Robert Johnson

The Women of Oregon broke the collegiate indoor record in the distance medley relay to lead Oregon track and field to a strong showing on the first day of the Columbia East-West Challenge at the Armory Track and Field Center.Looking to secure a qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships, the DMR team of(1,200m),(400m),(800) and(1,600) won in a blistering 10:48.77 to break the previous indoor collegiate record of 10:50.98 (Tennessee, 2009).Seven-time all-Americanimpressed once again in the 60 meter hurdles, winning in 7.91 seconds to best her own NCAA-leading mark. The Ducks went 1-2-3 in the finals as(8.19) and freshman(8.39) followed Wallace to sweep the event.The Women of Oregon capped the first day of competition in New York with another finals sweep, asandfinished 1-2-3 in the finals of the 60 meters. Cunliffe raced to the top of the 2017 NCAA list by winning in 7.13 seconds, just .01 seconds off her own program record, and Stevens (7.23) and Washington (7.30) each set personal-bests.The Men of Oregon came away with a strong showing in the DMR as well, winning in an NCAA-leading time of 9:30.86. The relay saw the 2017 debut of 15-time NCAA championrunning anchor (1,600m) in 3:54.59 to bring home the win for the Ducks after(1,200m),(400m) and(800m) set the tone.Senior transfercontinued an impressive start to his Oregon career in the 60 meters, winning the event for the second time in two meets as a Duck. King ran the finals in a blazing 6.62 seconds, tying the Oregon indoor record and setting a PR. Another transfer, junior, also set a PR (6.69) to give the Ducks a 1-2 finish in the 60 meters. Sophomorefinished fifth in a personal-best time of 6.86 seconds.In the 60 meter hurdles, freshmanfinished in 8.39 seconds in the prelims and 8.50 seconds in the finals.Senior and three-time all-Americantraveled to Seattle this weekend along withandto compete at the UW Invitational. Modin was the only Duck in action on Friday's first day of competition, as he competed in the first four events of the men's heptathlon. Walsh currently sits in second place overall in the heptathlon with 3,032 points after running 7.06 in the 60 meter hurdles and posting marks of 22-11/6.98m in the long jump, 41-7.25/12.68m in the shot put and 6-2.75/1.90m in the high jump."Overall it's been a really good trip so far, and we've got a full line-up tomorrow. I'm proud of the team and how they rallied around the DMR teams to help push them through. We were able to see something amazing on the women's side with those ladies setting the collegiate record, and it was really a great atmosphere with our team being allowed on the infield to cheer them on. The atmosphere was so exciting, and we were able to carry that into the 60 meters and 60 hurdles to finish out the day on a high note with PRs byandand tremendous showings byand. It was a really fun and exciting 60 minutes or so, and now we need to carry that into tomorrow."After busting off the rust two weeks ago in Seattle, the Ducks turned their attention this weekend to hitting qualifying times for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Oregon got off to a tremendous start to the weekend on Friday with wins in five of the six events as well as the collegiate DMR record.The Columbia East-West Challenge will continue on Saturday at the Armory Track and Field Center, beginning at 3 p.m. PT with the women's mile and the field events.In Seattle on Saturday, Modin will finish up the heptathlon, Walsh will compete in the pole vault and Milligan will be in action in the high jump. Competition will begin at 9 a.m., with the heptathlon picking back up at 10:05 a.m. with the 60 meter hurdles.