University of Oregon
Iowa State Classic
Oregon Men Go Qualifying Crazy with Seven NCAA Marks in Iowa
02/15/04 | Track and Field
AMES, Iowa - The University of Oregon men's track and field team continued to pile up NCAA qualifying marks Saturday with five more entries in second and final day action in the Iowa State Classic at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.
Sophomore sprinter Matt Scherer climbed up the national qualifying list several spot with a .36-indoor personal and season best (third, 46.40), and easily met the NCAA provisional standard (47.25), and was a quarter-second shy of the automatic mark (46.15). The Sumner, Ill., native Scherer moved up one spot to fifth all-time for the Ducks (46.40) and was only .02 seconds away from fourth-place Pat Lanning (46.38, 1988), and his time also stood as an Oregon indoor record. On the national qualifying list, only seven collegians have run faster this season prior to Saturday.
Scherer returned to anchor the 4x400 relay to an overall school record (third, 3:06.54), and 2 1/2-second season best that was almost a half-second under the NCAA automatic mark (3:06.90). The Ducks were edged by a pair of top-five NCAA outdoor finishers from 2003 - Baylor (first, 3:05.27) and Minnesota (second, 3:05.82) - that are the fastest in the nation so far in 2004. The Oregon quartet broke the school record that three of the members (Anderson, Holliday, Scherer and Jordan Kent) ran in last year's NCAA outdoor prelims (11th, 3:06.73). Anderson opened with a 46.6 split that had the Ducks in the lead by several meters, Holliday followed with a 47.4 leg against touted quartermilers Jeremy Warner of Baylor and Adam Steele of Minnesota, Dotts clipped off a season-best 47.3 leg, and Scherer's anchor in 45.2 seconds was the fastest among the top squads and moved the Ducks up a place from fourth (all splits were from sprint coach Dan Steele).
Another Duck sophomore and NCAA vet from last year, Eric Mitchum took second in the 60 hurdles final with a .01-second personal best (7.85) and only .02 seconds away from the winner and unattached entrant Jared MacLeod (7.83). Mitchum was a tick slower in the prelims (7.86) earlier Saturday when he tied his previous personal best he ran twice as a freshman (7.86). Both marks met the NCAA provisional standard of 7.95, and will likely rank top-15 in the nation next week with only 12 people running faster so far in 2004. Mitchum's mark also tied the school record set by former All-American Micah Harris in 2002.
Another youngster from assistant coach Dan Steele's corps notched an NCAA provisional mark - sophomore Ryan Flaherty. The Bend, Ore., native ran an almost two-second indoor best in the 800 (11th, 1:50.14), and was the 11th runner in the field that met the NCAA provisional or automatic standards of 1:50.20 and 1:48.30, respectively. Before this weekend, 14 runners had clocked NCAA marks.
In the field events, sophomore Jeff Lindsey upped his collegiate best by an inch to 7-1 1/2 to equal the NCAA provisional standard and also scored the Ducks' only win of Saturday. Based on last week's national collegiate list, Lindsey moved into a five-way tie for ninth nationally, while an improvement of a quarter-inch would greatly enhance his chances for his first NCAA invite. UTEP's Henderson Dottin and Missouri's Jesse Sims followed in second place (6-11 1/2). Oregon's Ryan Voge and Teddy Davis tied for 17th (6-5 1/2), and were a half-inch shy of the Mountain Pacific qualifying mark.
Junior Eric Logsdon missed another provisional honor by just over a second with a one-second personal best in the 3,000 (ninth, 8:09.18). Seven others met the NCAA provisional mark of 8:08.00 with the race won by Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky (first, 7:57.58) who just missed the NCAA automatic mark (7:56.00).
Other solid marks for the Ducks came from senior Leonidas Watson (60, 14th, 6.97-f, 7.00-p), freshman Jeff DeWolf (800, 30th, 1:52.26), junior Noel Paulson (mile, 22nd, 4:12.32), sophomore AK Ikwuakor (60H, 31st, 8.54-p), the pole vault quarter of senior Trevor Woods (pole vault, sixth, 16-6 3/4), sophomore Jon Derby (seventh, 16-0 3/4), freshman David Moore (10th, 16-0 3/4) and sophomore Andy Young (12th, 16-0 3/4).
Saturday wrapped up a strong weekend of men's NCAA qualifying marks from Friday that also included strong provisional marks that will likely earn NCAA invites by Jason Hartmann (5,000, fourth, 14:01.95), Leonidas Watson (long jump, first, 25-5 1/2).
MEN'S FINAL RESULTS - SECOND DAY
Iowa State Classic
Lied Recreation Athletic Center
Ames, Iowa
Sat., Feb. 14, 2004
60 - Final - 1, Lamont Johnson, ISU Unat., 6.71. 14, Leonidas Watson, Oregon, 6.97. Prelims - 1, Lamont Johnson, ISU Unat., 6.79. 15, Leonidas Watson, Oregon, 7.00.
200 - 1, Andre Morris, Hawkeye TC, 21.42.
400 - 1, Darold Williamson, Baylor, 45.79. 3, Matt Scherer, Oregon, 46.40.
600 Yards - 1, Ryan Boyington, Iowa State, 1:10.04.
800 - 1, Christian Smith, Kansas State, 1:47.91. 11, Ryan Flaherty, Oregon, 1:50.14. 30, Jeff DeWolf, Oregon, 1:52.26.
