Confident Ducks Head To Pac-12 Meet
05/10/18 | Track and Field, @GoDucksMoseley
Oregon is looking for its 10th straight sweep of the Pac-12 Conference team titles, and the Ducks believe they have what it takes to extend the streak.
Some year, some team is going to end Oregon's streak of Pac-12 Conference titles in track and field. Just not this year, the Ducks say.
The UO men and women are in Stanford, Calif., this weekend for the resumption of a conference championship meet that began last weekend with the multis. Oregon has three points toward each team score already after sixth-place finishes by Austin Torres in the decathlon and Kylee O'Conner in the heptathlon, the first steps toward what the Ducks hope will be their 12th straight men's title, and their 10th on the women's side.
"We expect to go there and compete well and put our best foot forward," UO coach Robert Johnson said. "As we put it, 'Be Oregon' – and part of being Oregon is going there and doing well."
The top challenger in both team races could be Southern California. The latest national polls have the UO women at No. 2, one spot ahead of the Women of Troy. And the Oregon men are No. 11, two spots below the Trojans.
"It's going to be a tougher year – but we can do it," UO senior Damarcus Simpson said. "I'm pretty confident with the team we have. I keep telling coach Johnson, we got it."
Simpson is one of four UO individuals looking to repeat as conference titlist. He won the long jump in 2017, and will seek that title this weekend along with running the 100 meters and 4x100 relay.
Also looking to repeat are Alaysha Johnson in the 100 hurdles, Chaquinn Cook in the triple jump, and Rhesa Foster in the long jump. And of course, the Ducks are looking to sweep the team races for the 10th year in a row.
"It's what drives us in practice," said Lilli Burdon, who is entered in the 1,500 and 5,000. "We're ready to fight and work together and do something special."
Burdon is one of four UO women entered in both the 1,500 and 5,000. She's joined by Amanda Gehrich, Jessica Hull and Katie Rainsberger.
Rainsberger is a returning all-American in the 1,500, having finished fourth in the NCAA last spring in 4:14.20. She ran a season-best 4:23.03 last week in the Oregon Twilight, and said afterward she's been battling injuries this season.
But Rainsberger showed enough to earn a spot on the roster for the Pac-12 Championships, as did a freshman sprinter on the men's side, Myles Webb.
Knowing his Pac-12 Championship participation hinged on a quality showing in the Twilight, Webb posted person bests over both 100 and 200 meters. He ran 10.42 in the 100, edging former UO star Kyree King, and then stalked UO alum Marcus Chambers for a second-place finish over 200 in 21.26.
Webb said after the Twilight he wouldn't truly be happy until his name was on the travel squad for Pac-12s. This week, it was.
"Myles Webb is gonna be an entrant into the Pac-12 Championships," Johnson confirmed Tuesday.
One athlete not on the roster this weekend, or moving forward, is middle-distance runner Brooke Feldmeier.
An all-American last season after finishing third in the 800 at NCAAs in 2:01.54, Feldmeier was limited to just one cross country race in 2017-18 due to injury. She and Johnson had talked about the possibility of the senior redshirting this year and returning for 2018-19, but she opted this week to enter the professional ranks.
"She has goals and dreams and aspirations," Johnson said. "When we sat down and talked again, it was her aspiration to go ahead and graduate and move forward in this postcollegiate career she wants."
Players Mentioned
