Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell warmed up for Pac-12 Championships with an Oregon Twilight victory

Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell won the Women’s 1,500-meter race in 4:14.76 at the Oregon Twilight on Friday, May 5, 2023. Photo by Maggie Troxell.

By Israel La Rue

Oregon State’s Kaylee Mitchell didn’t plan on running at the Oregon Twilight Meet, but on Friday she decided to run the 1,500 meter race and won with a time of 4:14.76.

“I wasn't actually originally supposed to even, like, race today,” Mitchell said. “But I'm planning on doing the steeple 1500 double at [the Pac-12 Championships].”

The Pac-12 Championships are this weekend at Walnut, Calif. Mitchell said that the last time she ran a 1,500 was at the Bryan Clay Invitational in mid-April, and she felt like she needed to get another race in.

“I wasn't focused on time or anything,” she said. “Just, like, practicing running 1,500 going into the prelim on Friday.”

Mitchell ran a solid race staying at the top of the pack until the last lap. In the last 400 meters, she exploded to take the lead and finish strong.

Mitchell will run in the 1,500 prelims on May 12, and if she makes the cut for the final she will run on May 14. In between those two races, Mitchell will run the steeplechase. So getting this last 1,500 in before the prelims was much needed.

She has the chance to win her first Pac-12 title this weekend. At last year's Pac-12 Championships Mitchell finished second in the 3000 meter steeplechase and came in third place in the same event at the 2021 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships.

Mitchell scored Oregon State’s first points at last year’s NCAA Championships since the 1986 season. She placed sixth in the steeplechase and set a school record of 9:34.59.

Mitchell ran her last race in Eugene for Oregon State but hopes to return to Hayward Field for the USATF Outdoor Championships.

“It's my last outdoor season in the Beaver uniform,” she said. “So just trying to enjoy it.”