Oregon's Jadyn Mays, Jaida Ross Wins Twice To Help Ducks Stay In Front Of USC; Washington Gets Key Five Points In 5,000 To Hold Off Trojans; Jasmine Jones Runs World-Leading 400 Hurdles

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Kim Spir photos

BOULDER, Colo. -- The defending champions, Washington's men and Oregon's women, enjoyed storybook endings to the final Pac-12 Conference Track and Field Championships on Sunday at Potts Field. 

Washington withstood a USC rally and got five important points out of the men's 5,000 meters, fifth place by Leo Daschbach and eighth by Evan Jenkins, to ensure enough points for back-to-back titles. 

The Huskies outscored USC 150-141. 

And the Oregon women, without three of its key contributors -- Maddy Elmore, Aaliyah McCormick and Alysah Hickey all sat out with minor injuries -- had enough firepower to beat USC for the women's title, 150 to 136. 

Jadyn Mays ran a sensational double in the 100 and 200 in key performances that elevated Oregon and took away scoring potential for the Trojans. She ran a meet record 11.01 in the 100 and 22.26 to win the 200. 

USC's Jasmine Jones won, lost, and won yet again the 400-meter hurdles in a world-leading time of 53.87 seconds in what was easily the performance of the day at Potts Field. 

After celebrating a new PR and a conference record, word came down that she had been disqualified for a hooking (or not cleanly clearing) the seventh hurdle. 

But hours later, as Jones was lying on her back in a medical tent, a coach came running up to her shouting that she had been cleared of the infraction and was the champion after all. 

Jones' 10 points were a critical part of the math between the Ducks and Trojans on Sunday afternoon. 

Earlier, Jones had beaten Washington State's Maribel Caicedo in the 100-meter hurdles, 12.86 to 12.98 into a -2.4 m/s headwind.

But when it came down to the women's 4x400 relay, Oregon had a 10-point lead. If Oregon had not scored, and USC won, it would be a tie. 

But the Ducks were in no mood to play it conservatively. Shaniya Hall anchored the team to a new meet record time of 3:27.34. UCLA was second in 3:28.52 and USC, despite an earlier 1-2-3 finish in the 400, came in third. 

The meet saw the conference's stars shine on its final day. Ky Robinson of Stanford and Bailey Hertenstein of Colorado both added 5,000-meter titles to the 10,000s that they won Friday. 

Oregon's Elliott Cook, who missed the 2023 season with a redshirt year, put together a brilliant 1,500-800 double. Cook became the first male athlete to sweep both championships in the same year since Bernard Lagat achieved the feat for Washington State in 1998.

USC's Johnnie Blockburger won his third Pac-12 400 meters title in 44.51 seconds and then also won the 200 in 20.19w.

Ross, who won the shot put Saturday, threw a new personal best 196-0 (59.74m) to win the discus. 

Washington State's Jared McAlvey won the men's 400-meter hurdles in 49.84 seconds, a significant moment for a Cougars program that faces the abyss of no conference to compete in next year.