Mile - 1, Josh Spiker, Wisconsin, 4:03.01. 23, Noel Paulson, Oregon, 4:12.32.
3,000 - 1, Chris Solinsky, Wisconsin, 7:57.58. 9, Eric Logsdon, Oregon, 8:09.18.
60 Hurdles - Final - 1, Eric Mitchum, Oregon, 7.85. Prelims - 1, Jared MacLeod, Unat., 7.87. 2, Eric Mitchum, Oregon, 7.87. 31, AK Ikwuakor, 8.54.
4x400 - 1, Baylor, 3:05.27. 3, Oregon, 3:06.54. 23, Oregon ?B', 3:17.60.
Distance Medley - 1, Minnesota, 9:39.70. 5, Oregon, 9:49.77.
High Jump - 1, Jeff Lindsey, Oregon, 7-1 1/2. 17, Ryan Voge, Oregon, 6-5 1/2. 17, Teddy Davis, Oregon, 6-5 1/2.
Pole Vault - 1, Jacob Pauli, Unat., 18-4 1/2. 6, Trevor Woods, Oregon, 16-6 3/4. 7, Jon Derby, Oregon, 16-0 3/4. 10, David Moore, Oregon, 16-0 3/4. 12, Andy Young, Oregon, 16-0 3/4. 18, Gabriel LeMay, Oregon, 15-1.
Triple Jump - 1, Alonzo Moore, Wisconsin, 51-6 1/4.
Shot Put - 1, Jeff Chakouian, Kentucky, 62-9 1/4.
Weight Throw - 1, Lynden Reder, Minneseota, 66-8.
FIRST DAY RECAP - FRI., 2/14/04
AMES, Iowa - The University of Oregon men's track and field team claimed two strong NCAA provisional qualifying marks and another near qualifier in Friday's limited, opening-day action in the Iowa State Classic in the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.
In the 5,000 meters, redshirt senior Jason Hartmann finished fourth (14:01.95) just behind Wisconsin's Matt Tegenkamp (13:56.65), Columbia's Steve Sundell (second, 13:59.57) and Wisconsin's Simon Bairu (third, 14:00.70). The Rockford, Mich., native Hartmann easily met the NCAA provisional mark in the event (14:15.00), and the NCAA automatic mark was less than nine seconds away (13:53.10). Hartmann's clocking stood as his second-fastest ever with his personal best from last year's indoor Washington Invitational (13:53.53) in February. On the national qualifying list this season, no athlete had broken 14:03 before Friday, and Hartmann's clocking would have qualified for the NCAA Championships in six of the past eight years, with this year's edition slated for Fayetteville, Ark., March 12-13. Although last year's field accepted only 18 entries in the 5,000 and the slowest was 13:57.91, eight of those qualifiers were seniors that graduated last year, and only seven qualifiers ran their times in the final three weeks of the season. Also in distance action Friday, the Duck distance medley quartet (1,200-400-800-mile) missed an NCAA provisional mark of its own by four seconds with its fifth-place clocking (9:49.77), behind Minnesota (first, 9:39.70), UTEP (second, 9:40.65), Northern Iowa (third, 9:45.54) and Illinois (fourth, 9:48.710. In the long jump, redshirt junior transfer Leonidas Watson also made an impressive bid for his first NCAA indoor invite, and missed the NCAA automatic qualifying mark (25-9 1/4) in the long jump by less than four inches with his winning leap (25-5 1/2). Watson's mark moved him into a three-way tie for ninth all-time for the Ducks with Ivory Harris and Ray Livingston who claimed their Oregon bests in 1967 and 1996, respectively. Watson made his fourth appearance in the event for the Ducks indoors in 2004, after he opened with marks of 24-1 1/2, 24-8 1/2, and 23-10 the past four weeks. The two-time national junior college runner-up in the event for St. Louis Community College just missed his personal best Friday by 2 1/2 inches (25-8) from last season. On the 2004 NCAA qualifying list, only three men have jumped farther before Friday, with LSU senior John Moffitt tops in the nation at 26-11. Watson's mark would have qualified each of the past eight seasons for the collegiate finale. Also in the long jump Friday, Duck sophomore decathlete Ryan Voge placed 25th (21-4 1/4) and Gabriel LeMay fouled his attempts. Meet results are available at the
Looking ahead, the rest of the Duck men compete in the Iowa State Classic's final day action, Sat., Feb. 14, and the Duck women and eight more Duck men compete in the Pac-10 Invitational in Seattle. FINAL RESULTS - FIRST DAY Iowa State Classic Lied Recreation Athletic Center Ames, Iowa Friday, February 13, 2003 5,000 - 1, Matt Tegenkamp, Wisconsin, 13:56.65. 2, Steve Sundell, Columbia, 13:59.57. 3, Simon Bairu, Wisconsin, 14:00.70. 4, Jason Hartmann, Oregon, 14:01.95. Distance Medley Relay - 1, Minnesota, 9:39.70. 2, UTEP, 9:40.65. 3, Northern Iowa, 9:45.54. 4, Illinois, 9:48.71. 5, Oregon, 9:49.77. Long Jump - 1, Leonidas Watson, Oregon, 25-5 1/2. 2, James Lundber, Arkansas-Little Rock, 24-1. 25, Ryan Voge, Oregon, 21-4 1/4. F - Gabriel LeMay, Oregon. -
Players Mentioned
