Yurkovich & Noble Score All-America Honors in NCAA Finale
SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? University of Oregon sophomores Rachel Yurkovich and Rebekah Noble claimed their second straight All-America outdoor honors Saturday in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State University campus.
Overall in the team races, Oregon finished 10th on the men’s side with 20 points ? its sixth top-15 finish the past seven years ? and the UO women placed 27th with nine points.
Individually in the women’s javelin, Yurkovich placed fifth with a throw of 170-0 (51.83) and raised Oregon’s streak of All-America honors in the event to seven straight years and its ninth honor overall in that span.
The Newberg Ore., native opened the day with a mark of 160-5 (48.90m), then followed with throws of 154-7 (47.12m) and 163-11 (49.97m) in the prelims. In the final, she fouled her fourth and sixth attempts and threw her daily best on her fifth try.
“I came in trying to focus on working on the little things that would keep me from throwing far, and I did pretty well at those, but overall I didn’t quite have it,” Yurkovich said. “Between throws, I tried to psyche myself up and try to throw with my heart. I gave it my all but couldn’t quite get it to work the way I wanted to.”
On Wednesday, Yurkovich advanced to the 12-woman final and needed only one throw ? a mark of 162-8 ? and ranked fifth in the 27-woman field.
Yurkovich entered the competition as the top seed thanks to her Pac-10 record from late April (189-11) that also ranks her top 10 all-time among collegians (fourth) and Americans (fourth). In recent weeks, she added her second Pac-10 and West Regional titles (174-11 / 178-9) and overall this season also topped her preseason best (179-10) in the Oregon Twilight (185-11).
Earlier this year, she also made an indelible mark on various all-time lists and ranks fourth among both collegians and Americans with this season’s 189-11 personal best, and was also previously unbeaten vs. collegians in ?07
The javelin continues to shine as one of UO’s top events historically and has featured a program best four national titles and 25 All-America honors, including a pair of recent top-three honors by Sarah Malone in 2005 (second) and ’04 (third). Last year, Yurkovich took seventh in her NCAA debut (165-2) and ranked fifth on the U.S. list with her then best of 179-10.
Overall in the event Saturday, Purdue senior Lindsey Blaine ? the ninth seed before the event with a previous season best of 170-10 ? won by two feet, six inches (182-3 (55.56m)). The meet’s second and third seeds - UTEP senior Erma Gene Evans and Georgia senior Krista Woodward ? ultimately finished in those same exact positions with marks of 179-9 and 174-8.
On the track, Noble claimed her fourth All-America honor in the women’s 800m (2:04.79) in one of the fastest collegiate races ever and featured an amazing four runners under 2:02.00 and seven runners under 2:03.00.
California junior and top seed Alysia Johnson won the event (1:59.29) in an exciting stretch run over Michigan senior Katie Erdman (second, 1:59.35), Minnesota sophomore Heather Dorniden (third, 2:01.05) and UTEP senior Fatimoh Muhammed (fourth, 2:01.89).
Johnson took the race out and led much of the 57-second first lap and and never relinquished the lead as Erdman ran just behind at her side and almost passed her in the final meters. Noble ? cognizant of the torrid opening pace, stayed near the back of the pack in the hot sunny late morning conditions. However, the all-star field never came back and she ran in her final position virtually the whole race.
Noble advanced to Saturday’s final based on her efforts in Thursday’s semifinal (third-heat, 2:04.02) and Wednesday’s preliminary (first-heat, 2:06.05) rounds.
Before the meet, Noble was seeded fifth nationally in the event and earned her NCAA invitation two weeks ago in the West Regional (second, 2:04.95). Also in the second half of the season, she broke 2:04.00 twice in the regular season in the Oregon Invitational (first, 2:03.22) and Oregon Twilight (second, 2:03.94), but then missed the Pac-10 Championships.
Noble made her fourth NCAA appearance in the 800m Saturday and was the event runner-up indoors in 2006 and ’07 (2:05.72 / 2:04.70) and the NCAA champion outdoors in ’06 (2:02.07) ? and the latter time ranks her fourth all-time for UO.
