 
Ross is the third UO woman to win a Pac-12 title in the shot put, joining Brittany Mann (2015, '16) and former teammate—and last year's champion—Jorinde van Klinken. In the fourth round, Ross posted a winning measure of 19.01m/62-4.5, her sixth throw beyond 19 meters this outdoor season. She added two tosses of 18.78 meters in the fifth and sixth rounds.
 
The Medford, Ore., native had been the Pac-12 runner-up the past two seasons and was fourth in her freshman year. Ross will double back Sunday for the discus.
 
Colleen Uzoekwe, just off finishing the heptathlon, made her way into the final of the shot put and, on her last attempt of 14.77m/48-5.5, moved from ninth and out of scoring position to seventh.
 
Raap, last year's conference runner-up, becomes the Ducks' 11th Pac-12 champion in the decathlon. He finished the two-day, 10-day competition with 7,719 points. That score also represents a new collegiate best for Raap. He was the top performer in the discus (50.10m/164-4) and pole vault (4.79m/15-8.5) on his way to securing the conference title.
 
He was joined in scoring position by Arthur Katahdin who was sixth with 6,674 points. After just missing out on a top-eight finish a season ago, he added three points to the men's total.
 
In another collection of points for the Women of Oregon, Clute and Kendall Martin combined to score 13 points in the steeplechase. Both were making their meet debuts and posted times of 10:26.47 and 10:57.23, respectively. Martin crossed in fourth place overall.
 
Scott, in her first season at Oregon, established a lifetime best of 1.88m/6-2 in a back-and-forth finish to the high jump. She and Emma Gates of Arizona were the last two jumpers at the final three heights and each used a third-attempt clearance along the way to extend the competition. With her clearance, Scott also moved to No. 2 on the program's all-time list while becoming the sixth UO woman with an outdoor clearance at or over six feet.
 
Chocek led a 2-4-7 UO finish in the heptathlon, good for a 15-point haul toward the women's team total. The Eugene, Ore., native scored 5,741 points with the help of a lifetime-best 5.97m/19-7 measure in the long jump. In the final standings, Chocek was joined by Annika Williams and Gianna Bullock in fourth and seventh, respectively.
 
The runner-up conference finish is a career best for Chocek who was fourth last season. Williams posted a final score of 5,542 points in her first heptathlon in an Oregon kit. That score also makes her the No. 5 performer in program history. Bullock tallied a new lifetime best of 5,203 points, and is now a two-time conference scorer.
 
The first points of the day came from Mason Strunk and his sixth-place finish in the hammer. He moved from eighth to sixth on his final throw of the competition, getting the implement out to a 68.52m/224-9 which added nearly six feet to his previous day's best. With the effort, Strunk matched his finish from a last year's Pac-12 meet.
 
The UO men tacked on three points with the seventh- and eighth-place finishes for Hunter Angove and Harrison Canfield, respectively. Angove had a season-best clearance of 4.99m/16-4.5, and used a clutch third-attempt make on his opening height. Canfield finished the day with a 4.89m/16-0.5 clearance.
 
For a second time in his UO career, Giuliano Scasso scored in the men's steeplechase. He added a point for the Ducks with an eighth-place finish (9:41.30).
 
Saturday Qualifiers
Jadyn Mays, 100 meters
Lily Jones, 100 meters
PJ Ize-Iyamu, 100 meters
Ella Clayton, 400 meters
Katriina Wright, 400 meters
Klaudia Kazimierska, 800 meters
Elliott Cook, 800 meters
Matthew Erickson, 800 meters
Rheinhardt Harrison, 800 meters
Tomas Palfrey, 800 meters
 
Notable: PJ Ize-Iyamu posted a lifetime best of 10.18 and was the fastest qualifier in Saturday's prelims of the 100 meters. With the time, he ties Sammie Parker as the No. 6 performer in program history.
 
Up Next: The final day of the Pac-12 Championships begins at 10 a.m. (PT) with the women's discus for Ross and Shelby Moran, back from Friday's win in the hammer. The 4x100-meter relays will kick off the Pac-12 Network broadcast at 12 p.m. (PT).
 
Saturday Results
Pac-12 Championships (Boulder, Colo.)
MEN
100 Meters
1. PJ Ize-Iyamu – 10.18Q (PB) [=No. 6 UO]
13. Rodrick Pleasant – 10.56
17. Caleb Hagan – 10.73
 
800 Meters
1. Elliott Cook – 1:47.79Q
2. Matthew Erickson – 1:48.45Q
4. Rheinhardt Harrison – 1:49.49Q
7. Tomas Palfrey – 1:49.69q
9. James Harding – 1:50.12
 
110m Hurdles
9. Anthony Trucks – 16.12
 
3,000m Steeplechase
8. Giuliano Scasso – 9:41.30 [1 point]
--. Benjamin Balazs – DNF
 
Pole Vault
7. Hunter Angove – 4.99m/16-4.5 (SB) [2 points]
8. Harrison Canfield – 4.89m/16-0.5 [1 point]
 
Hammer
6. Mason Strunk – 68.52m/224-9 [3 points]
 
Decathlon
1. Rafael Raap – 7,719 [10 points]
              5. 110m Hurdles – 15.28 [816]
              1. Discus – 50.10m/164-4 [872]
              T1. Pole Vault – 4.79m/15-8.5 [846]
              3. Javelin – 56.13m/184-2 [680]
              3. 1500 Meters – 4:50.37 [616]
6. Arthur Katahdin – 6,674 [3 points]
              8. 110m Hurdles – 15.64 [774]
              5. Discus – 35.96m/117-11 [583]
              T1. Pole Vault – 4.79m/15-8.5 [846]
              8. Javelin – 39.07m/128-2 [429]
              6. 1500 Meters – 5:21.18 [444]
 
WOMEN
100 Meters
1. Jadyn Mays – 11.10wQ (+2.1)
8. Lily Jones – 11.52q (-0.4)
24. Brazil Neal – 12.02 (-0.4)
 
400 Meters
5. Ella Clayton – 52.64Q (SB)
6. Katriina Wright – 52.79Q (SB)
11. Lakely Doht-Barron – 54.11
 
800 Meters
1. Klaudia Kazimierska – 2:03.29Q
9. Ella Nelson – 2:05.92
 
3,000m Steeplechase
2. Katie Clute – 10:26.47 [8 points]
4. Kendall Martin – 10:57.23 [5 points]
 
High Jump
2. Cheyla Scott – 1.88m/6-2 (PB) [No. 2 UO]
 
Shot Put
1. Jaida Ross – 19.01m/62-4.5 [10 points]
7. Colleen Uzoekwe – 14.77m/48-5.5 [2 points]
 
Heptathlon
2. Taylor Chocek – 5,741 [8 points]
              4. Long Jump – 5.97m/19-7 (PB) [840]
              3. Javelin – 38.89m/127-7 [646]
              6. 800 Meters – 2:28.45 [712]
4. Annika Williams – 5,542 [No. 5 UO] [5 points]
              2. Long Jump – 6.10m/20-0.25 [880]
              1. Javelin – 48.40m/158-9 (PB) [829]
              10. 800 Meters – 2:51.72 [446]
7. Gianna Bullock – 5,203 [2 points]
              9. Long Jump – 5.61m/18-5 [732]
              5. Javelin – 33.90m/111-2 (PB) [551]
              7. 800 Meters – 2:30.31 [689]
9. Colleen Uzoekwe – 4,882
              11. Long Jump – 5.40m/17-8.75 [671]
              10. Javelin – 26.67m/87-6 [414]
              11. 800 Meters – 2:55.71 (SB) [406]
 
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