FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, March 13–14 — Oregon collected both indoor combined event titles for the second time in program history and in the process took down a hallowed school record.
In their first year wearing Oregon colors, Peyton Bair won the heptathlon in dominating fashion after Liisa-Maria Lusti claimed the pentathlon in a much closer nail-biter. They joined program legends Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen, who turned the same trick in 2010 before marrying after college.
Heptathlon
Bair — defending champion after winning last year while at Mississippi State — entered as a heavy favorite after laying down a 267-point PR in late January that made him No. 4 collegian all-time at 6371.
The senior started here on fire, speeding a heptathlon CR 6.67 in the 60 and he continued to make it a one-man show. In succession, he nailed PRs of 25-3¼ (7.70) in the long jump and 52-8¾ (16.07) in the shot put.
He finished Day 1 by nearly grabbing another best in the high jump, scaling 6-8 (2.03) while his PR is 6-8¼ (2.04). His first-day total of 3675 gave him a 259-point lead. Bair’s projection after Day 1 was at 6465, within shouting distance of Eaton’s school record of 6499, which was a then-WR that delivered the 2010 NCAA title.
Day 2 started great for Bair — 7.86 in the 60H, his second-fastest ever — before disaster nearly struck in the pole vault. He needed all three attempts to clear his opening height of 14-8 (4.47) before four successive first-attempt clearances included a PR 16-7½ (5.07).
His projection was now at 6486, meaning he would need a PR and sub-2:40 run in the 1000 to break Eaton’s school record. Bair’s 1K PR was 2:41.02, but he ran a strong 30.62 last lap to cross the line in 2:39.54 and tally 6503 points. That made him just the fifth man (third collegiately) to surpass 6500 points.
Runner-up Kenneth Byrd of Louisville had his own adventures in the vertical jumps. He was subpar in the high jump at 6-5½ (1.97) compared to his 6-11¾ (2.13) PR and needed all three attempts in the pole vault at his opening height of 16-11½ (5.17). He settled down and went on to smash his own heptathlon event AR/CR with a clearance of 18-3¼ (5.57), the highlight of his 6132 score.
A total of six broke 6000, one shy of the record seven in 2023.
MEN’S HEPTATHLON RESULTS
(March 14)
1. *Peyton Bair (Or) 6503 lo-alt CR (old l-a CR 6499 Ashton Eaton [Or] ’10 (WL, AL) (6, 8 W; 3, 5 A; 3, 3 C)
(6.67, 25-3¼/7.70, 52-8¾/16.07 6-8/2.03 [3675], 7.86, 16-7½/5.07, 2:39.54 [2828]);
2. **Kenneth Byrd (Louis) 6132
(6.99, 24-5¾/7.46, 44-0/13.41 6-5½/1.97, 8.22, 18-3¼/5.57 [CHR], 2:43.36);
3. *Jip Degreef’ (Il-Neth) 6120 PR
(6.94, 24-9/7.54, 46-1¼/14.05 6-8/2.03, 8.29, 16-11½/5.17, 2:43.39);
4. ***Luuk Pelkmans’ (Il-Neth) 6081
(7.12, 24-¾/7.33, 49-10/15.19 6-9/2.06, 8.18, 15-3¾/4.67, 2:34.05);
5. Ben Barton (BYU) 6025 PR
(6.88, 24-11¼/7.60, 42-9½/13.04 6-9/2.06, 7.96, 14-8/4.47, 2:40.46);
6. Carter Morton (NnIa) 6003
(7.07, 23-9/7.24, 42-6¾/12.97 7-½/2.15, 8.25, 16-3½/4.97, 2:42.63);
7. Zach McGlynn (NDSt) 5995 PR
(7.24, 23-7½/7.20, 44-8¼/13.62 6-9/2.06, 8.12, 17-3½/5.27, 2:44.54);
8. *Nathaniel Paris’ (VaT-Can) 5917 PR; 9. **Aiden Carter (Or) 5908 PR; 10. Blake Harris (TxAM) 5885; 11. *Ryan Gregory (LBSt) 5867; 12. Tayton Klein (Ks) 5784; 13. John Swabik (Ks) 5447; 14. **Yannik Knobloch’ (TCU-Ger) 4873; 15. Landon Helms (Boise) 4179;… dnf—Edgar Campre’ (Mia-Por).
