Ducks Ready To Mix It Up At Indoors
03/08/18 | Track and Field, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon track and field teams have an eye on the podium when the NCAA Indoor championships begin Friday in Texas.
It was a typical cool, drizzly spring day in Eugene, and the Oregon men's distance contingent was out on a training run.
A light wind made the chill cut a little deeper, but the Men of Oregon pressed on with their workout. As they pulled back in to Hayward Field, Mick Stanovsek had a moment of reflection.
"These are the days," Stanovsek told his fellow Ducks, "that I really appreciate having teammates. You don't make it through those workouts otherwise."
This weekend, the Ducks both male and female will use that sense of camaraderie to fuel them at the NCAA Indoor championship meet hosted by Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. If the dominos fall right, the UO women could contend for their third straight team title, and eighth in nine years, while the Men of Oregon have an outside shot at a podium finish, and to bring home a trophy as a top-four team.
The Men of Oregon have six entries, all distance runners, led by a three-man mile contingent that includes Sam Prakel, who recounted that recent anecdote featuring Stanovsek. The UO women, meanwhile, will be represented broadly if not deeply across various events, at a meet head coach Robert Johnson believes could be won with 40 team points.
"If we are perfect, I think we can get to 40," Johnson said. "However, you know how hard perfect is to attain – even though we've been pretty close on a number of occasions. To win, we need some things to go our way. In the past we could have some hiccups to be successful. So we have to be pretty much spot on."
The absence of Raevyn Rogers, Deajah Stevens and others has robbed the women's team of some star power. But Jessica Hull and Lilli Burdon have all-America potential in the 3,000, as do Alyasha Johnson in the 60-meter hurdles, and Makenzie Dunmore in the 60. Hannah Waller leads a three-runner contingent in the 400, and the Ducks are a threat to score big points in the 4x400 and distance-medley relays.
"I think the mentality will just be, let's be tough out there," Hull said. "We're Oregon. Let's go out there and mix it up."
Prakel and Stanovsek will be joined by Reed Brown in the men's mile. James West (3,000) and Tanner Anderson (5,000) round out the individual entries for the Men of Oregon, and they will field a distance-medley team as well.
The relay team is Oregon's best shot at an all-America bid. But the Ducks headed to Texas with thoughts of a top-10 team finish, and even a possible podium bid.
"It'll be a little lonely" without Oregon's typical depth, Prakel said. "But we'll make it fun. …
"It's been cool seeing the miler group perform well. Having good teammates leads to performances like that. We help each other out."
They'll look to do so one more time this indoor season starting Friday, when the UO track and field teams take on the unusual role of being underdogs looking to upset some form charts.
"This is the meet," Johnson said, "that we've been waiting on all year."
Players Mentioned