Altogether, Oregon has claimed 10 outdoor All-America honors in the 800m, including wins by Noble, Leann Warren in 1981 and Claudette Groenendaal in ’85.
Overall in the men’s team race, meet favorite Florida State defended its title with 54 points and edged LSU (second, 48), Auburn (third, 34) and Tennessee (fourth, 30 1/2). Other teams in the top 10 included USC (fifth, 27), North Carolina (sixth, 26), Louisville and Wisconsin (seventh-tie, 22), UCLA (ninth, 21) and Oregon (10th 20).
On the women’s side, Arizona State also validated its top seed status and racked up 60 points to beat LSU (second, 53), Michigan (third, 36) and Texas A&M (fourth, 34). Other teams in the top 10 included UCLA (fifth, 30), Texas (sixth, 29), USC (seventh, 27), California (eighth, 26), Georgia (ninth, 24) and Stanford (10th, 23).
Complete meet results are available at the www.FlashResults.com website at the http://www.flashresults.com/2007_Meets/outdoor/NCAADivisionI/index.htm URL address.
Looking ahead, several Duck men and women will compete in the USA Senior and Junior Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., Thu.-Sun., June 21-24. The senior edition will also serve as the qualifying meet for the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, August 25- September 2, with the top three finishes selected for the U.S. team provided that they meet event ?A’ qualifying standards.
More USA Championships meet information is located at the www.usatf.org website.
FINAL RESULTS
NCAA Championships Day 4
Hornet Stadium
Sacramento, Calif.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Attendance: 10,165
Flash Results, Inc.
NCAA Division I 2007 Outdoor
Track & Field Championship
Sacramento, CA - 6/6/2007 to 6/9/2007
Event 24 Women 800 Meter Run
=======================================================================
4 Heats. Advance top 3 from each heat plus next best 4 to semi.
Advance top 3 from each semi plus next best 2 times to final.
American: 1:56.40 8/11/1999 Jearl Miles-Clark, Reebok
College Best: 1:58.33 8/16/1985 Claudette Groenendaal, Oregon
NCAA Meet: 1:59.11 6/1/1990 Suzy Favor, Wisconsin
Hornet Stad: 1:58.97 7/23/2000 Hazel Clark, Nike
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
Finals
1 Alysia Johnson JR California 1:59.29 10
2 Katie Erdman SR Michigan 1:59.35 8
3 Heather Dorniden SO Minnesota 2:01.05 6
4 Fatimoh Muhammed SR Texas-El Paso 2:01.89 5
5 Geena Gall SO Michigan 2:02.24 4
6 Morgan Uceny SR Cornell 2:02.33 3
7 Temeka Kincy JR Texas 2:02.57 2
8 Rebekah Noble SO Oregon 2:04.79 1
Flash Results, Inc.
NCAA Division I 2007 Outdoor
Track & Field Championship
Sacramento, CA - 6/6/2007 to 6/9/2007
Event 40 Women Javelin Throw
=================================================================================
Auto: 52.50 Best 12 and ties by mark from qualifying to final
30 minutes flight specific warm-up, 10 minutes before finals.
Advance best 9 plus ties by mark to reverse order finals.
