Oregon Ducks thrower Jorinde Van Klinken set the meet record to win the discus and help lead the UO women to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday night in Austin, Texas.
Van Klinken’s best throw of 215 feet came on her third attempt, but all six of her attempts went at least 201-5 and would have been good enough to win the competition. Three of her efforts sailed farther than her own previous meet record of 213-3, set in 2021 when she threw for Arizona State.
The Oregon women entered the final day of competition at the NCAA meet sitting on 17 points they had earned Thursday from Van Klinken (eight points) and Jaida Ross (four) in the shot put and from Alysah Hickey (five) in the long jump.
The discus victory added 10 points for the Ducks, who also picked up 13 points in the 1,500 meters behind Izzy Thornton-Bott’s second-place finish (4:09.21) and Klaudia Kazmierska’s fourth-place finish (4:09.84). Oregon’s 4×100 relay team added two points with its seventh-place finish.
With just two events to go in the meet, Oregon had 42 points and sat in second place behind Texas. But then Florida’s Parker Valby won the 5,000 meters and the Gators overtook the Ducks. That left just the 4×400 relay. Arkansas won the relay going away, while Oregon placed seventh. That vaulted the Razorbacks past the Ducks and into third place.
Texas dominated the women’s meet, winning with 83 points. Florida finished with 51, followed by Arkansas (46) and Oregon (44).
The Ducks’ Maddy Elmore was 10th in the 1,500, while Taylor Chocek placed 17th in the heptathlon.