EUGENE, Ore. – Robert Joshua certainly has had some first-place finishes during his track career.
 
On Saturday afternoon, the Seattle Pacific freshman had a first-place finish on one of the most famous tracks in the world.
 
Joshua went from starting blocks to finish line in 11.05 seconds, winning his heat of the men's 100-meter dash at the Oregon Preview.
 
 

He was one of several Falcons who got to compete on Friday and Saturday at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, which has been the site of U.S. Olympic Trials, World Championships, USA Championships and numerous NCAA championship meets.

"Definitely unreal," Joshua said of picking up a win – even if it was a heat win – at the storied venue. "it's definitely a wonderful experience. This is a treasured memory. I was definitely super-nervous. But as soon as I got into the blocks, it was just do what I do at practice."
 
On Friday, Maya Ewing ran to a second-place finish in the main heat of the women's 5000 meters, and she did with a significant personal best – 37 seconds outdoors and 22 seconds overall. Ewing went the distance in 17 minutes 2.09 seconds. She just missed the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:59.79
 
 

Her previous outdoor PB was 17:39.65 at last April's Ralph Vernacchia invitational in Bellingham. Her overall best was 17:24.40 on her way to winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championship on Feb. 17 in Spokane.
 
In the first three meets of the season, Ewing now has done three of the four distance events, winning the 1500 at the Ed Boitano Invitational on March 1, setting a D2-leading time of 10:48.00 to win the 3000 steeplechase at the PLU Open on March 8, and now the 5000 in Eugene. That just leaves the 10,000, and that is not likely to be on her docket.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Matise Mulch ran her second 5K of the season on Friday and clocked a season-best 18:00.86 to take second place in the 'B' race. That was 43-plus seconds faster than the junior's season-opening time of 18:44.18 on March 1 and was just shy of her 17:57.50 PB.
 -- Anna Prussian completed her own distance triple by going 18:15.65 for 10th place in the 5K 'B' race. The sophomore ran that distance indoors at GNAC in 18:19.29. Previously this spring, she did he 10K on Feb. 28 at the Ed Boitano and the 1500 on March 8 at PLU.
 -- Freshman Andrew Bell came home with a third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday, clocking 14.81.
-- Junior Hannah Chang went a season-best 14.51 to take fifth place in the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday.
 --The Falcons had a pair of top-8 finishes in the women's 400-meter dash, with senior Johanna Brown sixth and freshman Jada Sarrys eighth. Those two teamed up with Chang and Evey Roland for a second-place finish in the 4-by-400 relay in 3:57.43.
-- A trio of former Falcons competed unattached. Lizzy Daugherty was third in the pole vault at 12 feet, 8 ¾ inches, Emily Thomason was seventh in the pole at 11-9, and Aniya Green was 14th in the 400 dash in 59.79 and 25th in the 200 in 26.58.
 
THE HAYWARD EXPERIENCE
Competing here certainly made an impression on the Falcons who took the trip to Eugene – from being escorted onto the track for their races to the individual introductions on the giant video screen on the back side of the stadium.
 
That was the case even for someone like freshman Sophie Hanay, who'd already had a taste of racing here.

 

"It was amazing running at this facility," said Hanay, who ran the third leg on the second-place 4-by-400 relay team and was 29th in the 400-meter dash. "I've been here before, but every single time is always a great opportunity and just to be here where Olympians have run."
 
This was the first time for Mulch, who was taking it all in even while posting a 43-second time drop for a season-best mark in the 5000 meters on a rainy Friday night.
 
 

"It was really, really exciting," she said. "I remember as I was going around and looking up at the stands, and I remember thinking, 'This place is huge – definitely the biggest place I've ever raced at."
 
Although, added freshman Evey Roland, "It was a little intimidating at first."
 
For Robert Joshua, eye-opening was a more accurate adjective.
 
"It was amazing – the equipment and the facility and the stadium itself – it's really beautiful."
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head north into Canada next Saturday for the UBC Open in Vancouver. The meet at Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Oval begins at 10:00 a.m. The final event is set for 4:15 p.m.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Oregon Preview
Friday-Saturday, March 21-22, 2025
Hayward Field / Eugene, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
Friday
1500 – 1, Maya Baechler (Oregon St.) 4:24.36.  SPU – 58, Madelyn Buckley 4:52.74; 60, Nicki Yorges 4:56.68.
5000 – 1, Alauna Carstens (Evergreen State) 16;58.27.  SPU – 2, Maya Ewing 17:02.09.
5000 'B' – 1, Madeleine Boyle (L&C) 17:49.54.  SPU – 5, Matise Mulch 18:00.86; 10, Anna Prussian 18:15.65.
 
Saturday
100 – 1, Charlotte Bowman (College of Idaho) 11.99.  SPU – 17, Jada Sarrys 12.79.
200 – 1,Tori Frost (Portland State) 24.40.  SPU – 21 Jada Sarrys 26.39; 23, Evey Rowland 26.53.  Also: 25, Aniya Green 26.58.
400 – 1, Kennedy Cook (WWU) 55.61.  SPU – 6, Johanna Brown 58.01; 8, Jada Sarrys 58.83; 19, Evey Rowland 1:00.25; 29, Sophie Hanay 1:02.04.  Also – 14, Aniya Green (Unattached) 59.79.
100 hurdles – 1, Allyson Hammond (Pacific-Oregon) 14.17.  SPU – 5, Hannah Chang 14.51.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:56.84.  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Hannah Chang, Johanna Brown, Sophie Hanay, Jada Sarrys) 3:57.43.
Pole vault – 1, Addison Kleinke (Unattached) 13-0 ¾ / 3.98m.  Also – 3, Lizzy Daugherty (Unattached) 12-8 ¾ /3.88m; 7, Emily Thomason (Unattached) 11-9 / 3.58m.
Long jump – 1, Caitlin Simmons (E. Washington) 19-8 ¼ / 6.00m.  SPU – 15, Sophie Mock 15-7 ¾ / 4.77.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Oregon Preview
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Hayward Field / Eugene, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Jaelin Barbarin (Oregon) 10.72.  SPU – 11, Robert Joshua 11.05.
200  – 1, Enoch Okoh (E. Washington) 21.57.  SPU – 12, Robert Joshua 22.29.
400 – 1, London Kirk (Lewis-Clark / Idaho) 49.59.  SPU –  6, Justin Brooks 49.20.
110 hurdles – 1, Madhvendra Shekhawat  (E. Washington) 14.08.  SPU – 3, Andrew Bell 14.81.
Pole vault – 1, Kyle Gibbs (Oregon) 17-4 ½ / 5.30m.  SPU – Mason Hrcek no height.
 
 
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