Colorado's Avery McMullen Wins Heptathlon On Home Turf; Joe Waskom Secures Steeplechase Title That Slipped Away Three Years Ago; Emma Gates Outlasts Cheyla Scott In Epic Women's High Jump; Cal Men Rack Up Three Field Event Wins

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Kim Spir photos

BOULDER, Colo. -- With time running out on the conference and it's track and field legacy, there are but a few opportunities left to make lasting memories at the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships. 

But the women's high jump competition between Arizona's Emma Gates and Oregon's Cheyla Scott caused a stir at Potts Field that won't be soon forgotten. 

INTERVIEWS

And the Cal men jumped up in the standings with three big victories in field events.

And Joe Waskom of Washington secured the Pac-12 steeplechase title three years after he accidentally stopped short of the finish line and lost to Oregon's Jackson Mestler. 

But it was difficult to top the performance of Colorado's Avery McMullen, for whom an opportunity to compete for the conference heptathlon title on her home track was a dream come true. 

McMullen scored 5,913 points to break the the Buffaloes' 41-year old school record as well as the facility record. 

"It's the last Pac-12 meet ever, it's our first time hosting, and I had graduation two days ago so my whole family got to come," McMullen said. 

McMullen was the top scorer in the field in the 100 hurdles (13.38), the 200 (23.94) and the long jump (20-10). 

Oregon Taylor Chocek, who was second, hoped to make it closer heading into the final event, the 800 meters, but didn't hit the javelin throw she was hoping for. She finished with 5,741 points. 

Oregon State's Anneke Moersdorf, who was announced Saturday morning as the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year for women's track and field, won the 800 in 2:16.52 and climbed from fourth to a podium spot in third. 

Perhaps the only box left unchecked for McMullen was the Olympic Trials automatic qualifying standard of 6,000 points. But she can set her sights on that at the NCAA Championships and her score will likely get her into the Trials anyway. 

The competition between Gates and Scott was one of the most exciting of the weekend in Boulder. Gates cleared two lifetime best bars and Scott, a transfer from Tennessee, found herself again after a difficult season. 

They both cleared 6-2 (1.88m). Gates needed third attempt tries at 1.82m (5-11.50) and 1.85 (6-0.75) but she made 1.88 on her second jump. 

Scott, who hadn't cleared a bar higher than 1.75m (5-8.75) all season, made 1.82m and 1.85m on her second tries and 1.88m on her third. 

Together, they jumped into the NCAA's top 10 for this season. 

The Washington men are 14 points ahead of last year's schedule through two days as the Huskies seek to go out on top. They have 82 points and got a bunch on late Saturday afternoon with Max Manson and Simon Park going 2-3 in the pole vault (14 points) and Waskom and Sam Affolder 1-2 in the steeplechase (18). 

Waskom and Affolder ran down Colorado freshman Kole Mathison, who pushed the pace early. Waskom kicked to win it in 9:03.66, closing in 64.54 to get past Affolder (9:06.13) and Mathison (9:06.55). 

"I wanted to go out conservatively because I wanted to have my legs under me the last 600," Waskom said. "I figured no matter how far ahead of me he got, I'd go get him at some point."

Waskom, an NCAA champion (2022) and runner-up (2023) in the 1,500, has always had a fondness for the steeplechase. 

Affolder reflected a string of injuries and undesirable performances that led to the best season of his college career. 

"To have coaches that didn't give up on me, and teammates that didn't give up on me, it was kind of, alright I'm not giving up on myself," he said. 

Cal moved into second place with 67 points heading into the final day thanks to victories by Skyler Magula in the pole vault (17-6.25/5.34m), Rowan Hamilton in the hammer (251-1/76.53m) and Jeff Duensing in the shot put (65-0.75/19.83m). 

Oregon picked up victories in the women's shot put, where NCAA record holder Jaida Ross threw 62-4.50 (19.01m) to win by more than seven feet. It was her first conference title after placing second the past two years. 

Rafael Raap, also a runner-up in 2023, became Oregon's 11th Pac-12 decathlon champion, with 7,719 points. 

Washington's Jami Schlueter was leading the competition until the pole vault, where he managed to vault only 13-5 (4.09m) and a 200-point swing took Raap to the top of the table. '

Mia Kane became UCLA's first women's steeplechase conference champion as she outdueled Oregon freshman Katie Clute to take the victory in 10:19.81. 

With 13 of 21 events still to be decided, USC is planning to make a late push to try and win both championships. 

The USC women have three finalists in the 100-meter hurdles,  the 400 meters, the 100 meters and the 200 meters, plus the relays, in order to make up ground on Oregon, which has the lead with 65 points. 

USC's men, a distant third with 29 points, have three finalists in the 100, and two in the 200, 110 hurdles and 400. 

The biggest highlight of the prelims came from Washington State's Maribel Caicedo, who matched Gail Devers' conference record in the 100-meter hurdles when she ran a lifetime best 12.61, good for No. 2 in the NCAA this season. The senior from Ecuador had a previous best of 12.85. 

The showdowns coming in the men's 800 meters and 1,500 meters feature compelling showdowns between Oregon and Washington. The Huskies have four in the men's 1,500 (Waskom, Luke Houser, Nathan Green and Ronan McMahon-Staggs); the Ducks have four qualified into the 800 (Elliott Cook, Matthew Erickson, Rheinhardt Harrison and Tomas Palfrey).