Pentathlon
A wide-open competition had 3 from Illinois entered among the top 7, led by seasonal leader Meagan Humphries at 4459. Texas A&M’s Sofia Iakushina, the ’25 runner-up, owned the best PR in the field at 4556 from last year but had managed only 4336 this season while dealing with plantar fasciitis.
Lusti was just 11th on the list of entries at 4290 but a year ago in her homeland of Estonia she scored 4522, which would have won this meet last year.
100H: Penn State’s Maddie Pitts led the way with a PR 8.19 as nearly everyone had a solid opening event.
HJ: JaiCieonna Gero-Holt was highest at 6-½ (1.84) but that was down from the 6-2 (1.88) she did twice earlier this year. Still, she claimed the overall lead at 2029 with Lusti next at 2010 after a seasonal best of 5-11½ (1.81).
SP: Gero-Holt was tops for the second-straight event, surpassing 46 feet for the first time with a best of 46-4 (14.12). She increased her lead to 193 points with a 3-event score of 2831. Pitts (2638) was in 2nd with Lusti 3rd at 2631.
LJ: Lusti leaped to a PR 21-9 (6.63) to take the overall lead at 3680, 18 up on Gero-Holt, who PRed at 19-6 (5.94).
800: Neither Lusti nor Gero-Holt owned fast PRs at 2:18.25 and 2:26.74, respectively. Lusti ran close at 2:20.38 with Gero-Holt following in 2:21.46, a big PR and her third in a row. Lusti tallied 4498 for the win with Gero-Holt raising her PR to 4466 for 2nd.
Illinois had hoped for three scorers but had just one for 8 team points, a significant blow to their title hopes. Humphries had been in 8th before being DQed from the 800 for taking too many steps inside the curb.
WOMEN’S PENTATHLON RESULTS
(March 13)
1. ***Liisa-Maria Lusti’ (Or-Est) 4498 (CL)
(8.49, 5-11¼/1.81, 37-5/11.40, 21-9/6.63, 2:20.38);
2. ***JaiCieonna Gero-Holt (Il) 4466 PR (10, x AmC)
(8.58, 6-½/1.84, 46-4/14.12, 19-6/5.94, 2:21.46);
3. *Juliette Laracuente-Huebner (Cinc) 4442 (11, x AmC)
(8.28, 5-7¾/1.72, 40-6/12.34, 20-8/6.30, 2:16.59);
4. ***Janie Ford (Vand) 4405
(8.31, 5-8¾/1.75, 34-6¼/10.52, 21-4/6.50, 2:17.44);
5. Maddie Pitts (PennSt) 4356
(8.19, 5-6½/1.69, 41-9¾/12.74, 19-4¾/5.91, 2:14.80);
6. **Sofia Iakushina’ (TxAM-Rus) 4336
(8.44, 5-7¾/1.72, 38-0/11.58, 20-7/6.27, 2:17.34);
7. Vanessa Mercera’ (KsSt-Neth) 4310
(8.46, 5-8¾/1.75, 37-2½/11.34, 19-2½/5.85, 2:11.31); 8. Marta Sīviņa’ (Vand-Lat) 4261; 9. **Maresa Hense’ (Ct-Ger) 4231 PR; 10. *Zoey Bonds (BYU) 4100; 11. Olivija Vaitaitytė’ (OkSt-Lit) 4064; 12. **Tabea Eitel’ (Tx-Ger) 3659; 13. **Meagan Humphries (Il) 3443; 14. **Lucie Kienast’ (Il-Ger) 3341;… dnf—Miracle Ailes (Al), **Katelyn Adel’ (Al-Swi).
