Shana Grebo Runs 52.95 400 In Return To Ducks Uniform

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Kim Spir photos

EUGENE --Oregon State's Kaylee Mitchell hadn't really planned on running in Friday's Oregon Twilight at Hayward Field, but she's glad she did. 

Mitchell, a senior, is planning to double the 1,500 meters and 3,000-meter steeplechase next weekend at the Pac-12 Conference Championships, and one more racing experience fit the plan to get prepared for it. 

Racing in perhaps the best field assembled for any event on a drizzly night in Eugene, Mitchell felt strong enough to pull away over the final lap and out-run a pack of women that included Portland's Laura Pellicoro, Oregon's Klaudia Kazimierska, former Colorado standout Rachel McArthur and Olympian Courtney Frerichs.

Mitchell finished in 4:14.76 and won her final collegiate race at Hayward Field, the home track of OSU's rival. 

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"I just wanted to get another rep in, so I really wasn't focused on time, or anything," she said. "Just practicing running a 1,500 going into the prelim (next) Friday."

Frerichs, the U.S. record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished sixth in her 2023 opener, in 4:18.05. 

Oregon State is ranked 15th as a women's team nationally, an unprecedented high water mark for a program that was reinstated in 2004. Mitchell and running mate Grace Fetherstonhaugh, both ranked in the top four in the steeplechase, factor heavily into the equation. 

Oregon's women, who will be trying to repeat as conference champions, welcomed the return of Shana Grebo, who overcame an eligibility issue and rejoined the team May 1. She won the 400 meters Friday in 52.95 and will race the 400-meter hurdles for the first time at the Pac-12 meet. 

Grebo, who is from France, last raced at Hayward Field in last year's World Athletics Championships, where she was part of a fifth-place finish in the women's 4x400 relay. 

"To be honest, it's been a week where I could barely sleep," Grebo said. "I'm just super happy to be able to wear the (Oregon) gear again and have fun with my friends and teammates."

Gonzaga's Wil Smith won the men's 5,000 meters in 13:43.30 and closed in 58.1 seconds, part of a build-up to the NCAA West Regional meet, where he will run the 5,000 and 10,000. 

In the Bill McChesney Jr men's 1,500 meters, Oregon redshirt Elliott Cook outkicked the Portland duo of Cathal Doyle and Matt Strangio to get to the finish line first in 3:39.52. Cook, the Pac-12 800-meter champion, is expecting to be part of a revival at Oregon next year when Jerry Schumacher's first recruiting class comes in. 

Doyle finished second, racing for the first time since last summer, in 3:39.96. Strangio, who went to the lead with a lap to go to try and help his teammate secure a top-48 position, was third in 3:40.03. '

Branson Ellis from Stephen F. Austin won the pole vault with a clearance at 18-2.75 (5.56m). 

Multnomah's Donte Sol, one of the top sprinters in NAIA, won the men's 100 meters in 10.46 and the 200 in 21.13. 

Oregon's Mine de Klerk won the discus with a season's best mark of 170-6 (51.97m). Teammate Shelby Moran won the hammer by more than 40 feet, with 218-6 (66.60m).

Oregon State's Keely McLaughlin threw a personal best and school record 50-6.75 (15.41m) to win the shot put. 

Former high school record holder Chloe Cunliffe won the women's pole vault with a clearance at 13-5.25 (4.10m). She went out at 14-5.25 (4.40m). It was her first outdoor competition since 2021. 

Rowan Hamilton from British Columbia won the men's hammer with 242-9 (74.00m).