TrackTown, USA: The weather changed overnight. Though warm (high 70s), it was cloudy all day and we occasionally felt sprinkles. Dave's college roommate, Bruce, flew in this afternoon to move his daughter, Sierra (just finished her sophomore year at Oregon) out of her apartment for the summer. We met them for a late lunch before meeting them again at Historic Hayward Field for the first day of the women's competition.
What a difference a day makes.
The Ducks are not having a good meet, but other teams and athletes are, so it is making for a good competition. Oregon's Jaida Ross (Medford, Oregon) broke her own school record in the shot and took 5th with a toss of 58'-6". The event was won by Adelaide Aquilla (Ohio State) who also broke the collegiate record with a throw of 64'-5.25".
Duck women qualified for the 4x100 relay final. The team included Kemba Nelson, who also advanced to the 100m final.
Highlight of the day was Canadian Camryn Rogers (Cal Berkeley, senior), setting a new collegiate hammer throw record of 254'-10". Rogers placed 5th in the Tokyo Olympics.
Lowlight of the day was Oregon's decathlete (via Germany), Max Voller, failing to clear a height in the pole vault and finishing the challenge with a DNF (Did Not Finish) and zero points for the Ducks. The decathlon was won by Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas (center, in photo above) with 8457 - a new NCAA meet record. His teammate, Leo Neugebauer, finished in second place.
As the meet ended, it began to pour rain, and we swam back to our car. Here is a different view of the stadium at night - during the final women's 4x400 heats:
Friday: finals for the men's events and the women begin the heptathlon. 100% chance of rain. 100% chance we will be there.
Until my next update, I remain, your optimistic correspondent.
RV PARK: Premier RV Resort - We have a fancy site with a fire pit, picnic table and grill. Will probably not use anything but the table. Who knows. We have a frequent-flyer punch card for this resort and had one free night, so can't really figure-out how much we are paying per night... about $65? A lot of live-ins in the front of the resort. Pool/hot tub, bath houses, laundry, dog walks and dog wash, car wash area. On I-5, exit 199, just north of Eugene. Close to many RV repair and services.