Duck Tales

Seven days ago, Oregon's Aaliyah McCormick crossed the finish line during the 60-meter hurdles in symbolic fashion.

At the Big Ten Indoor Championships on March 1, in Indianapolis, Indiana, McCormick edged out defending 60-meter hurdles champion Aasia Laurencin of Michigan 7.963 to 7.968 in a photo finish. The two 2024 First-Team All-Americans waited with bated breath to see who the actual winner was as it wasn't clear after they finished the race.

Once the result was official and McCormick celebrated in front of multiple camera operators from various media outlets, it set the tone to what all teams and spectators would come realize by the end of the meet. The Big Ten track and field world is currently controlled by Oregon.

McCormick's win represented just ten of the 131 points scored by Oregon which won the overall team championship by a landslide. Illinois was the closest team of the 17 participating universities, as it had 82 points. The 49-point distance between the top two teams is tied the second highest margin in Big Ten Indoor Championships history.

In 2021, champion Minnesota outscored runner-up Michigan 138-80 for a record 58-point margin. In 1995, Illinois outscored Wisconsin 132-83 which matches Oregon's margin of victory versus Illinois this season.

A large chunk of Oregon's points came in the 5,000 meters when three Ducks medaled in the event. Silan Ayyildiz (15:56.81), Juliet Cherubet (15:56.89) and Anika Thompson (15:59.06) finished first, second and third respectively in a final that included 36 runners. Oregon received 24 points from that race alone which was good enough to outscore Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers which each scored 19 apiece as well as Wisconsin (15), Indiana (14) and Maryland (5).

The Oregon milers also posted more than the bottom six teams as Wilma Nelson (4:38.77) took the Big Ten gold ahead of runner-up Mia Barnett (4:39.35). The two joined forces with seventh place finisher Ali Ince (4:43.43) helping to contribute 20 points to Oregon's total.

Another key contributor to Oregon's dominance at the meet was All-American sprinter Jadyn Mays. Despite being edged out by USC's Dajaz Defrand in both the 60 meters and 200 meters finals, Mays runner-up performances of 7.15 seconds in the 60 meters and 22.66 seconds in the 200 meters, added up to 16 points, which outscored the bottom three teams.

Illinois finished just ahead of USC for the conference runner-up spot. The Illini edged out USC's 76 points by six, after being led by the nation's most talented core of jumpers on one team. Reigning Big Ten outdoor long jump champion Tacoria Humphrey of Illinois became the indoor champ with a meet record mark of 6.94 meters on Feb. 28. That effort is currently the second best in all of the NCAA this season.

Humphrey placed ahead of teammate Sophia Beckmon who earned the silver medal at 6.60 meters. Illinois newcomer Morgan Smalls, formerly of LSU also scored for her squad with a fifth place showing of 6.31 meters. A fourth Illinois long jumper Darja Sopova rounded out the scorers from her school in the event as she placed seventh at 6.12. Illinois scored 24 of its 82 points in the long jump event. That total tied Oregon's 5,000-mile runners for the most points scored by a school in a single event in this year's meet.

The Illini also got 19 points in the high jump as NCAA outdoor champ Rose Yeboah posted a second-place finish with 1.89 meters. She is just one of three women that has ever cleared that mark at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Another was Nebraska's Jenna Rogers, who won the event at a meet record of 1.92 meters.

Illinois' Bara Sajd0kova and Morgan Smalls placed third and fourth respectively in the high jump at 1.86 and 1.80 meters. Another Illinois jumper medaled in the pole vault as Tori Thomas' top three finish at 4.46 meters gave Illinois another six points to go along with three more points by sixth place finisher Mia Morello.