UO release – EUGENE, Ore. – Micah Williams turned into a qualifying performance in the opening round of the 100 meters Thursday on day one of the USATF Championships at Hayward Field. Former Oregon standouts accounted for 10 semifinal berths including four moving on in the men’s 1500 meters. Williams was one of three UO men in the opening heat of the 100 meters first round. The Portland native was third across the finish line in 10.11 to guarantee himself a lane in the semifinals. Just two lanes to his right, Kyree King posted a time of 10.15 which stood up through the heats to earn a spot into the next round. The semifinals are set for 7:29 p.m. with the top three in each heat and next two fastest advancing to the final at 8:54 p.m. to close out day two. In the first #ProDucks result of the day, six-time NCAA champion and 2021 Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers advanced to the semifinals of the 800 meters. She clocked a time of 2:00.08, winning heat one of four to secure automatic placement into the next round. The semifinal round will go off Friday at 7:59 p.m. (PT) on CNBC and Peacock. Two more former UO icons moved on with English Gardner and Jenna Prandini in the 100 meters. Gardner (11.12) was third in her heat while Prandini (11.14) grabbed an at-large spot by way of her effort in heat one. Friday’s semifinals start at 7:14 p.m. with the final set for 90 minutes later. Makenzie Dunmore was the fourth-fastest qualifier in the first round of the 400 meters. She posted a time of 51.07 to finish second in her heat behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The semifinal round is scheduled for Friday at 8:29 p.m. Jackson Mestler, the 2021 Pac-12 steeplechase champion during his UO career, will make his second appearance in a USATF Championships final by way of effort in Thursday’s opening round. He finished with a season-best time of 8:30.02 to secure the final at-large spot into Saturday’s final at 7:40 p.m. The UO men are sending four past standouts to the final of the 1500 meters, a quartet led by Johnny Gregorek who crossed in a time of 3:36.95 which stood as the third fastest of the round. He’ll be lined up with Matthew Centrowitz (3:37.36), Cole Hocker (3:39.23) and Sam Prakel (3:42.78) in Saturday’s final at 6:45 p.m. Running in heat one, current Duck Elliott Cook posted a top-10 time of 3:39.09 but finished outside of the at-large qualifying bubble. Cooper Teare, also entered in the 5,000 meters later this week, also just missed moving on with a time of 3:39.38 in heat three, .04 shy of the third auto-qualifying spot. In her senior-level debut in the steeplechase, Harper McClain was 21st overall in the opening round of the event. She crossed in a time of 10:12.34, finishing 11th in heat one of two. McClain posted a best of 10:00.59 at the Portland Track Festival in early June. Notable: Lexi Ellis, in her final appearance in an Oregon kit at Hayward Field, finished ninth in the triple jump; missed advancing to the final by one spot…Cravon Gillespie (10.20) tied for the 15th-fastest time in the 10 meters but an auto qualifier in a later heat took the final spot…Joe Delgado is ninth after day one of the decathlon with 4,165 points. Up next: Day two of the USATF Championships will include the start of the U20 competition. Friday will begin at 11 a.m. with the beginning of the U20 heptathlon followed by the resumption of the decathlon.
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