Oregon Ducks runner Maddy Elmore broke the school record for the women’s 5,000 meters on Friday at the Stanford Invitational, winning the event in 15 minutes, 15.79 seconds.
Elmore, a sophomore from Eugene, broke the record of 15:23.03 that Kathy Hayes set in 1985. Elmore dropped nearly a minute off her previous best outdoor 5,000 time (16:11.77) and moved up to No. 9 on the all-time collegiate list. She also took over the NCAA season lead from Virginia’s Margot Appleton, who clocked 15:18.21 on Friday at the Raleigh Relays.
It was Elmore’s third UO record of the season, after she set the school indoor record in the 3,000 meters of 8:50.43 in December and then anchored the Ducks’ distance-medley relay to a time of 10:47.50 in January.
Meanwhile, in the top section of the women’s 10,000 at Stanford, Anika Thompson finished in 32:54.97 to move into fifth place in UO history in that event. A junior from Junction City, Thompson finished 12th in the race and improved on her previous personal best of 33:51.70 by almost a minute.