Oregon Throwers Jaida Ross, Mine De Klerk Trade Wins With Strong Efforts In Discus, Shot Put

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor 

Shaniya Hall didn't get a 2020 outdoor season at the Bullis School in Maryland and was injured to start college at Oregon last year. 

It's been a long wait to come back and begin exploring her potential again. 

"I thought everybody forgot about me," Hall said Saturday, hours after winning the women's 200 meters in 23.63 seconds at the Hayward Premiere in Eugene, Ore. 

The road to re-discovery is making progress for the former high school standout. 

Her winning time finally surpassed a personal best that had been stuck at 23.86 since her ninth-grade year. 

'I'm happy to PR from freshman year of high school. It's a big thing for me," she said. 

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Hall is surrounded by a deep and talented roster of sprinters at Oregon, which includes Jadyn Mays, Kemba Nelson, Iman Brown, Jasmine Montomgery and others. 

"I'm proud of her and the progress she's made so far this year," Oregon coach Robert Johnson said. "The sky's the limit for that gal. She's super, super talented and she's only going to continue to get better."

She's also the third leg on the Ducks' A team in the 4x100, which ran 43.95 and is aiming to be nationally relevant against the powers of the SEC. 

The two-day Hayward Premiere featured some athletes checking off boxes to ensure qualifying for upcoming conference and NCAA meets. For the majority, it was a chance to compete, earn a result, evaluate signs of progress and continue working.

Gonazaga's James Mwaura ran a perfectly paced 10,000 meters in 28:29.01, part of a 1-2-3 finish for the Zags on Friday night, that should take care of his entry into the NCAA West prelims. 

Friday's women's 1,500 meters was one of the highlights of meet, with Cascadia Elite's Jenn Randall racing to the win in 4:14.23. Oregon's Izzy Thornton-Bott, in her first Hayward Field meet, placed second in 4:16.56 and Oregon State trio Grace Fetherstonhaugh (4:17.25), Kaylee Mitchell (4:17.26) and Mari Friedman (4:18.20) went 3-4-5.

For OSU, those times are the first-, second- and fourth-fastest in school history.  

Washington State's Colton Johnsen won the men's 5,000 meters in 13:49.53, ahead of a trio from Weber State who all dipped under 14 minutes. 

Johnsen will turn his attention to the steeplechase soon and hopes to spend his last day as a Cougar in an NCAA final. 

"I'm just kind of working back into (the season) after indoors," said Johnsen, who plans to open in the steeplechase at the Mt. SAC Relays in two weeks. 

Saturday's headliners were Oregon throwers Jaida Ross and Mine De Klerk, who swept the 1-2 spots in the discus and shot put. 

Ross earned PRs in both events, winning the discus with 173 feet and taking second in the shot put with 56-2.50. 

"I haven't really even been drilling the training," Ross said. "I just became a lot more dynamic and explosive and it's helping a lot in discus."

De Klerk, a freshman from South Africa, won the shot put on her sixth and final throw with 56-4.75. Earlier, she finished behind Ross in the discus with 166-8. 

The shot put marks elevated De Klerk and Ross to seventh and eighth on the NCAA list. 

Montgomery won the women's 100 meters in 11.52, with teammates Ella Clayton (11.68) and Sydney Holiday (11.72) behind her. 

Oregon's 4x100 relays both won, but in cool weather were slightly slower than last week's Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

Olympian Micah Williams has moved from lead-off to second this year in the men's lineup and the group ran 39.53.

"We're going to continue to experiment with him over there on that backstretch and see what we get out of him," Johnson said. "I like the way he changes the dynamics of the race."

Thornton-Bott came back from a second-place finish in the 1,500 to win a high quality 800 meters in 2:04.98. Portland's Laura Pellicoro made a late bid on the final home stretch to try and get past her, but finished second in 2:05.07. Oregon's Carly Kleefeld was third in 2:05.34. 

Post-collegiate runner Derek Holdsworth of the Bell Lap Elite won the men's invitational 800 meters in 1:47.20, a good early season performance that shows the progress he has made since suffering a medical emergency last summer. Holdsworth had a pulmonary embolism in his lung that was not only scary but prevented him from running for weeks. 

"I didn't think I was going to run anymore," he said. "I'm just happy to be here at this point."