Oregon
Olympic hopeful Jessica Hull smashes Australian 1500m record in Oregon
Australian middle-distance stars Jessica Hull and Oliver Hoare stamped their credentials as Paris Olympics medal contenders on a record-breaking day at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon.
Kenyan runner Beatrice Chebet produced the standout performance of the meet, smashing the women’s 10,000m world record by nearly seven seconds, while reigning world champion Josh Kerr took down the great Jakob Ingebrigtsen to win a stacked Bowerman Mile.
Hull also rewrote the record books on Saturday (Sunday AEST), reclaiming the Australian 1500m mark by finishing second to Ethiopian Diribe Welteji in three minutes 55.97 seconds. The 27-year-old has already locked in her spot on the Olympic team.
“It’s a great confidence booster for Paris,” she said. “I was so consistent last year at 3:57 and that got me seventh in Budapest (at last year’s world championships).
“If I look at the landscape of the sport and look at the times that I would need to medal, I need to be consistent at that mid-to-low 3:50s. So getting a 3:55 on the board today gives me confidence and I think we will find a little bit more throughout the season.”
Among the runners left in Hull’s wake were third-placed American Elle St Pierre and Britain’s Laura Muir, the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist. Australian Linden Hall – whose national record was broken by Hull – was 12th in 4:01.97.
In the lead-up to the Diamond League meet, Commonwealth 1500m champion Hoare said the field for the Bowerman Mile was stronger than that for an Olympic final and the race lived up the billing.
Olympic champ Ingebrigtsen shaped as the man to beat, but Kerr was the strongest over the final 600 metres as he won in 3:45.34, bettering Steve Cram’s 39-year-old British mile record in the process.
Hoare held on for ninth spot in 3:49.11, which made him the fourth Australian to go under the Olympic qualifying standard for the metric mile.
Teen star Cameron Myers – who was 11th in Eugene – national record holder Adam Spencer and Stewart McSweyn also have Olympic qualifiers and Jesse Hunt is well capable of doing the same. But only three of them will be on the start-line in Paris.
National record holder Catriona Bisset did her chances of grabbing the sole remaining Australian Olympic vacancy in the women’s 800m no harm by finishing sixth in 1:58.44. British star Keeley Hodgkinson powered home to take the win in 1:55.78.
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Kenyan Chebet cruised to victory in the women’s 10,000m in 28:54.14, smashing the previous world mark of 29:01.03 set by Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey three years ago.
A world silver and bronze medallist in the 5000m, the win qualified Chebet to compete in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics. Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay was second in 29:05.92 and Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk took third in 29:26.89.
Chebet rarely competes in the 10,000m, having not run in the event since 2020.
“For Paris, I’m going to double. But my target is to run 5000 first, then 10,000 comes second,” she said. “Because this is my first 10,000 outside the country to run, and I’m so happy to run a world record.”
US sprint stars Christian Coleman (9.95) and Sha’Carri Richardson (10.83) won the 100m races in Eugene.
The good times keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks in the recruiting world. Dan Lanning and the Ducks scored a massive commitment from five-star quarterback Will Mencl out of Chandler, Arizona.
Oregon had been rumored to be leading the race for Mencl’s services for months, but the No. 1 quarterback in the country, per Rivals, cleared the air and committed to the Ducks on Wednesday evening. Mencl chose the Ducks over Auburn and Penn State, both of which battled hard for him down the stretch.
However, Mencl has been connected to Oregon for a long time. While he was offered last fall before breaking out in his junior season, Mencl has been a fan of the program long before he popped up on the Ducks’ recruiting radar. In a post shared by Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong, Mencl was announced as a quarterback for the Ducks when he was a kid at the 2019 NFL Draft fan experience in 2019.
Now, Mencl is ready to don the green and yellow for real and make his childhood dreams come true. The Ducks have made a point to get Mencl on campus as often as possible and as recently as last week. The continued connection between both sides is ultimately what made the decision easy for the nation’s top passer. Mencl said he told Lanning and the Oregon staff about his decision on Sunday.
“The biggest thing was the relationship with the staff,” Mencl said after committing. “I feel like that continued to grow over time, especially when I first got there last spring. Being able to sit down with Coach Koa, really being an underlooked guy at that time, and kind of blowing up my junior season. And then, the path to the NFL. You can’t deny what they do with quarterbacks and the type of scheme they run. I felt like that was the best fit for me and my family to get to the next level.”
Koa Ka’ai, Oregon’s new quarterback coach, made waves earlier in the offseason after his recruiting test about ice cream flavors went viral, but that doesn’t appear to have scared Mencl off. In fact, the two have a close connection that Oregon hopes will translate to success on the field in the near future.
“My relationship with Coach Koa, I feel like that is super, super strong,” Mencl told Rivals. “I’ve had a lot of discussions with Coach Lanning about the culture there and how they’re going to continue to sustain greatness throughout the program.”
Mencl exploded onto the national recruiting scene with a massive junior season for Chandler. He completed more than 70% of his passes for 3,815 yards and 33 touchdowns against five interceptions in his junior season, leading Chandler to a state title berth. He also rushed for 741 yards and an additional 17 touchdowns.
The Ducks expect to have some competition for Mencl to compete with when he joins the team for the 2027 season, with Dylan Raiola and Akili Smith Jr. already on the roster and competing for a role as the backup. Oregon has gone to the transfer portal as well in recent seasons, finding success with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel, and now Dante Moore.
Oregon has recruited well at quarterback in the past, establishing an NFL pedigree that attracted Mencl. Maybe he will be the one to buck the trend and give the Ducks a true, homegrown product under center.
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‘Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,’ a Wine Enthusiast contributor said of an Oregon wine
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Wine Enthusiast released a list of the top 40 sparkling wines around the world in 2026 – highlighting two bottles of bubbly from Oregon.
“While it can seem like you need a fortune to enjoy high quality sparkling wine, you honestly don’t. Excellent affordable bubbles are being produced around the world, often in places you might not expect. Each of the selections on our inaugural Top 40 Sparkling Wines list delivers personality, freshness, and celebration for under $75,” Wine Enthusiast wrote.
Wine Enthusiast divided its list into separate sparkling categories including, Champagne, Italian Bollicine, American sparkling and bottles $25 and under.
Snagging a spot on the American sparkling list: Corollary Wines in McMinnville.
Corollarly’s 2021 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé Pinot Noir scored 96 points from Wine Enthusiast.
“This is a Peter Max print of a wine, with vivid aromas and flavors to match the wine’s electric Kool-Aid color. It is filled to the brim with aromas and flavors of macerated strawberries, candied rose petals, apricots, and a bitter note similar to watermelon rind. Pour in the largest glass you can find while slow dancing in your socks,” wrote Wine Enthusiast contributor Michael Alberty.
The second Oregon winery to earn a spot on the list: Lytle-Barnett in Dundee.
Wine Enthusiast also gave Lytle-Barnett’s 2018 Brut Rosé Pinot Noir Chardonnay 96 points.
“Bubbles as persistent as an eight-year-old with a question deliver aromas of dried rose petals, macerated strawberries, and a touch of fresh hay and talc. This 70/30 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend is packed with flavors of lemon zest, Honeycrisp apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dollop of raspberry,” Alberty wrote.
The nods to Corollary and Lytle-Barnett come as the wineries recently helped launch Method Oregon, a nonprofit made up of 50 Oregon wineries aiming to turn Oregon into a global sparkling wine destination.
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