The Bell Lap: Oregon sweeps Pac-12 championships for sixth consecutive year

The Oregon track & field team had a big weekend in the Palouse, sweeping the Pac-12 championships for the sixth straight year. The men earned their eighth straight title with 163.25 points while the women won their sixth straight title with 176 points. The men won by 64.25 points while the women won by 21 points.

Leading the way for the Ducks was Jenna Prandini who was named the women's Athlete of the Meet for winning three individual events. The last person to accomplish that feat was UCLA's Seilala Sue in 1999. Prandini racked up wins in the 100 (11.21 seconds), 200 (22.60 seconds) and the long jump (20-11.25/6.38m). Prandini contributed 38 points to Oregon's team scores, running in the 4x100 where Oregon finished second behind USC.

Finishing in second place behind Prandini in the 200 was Phyllis Francis as Prandini and Francis scored 18 points for the Ducks in the event. Francis also earned 10 more points for Oregon with a win in the 400, her third straight win in the event at the Pac-12 meet, and contributed 8 points in the 4x100.

The Ducks earned 16 points in the 800 thanks to Laura Roesler and Annie Leblanc. Roesler won the race in 2:05.77 while Leblanc took third in 2:07.27, seven hundredths of a second behind Utah's Rosalie Waller who took second. Roesler's win marked her third straight Pac-12 title in the 800.

Sasha Wallace set a new school record in the 100 hurdles as she took second place with a time of 13.24 seconds, scoring eight points in the event. Wallace earned six more points with a third place finish in the triple jump.

Oregon also scored well in the women's high jump with Chauncey Summers clearing 1.79 meters to finish second while Lauren Crocket took fifth with a jump of 1.76 meters.

Jillian Weir contributed 10 points to Oregon's score with a winning throw in the hammer throw of 67.43 meters, nearly 15 feet further than any other competitor in the finals, a mark just five inches off of the school record.

Liz Brenner took third in the javelin with a throw of 49.02 meters, while Hailey Crouser and Rachel Sherrell also scored for the Ducks. The trio combined for 13 points in the event.

After finishing fourth in the 100, Arthur Delaney took third in the 200 with a time of 20.87 seconds.

Mike Berry was a part of 22 points for the Ducks. Berry won the 400 in 45.05. His time was a season best and second best in the NCAA this year. Berry was also a part of the 4x100 and 4x400, both second place finishes for Oregon.

Oregon had a pair of athletes score in the 800 as Mac Fleet reached the podium with a third place finish in 1:50.67 while Boru Guyota took fifth in 1:51.42.

In what was perhaps the most thrilling finish of the race, Oregon freshman Edward Cheserek went toe-to-toe with Arizona senior Lawli Lalang in the 1,500. Lalang just barely managed to hold off Cheserek, beating out the freshman by .16 seconds for the win in 3:36.34 as Cheserek took second in 3:36.50. Cheserek's time was the third fastest in school history.

In the 5,000, Trevor Dunbar and Eric Jenkins finished second and third respectively almost simultaneously. Dunbar took second with a time of 13:45.26 while Jenkins finished in 13:45.27 as the duo combined for 14 points.

The Ducks also had a pair of scorers in the 10,000 as Parker Stinson took second in 29:18.33 while Matthew Melancon took fifth in 30:00.04.

Dual-athlete Devon Athlete scored 16 points individually for the Ducks with second place finishes in the 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles. In the 110 hurdles, Allen finished in 13.47 and in the 400 hurdles crossed the line in 51.19. Allen contributed to 16 more points in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

In the men's long jump, Trevor Ferguson took second with a jump of 7.56 meters while Alec Fellows took sixth with a jump of 7.41 meters. In other field events, Sam Crouser won the javelin with a throw of 74.24 meters while Greg Skipper took second in the hammer throw with a mark of 68.64 meters.

Oregon will now await to see who advances to the NCAA Preliminary Rounds in Fayetteville, Ark. at the end of next week. The top 48 declared athletes per event from the West Region will advance. Those athletes will be named on Thursday. The preliminary rounds will take place May 29-31 with the top athletes advancing to the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field, which will be held June 11-14.