WSU's De Mello & UW's Tupu-South on the move to Oregon and Louisville...
Washington State's Micaela De Mello (Paul Merca photo) is the latest Cougar sprints/hurdles/field event specialist to find a new home after the program's move to a distance-focused approach, leaving most of the team scrambling.
De Mello will travel a short distance from Pullman and compete for the University of Oregon next season.
De Mello was a three time NCAA championships competitor for the Cougars. After qualifying in her freshman year, she finished seventh in the 100 hurdles at the 2024 meet in Eugene, and was fourth at the NCAA indoor championships this winter in Virginia Beach.
After the NCAA indoor championships, the Brazilian competed at the World Athletics indoor championships in Nanjing, China, where she advanced to the semifinals, before injuring herself.
That injury caused her to miss the entire 2025 outdoor season.
At Washington State last season, she won the MPSF title in the 60 hurdles, running a personal best of 8.00, and was second in the 60 dash, running 7.43.
Barring any eligibility appeals, De Mello only has a season of outdoor track eligibility remaining.
Here's Oregon's announcement on its Instagram page:
Meanwhile, Washington shot/discus specialist Kaia Tupu-South announced on her Instagram page that she will finish up her eligibility at the University of Louisville, after graduating from the UW.
After redshirting the 2022 season, Tupu-South finished third and fourth in the shot put at the Pac-12 championships, and fifth at this year's Big Tens, plus a seventh in the Big Ten indoors.
She also was ninth and tenth in the Pac-12 discus.
The native of New Zealand also competed in Nanjing, China at the 2025 World Athletics indoor championships in the shot, where she finished 16th.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Oregon and the University of Louisville contributed to this report.
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