The Oregon track and field team is set to begin its postseason at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Indianapolis this week. The event, held at Fall Creek Pavilion, has expanded to a three-day format starting Thursday. Oregon enters as the defending men’s and women’s team champions.
The first day of competition includes scoring events such as the 5,000 meters, distance medley relays, women’s pole vault, and pentathlon. The Ducks will have 13 opportunities to score on Thursday, with nine entries in the 5K across both men’s and women’s teams.
Aiden Carter is competing in the heptathlon after achieving a season-best score of 5,790 points at the Razorback Invitational. This performance currently ranks him 11th nationally. The heptathlon begins with the 60 meters at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
All sessions of the championships will be available for streaming on B1G+ and RunnerSpace.
Last year, Oregon won both the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter titles with Connor Burns and Silan Ayyildiz. The Women of Oregon are also defending champions in the distance medley relay (DMR). Returning individual Big Ten Indoor champions include Matthew Erickson (800 meters), Wilma Nielsen (mile), and Aaliyah McCormick (60-meter hurdles).
Oregon’s men enter postseason ranked No. 2 nationally and lead the conference in four events: Elliott Cook (mile), Tomas Palfrey (3,000 meters), Kobe Lawrence (shot put), and Peyton Bair (heptathlon). Bair is also entered in this weekend’s long jump.
The women’s team holds a No. 7 national ranking according to USTFCCCA and leads four conference events: Nielsen (mile), Ayyildiz (3,000 meters), Diana Cherotich (5,000 meters), and McCormick (hurdles).
“This conference weekend also offers the final opportunity to add or improve national qualifying marks,” states the release. “The top 16 declared athletes in each event and top 12 relays advance to the NCAA Indoor meet (March 13-14) in Fayetteville, Ark.”
For further updates about Oregon cross country and track and field, fans can follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