American: 64.19m 5/16/2007 Kim Kreiner, Nike
College Best: 61.82m 6/13/2004 Irina Kharun, Indiana
NCAA Meet: 61.82m 6/13/2004 Irina Kharun, Indiana
Hornet Stad: 61.82m 7/13/2003 Itina Kharun, Indiana
Name Year School Finals Points
=================================================================================
Finals
1 Lindsey Blaine SR Purdue 55.56m 182-03 10
55.56m 51.57m 49.31m 50.40m FOUL 54.05m
2 Erma Gene Evans SR Texas-El Paso 54.78m 179-09 8
54.78m 51.50m 51.82m 52.04m 46.44m 54.63m
3 Krista Woodward SR Georgia 53.24m 174-08 6
49.63m 52.20m 53.24m 52.37m 47.54m 50.13m
4 Anna Raynor SR UNC-Wilmington 53.18m 174-06 5
48.20m 42.11m 51.12m 53.18m 51.37m 48.70m
5 Rachel Yurkovich SO Oregon 51.83m 170-00 4
48.90m 47.12m 49.97m FOUL 51.83m FOUL
6 Mallory Webb SR Fresno State 51.73m 169-09 3
47.41m 48.33m 51.73m 45.66m 48.16m 51.22m
7 Kim Heinz SR Long Beach State 51.61m 169-04 2
48.31m 46.44m 51.61m FOUL FOUL 49.25m
8 Carolee Gutierrez SR Eastern Washington 49.32m 161-10 1
49.32m 45.09m 43.09m FOUL 48.61m 46.41m
9 Ruby Radocaj JR Minnesota 49.03m 160-10
47.99m 47.89m 49.03m 48.69m 48.30m 45.09m
10 Jessica Wingfield JR Texas A&M 48.32m 158-06
47.87m 47.51m 48.32m
11 Heidi Nadeau JR Penn State 47.17m 154-09
47.17m 45.93m 45.19m
12 Andrea Kvetova JR Southern Methodist 44.86m 147-02
43.72m 44.86m FOUL
======================================================================================
Men - Team Rankings - 21 Events Scored
======================================================================================
1) Florida State 54 2) LSU 48
3) Auburn 34 4) Tennessee 30.50
5) Southern California 27 6) North Carolina 26
7) Louisville 22 7) Wisconsin 22
9) UCLA 21 10) Oregon 20
10) Stanford 20 12) Mississippi 18
12) Arizona 18 14) Texas 17
15) Washington 16 15) Baylor 16
15) Oklahoma 16 18) Michigan 15
18) Kansas State 15 18) Kansas 15
21) Middle Tennessee State 14 22) Liberty 13
22) Arizona State 13 24) Texas A&M 12.50
25) Clemson 12 26) Cornell 11.50
27) Georgia 11 27) Brigham Young 11
27) Texas-El Paso 11 30) Northern Arizona 10
30) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 10 30) Mississippi State 10
30) Cal State-Northridge 10 34) South Alabama 9
34) South Carolina 9 34) Florida 9
37) North Carolina State 8 37) Colorado 8
37) Villanova 8 40) Northern Iowa 7
41) TCU 6 41) Albany 6
41) Columbia 6 41) Manhattan 6
41) Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo 6 41) Texas Tech 6
47) Virginia 5 47) Iowa State 5
47) Northwestern State 5 47) Illinois 5
47) La Salle 5 47) Long Beach State 5
47) Syracuse 5 54) Nebraska 4.50
54) Arkansas State 4.50 56) McNeese State 4
56) Binghamton-SUNY 4 56) Eastern Michigan 4
56) Wake Forest 4 56) Iona 4
56) Notre Dame 4 56) Texas-Pan Am 4
63) Providence 3 63) Washington State 3
63) Virginia Tech 3 63) Oral Roberts 3
63) Hampton 3 63) Arkansas 3
69) California 2.50 70) Santa Barbara 2
70) Boise State 2 70) New Mexico 2
73) Texas-San Antonio 1 73) Princeton 1
73) Dartmouth 1 73) Houston 1
73) Maryland-Eastern Shore 1 73) Colorado State 1
73) Kent State 1
======================================================================================
Women - Team Rankings - 21 Events Scored
======================================================================================
1) Arizona State 60 2) LSU 53
3) Michigan 36 4) Texas A&M 34
5) UCLA 30 6) Texas 29
7) Southern California 27 8) California 26
9) Georgia 24 10) Stanford 23
10) Texas Tech 23 12) Auburn 22
12) South Carolina 22 14) Florida State 19
15) Arkansas 17 16) Houston 14
17) Texas-El Paso 13 18) Nebraska 12
19) Hampton 11 19) Georgia Tech 11
21) Alabama 10 21) Virginia Tech 10
21) North Carolina 10 21) Purdue 10
21) Wake Forest 10 21) Brigham Young 10
27) Washington State 9 27) TCU 9
27) Weber State 9 27) Duke 9
27) Mississippi 9 27) Penn State 9
27) Tennessee 9 27) Oregon 9
35) Georgetown 8 35) Kansas 8
35) Texas State 8 35) South
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