A contingent of sprinters and jumpers got the weekend off to a fast start for the Oregon track and field program at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque on Friday, while a number of other Ducks performed well on day one of the Husky Classic in Seattle.

How it Happened - Don Kirby: The Women of Oregon shined in the 200 meters, where seven different Ducks ran new personal-bests. None were more impressive than the performance by freshman Lauren Rain Williams , who finished first overall in a PR 23.16 to put herself in the mix for NCAA qualifying. Williams' time is tied for 11th in the NCAA this season and 15th in the world.

Junior transfer Briyahna DesRosiers was second overall in an indoor-best 23.49, and freshman Shae Anderson also impressed in a PR 23.70. Defending NCAA champion Ariana Washington was fifth in 23.73.

In the men's 200 meters, junior transfer Cravon Gillespie finished second overall and first among collegians in 21.08, moving him from seventh to fourth on the Oregon all-time indoor list. Orwin Emilien (21.45) and Cameron Stone (21.46) also ran PRs while winning their heats.

Tristan James (below), a junior transfer from Lane Community College, came away with the victory in the men's long jump with a top leap of 25-6.25 (7.78m), the third-best mark in UO indoor history and a career-best. James was second at 25-5.5 (7.76m) going into the finals before improving on that mark to earn the win. Spenser Schmidt placed fourth overall after leaping to a personal-best 24-8.5 (7.53m).





In the high jump, Ben Milligan was third overall after clearing 6'11.5" (2.12m), and Ashlyn Hare finished ninth overall at 5'6" (1.68m).

How it Happened - Husky Classic: The Ducks got a couple of big personal-bests in the invite 5,000 meters on Friday in Seattle. Transfer Carmela Cardama Baez finished eighth overall in 15:55.45, ninth-fastest in UO indoor history, and Tanner Anderson (below) was fifth in 13:43.43, the 10th-best mark at Oregon. Both marks have traditionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships.





Jackson Mestler gave a gritty performance in the second section of the 5,000 meters, winning in 14:03.00 in his first time ever competing in the event.

In the men's weight throw, Max Lydum advanced to the finals and placed ninth overall with a top throw of 59-5 (18.11m).

King Ches: Seventeen-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek , now a professional running for Skechers, made history Friday night in Boston, running the mile in 3:49.44 to become just the fourth man ever to break the 3:50 barrier indoors. Cheserek's time is second in the world all-time indoors, and the fastest since 1997.

Notable: For NCAA qualifying purposes, 0.07 seconds will be added to all of the 200-meter times to adjust for the altitude in Albuquerque … Hannah Waller (23.86), Venessa D'Arpino (23.98), Rachel Vinjamuri (24.54) and Kaylah Robinson (24.59) also ran new PRs in the 200 meters ... DesRosiers' 23.49 in the 200 is ninth-best in UO indoor history.

Up Next: The Ducks will have packed days at both the Don Kirby Invitational and the Husky Classic on Saturday. Both meets will be streamed live on FloTrack.org.