The Bell Lap: Ducks rack up seven event wins in Corvallis, clock fast times at Stanford

Ducks win seven events at OSU High Performance meet

After a cross-country trip to the Penn Relays, most of the Oregon track team was a little closer to home at the OSU High Performance meet in Corvallis. Laura Bobek delivered a personal record throw in the discus of 177-10 (54.20m), moving up to third on Oregon's all-time list. Brittany Mann won the shot put with a throw of 51-1.75 (15.59m). In other field events, Chauncey Summers won the high jump (5-8.75/1.75m) while Sammie Clark came away with the win in the pole vault (13-3.50/4.05m). Brett Johnson delivered a season-best time of 3:44.73 to win the 1500 while Alec Smith led the collegiate field in the 800 with a personal-best time of 1:49.73. Ben Thiel came away with the win in the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.86 seconds while Cole Walsh picked up another win for the Ducks with a jump of 16-2.75 (4.95m) in the pole vault.

Four Ducks clock fast times at Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational

Megan Patrignelli ran a personal-best time of 10:03.82 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. The time is the third-fastest in school history and the eighth-fastest in the NCAA this season. Patrignelli was the third collegiate finisher in the race behind Arkansas' Grace Heymsfield (9:53.65) and Boise State's Marisa Howard (10:00.79).

In the third section of the women's 1500, Sarah Penney set a new personal-best, finishing fifth in 4:17.85, just two seconds behind the winner.

Tanguay Pepiot clocked a season-best time of 8:43.24 in the men's steeplechase. That time is the fastest in the Pac-12 so far this season, so he should be in good position to qualify for the NCAA meet in June.

Parker Stinson ran in a loaded field of professional runners in the 5000, finishing in 13:45.62. 22 of the 25 runners in the event were professionals, including some big names like Lopez Lomong  and Evan Jager.

Women climb, men hold steady in latest rankings

Despite a lower team score by 15 points from the previous week, the Oregon women climbed one spot to No. 3 in this week's USTFCCCA outdoor rankings. The Ducks sit behind No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Texas. The Gators are atop the rankings for the first time since 2008.

The Men of Oregon held steady at No. 4 this week with 204.08 points. Last week, the Ducks fell to No. 4 after topping the rankings for the first time since 2008. Joining the top 5 this week for the first time all season was Texas Tech after a strong performance from Kennedy Kithuka in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Invitational. With Florida remaining at No. 1, this week is the first time since 2011 that the top spot in the men's and women's rankings has been held by the same school since Texas A&M in 2011.

What's next?

It's been just over a month since the Ducks made their outdoor debut at the Oregon Preview, but the season is quickly winding down as Oregon has just one more meet, the Oregon Twilight, before they head to Pullman for this year's Pac-12 Championships on May 17-18. The Oregon Twilight, which will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, is always one of the most anticipated home meets of the season. It is the final chance for anyone to do some fine tuning before the conference championships, so it should once again promise to be a quality meet.

After the Oregon Twilight and the Pac-12 Championships, the Ducks will head to the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas on May 29-31. The NCAA Championships will be held right here at Hayward Field from June 11-14.

Be sure to check back next week for a full recap of the Oregon Twilight.