Ducks Spring Sports Update

Oregon’s spring sports squads have headed into the Championship season where it can quickly become win or go home. Some Ducks teams have already competed at a high level nationally, while others are moving to NCAA Regional action or are about to seek Pac-12 titles.

Acrobatics & Tumbling

After compiling a 6 - 2 record during the season with its only losses coming to top-ranked Baylor University, Oregon’s Acrobatics & Tumbling team earned a #2 seed in the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association National Championships. The 8-team single-elimination tournament was held over last weekend in West Liberty, West Virginia. Both team and individual championship events were held, similar to a gymnastics tournament.

The Ducks acquitted themselves well, living up to their billing by beating Frostburg State University and Limestone University in the quarters and semis to reach the final against nemesis Baylor. The Bears defeated Oregon for the third time this season by a score of 278.855 to 268.555.

Oregon won two individual event titles last Sunday. In the trio tumbling pass, Alena Aucker, Kaylie Barrera and Haley Ellis earned a score of 9.30, which matched their season best. It was the third straight championships in which Oregon won this event (note there were no championships in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid).

Freshman Rickelle Henderson won gold in the six element pass event, scoring a 9.75. The Ducks have now won 52 individual titles in Acrobatics & Tumbling in program history.

Men’s Golf

Oregon’s Men’s Golf team traveled to the Stanford Golf Course last weekend for the Pac-12 Championships. Playing over the 4 days, Oregon’s scores increased each day - the team shot 342 the first day but 359 in the final round. Overall, the Ducks shot a 3-under par 1,397 good for a tie for 5th place overall. Nate Stember led the Ducks, shooting 7-under for the tournament which earned him a 5th-place finish among individual golfers.

The Ducks will learn their NCAA Regional destination this morning. Wherever they go, the Regional will be played May 15 - 17. The top 5 teams in each Regional will head to the NCAA Championships May 26 - 31 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Women’s Golf

Oregon’s Women’s Golf team had another great finish at the Pac-12 Championships on April 17 - 19. The Ducks started out a bit slow but improved their scoring each day to surge from 4th to 2nd overall, behind only USC. Overall, the Ducks shot an 8-under par score of 856, allowing them to beat #1 Stanford by one stroke.

Minori Nagano led Oregon in individual scoring, carding a 4-under par 212 for the 3 rounds and tying for 3rd place. Anika Varma also finished in the top 10 for the Ducks, shooting a 2-under 214.

The Ducks will play their NCAA Regional at The Club at Chatham Hills Golf Course in Westfield, Indiana where they will be the #2 seed. Mississippi State is the #1 seed in this Regional and Oregon State will compete as the #9 seed in Westfield. Should they qualify, Oregon would then travel to Scottsdale, Arizona May 19 - 22 for the NCAA Championships.

Men’s Tennis

The Men’s Tennis team ended its season last week at the Pac-12 Championships, beating Arizona State in the first round, but losing 4 - 0 to USC in the second. The Ducks finished with a 14 - 13 overall record but went just 2 - 6 in Conference.

Women’s Tennis

The Oregon Women’s Tennis team’s season also came to a close in the Pac-12 Tournament a week ago, thanks to a 4 - 2 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes. The Ducks complied an 11 - 10 overall record and went 4 - 6 in the Pac-12.

Track & Field

Both Oregon track and field teams continue to split up to compete in various meets, mostly in the western part of the country. The old scheduling - which featured “dual” meets hosting or visiting just one other school - has now almost completely given way to meets that are more like invitationals focused on certain events. For elite teams like Oregon’s, this probably provides a higher level of competition week-in and week-out.

Last weekend, Oregon athletes competed in the OSU High Performance meet in Corvallis and Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Arizona. In Corvallis, Kwabena Lynn set a season best in the Men’s 100 Meters at 10.58 for 3rd place, Matthew Erickson ran a personal best of 48.89 in the Men’s 400 Meters to place 7th and Madyson Kannon shot to a season best 1:03.20 and came in 5th place in the Women’s 400 Meter Hurdles. James Gormley ran 2nd in the Men’s 1500 Meters with a time of 3:47.13.

In Tucson, the Ducks turned in seven wins and lots of personal and season bests. Duck Champions included:

• Mason Strunk in the Men’s Hammer with a season best throw of 214 feet, 1 inch
• The Women’s 4 x 100 relay (43.85) - McCormick, Mays, Hall, Clayton
• Women’s Long Jump - Alysah Hickey, 21 feet, 7.25 inches
• Lexi Ellis, Women’s Triple Jump - 44 feet, 8 inches (#3 all-time at Oregon)
• Jaida Ross, Women’s Shot Put - 59 feet, 5.75 inches
• Jorinde van Klinken, Women’s Discus, 196 feet, 0 inches
• Shelby Moran, Women’s Hammer - 214 feet, 3 inches

In addition, Oregon took 3 of the top 5 spots in Women’s Discus and the top 2 in Women’s Shot Put. Jonah Tactay set personal bests in the Men’s Triple Jump with a leap of 50 feet, 1.25 inches, and in the Long Jump at 24 feet, 5 inches. Micah Williams took 2nd in the Men’s 100 Meters and the Men’s 4 x 100 Relay ran 2nd with a #8 all-time Oregon time of 39.08.

The Ducks host the Oregon Twilight meet on Friday, May 5 and then are at the Pac-12 Championships May 12 - 14 in Walnut, California.

Lacrosse

The Ducks finished a rough regular season last Friday with a 15 - 5 road loss to Colorado. Oregon was never really in the game, falling behind 10 - 3 at the half. Although they had several competitive games, Oregon finished 1 - 9 in the Conference and opens the Pac-12 Championship tournament this afternoon in Berkeley where they will again face the Buffaloes.

Morgan McCarthy led the Ducks with 34 goals and 3 assists during the regular season while Cleveland scored 30 times and had 1 assist.

Beach Volleyball

The Sandy Spikers completed their season on April 26 with a 3 - 0 loss to #20 Arizona. Oregon finished with a 10-24 overall record and were 0 - 5 in the Conference.