University of Oregon
NCAA West Regional
Malone Breaks School Record in West Regional Finale
05/28/05 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. ? The University of Oregon men's and women's track teams added 14 more automatic NCAA invites (10 M, 4W) in second and final day action in the NCAA West Regional Saturday at Hayward Field.
Altogether in the 19 events on the men's and women's sides, the Duck squads accounted for 15 (12M, 3W) automatic invites to the NCAA Championships in
As a team, the Duck men logged their highest ever regional finish (second, 87 1/2) behind USC (first, 103). UCLA followed in third with 71 1/3 points, ahead of
On the women's side, recent Pac-10 champion Stanford took first (110 1/2) followed by UCLA (second, 85) and
Redshirt senior and two-time All-American Sarah Malone highlighted the UO headlines as she upped her javelin school record by seven feet, three inches with Saturday's winning mark (186-10) that also broke the meet record of Trina Rodgers of
"I had a slight injury in warm-ups and I was a little worried,” Malone said. “Lance [Deal, throws coach] came up to me before my fifth throw, and said ?These are your last two throws at
Malone's throw moved her to second nationally on the collegiate list, and easily surpassed her season best of 177-1, and her personal best of 179-7 from the 2004 Texas Relays. The returning West Regional champion entered the meet on a high after she won her first Pac-10 title two weeks ago in Los Angeles (170-9), and now looks forward to her fourth NCAA trip.
Also in the javelin, redshirt junior Roslyn Lundeen added sixth (155-9) and is now up for an at-large bid that may garner a third NCAA trip. The two-time All-American tentatively ranks fourth among the 12 at-large candidates' season bests that finished sixth, seventh and eighth in the four regionals across the nation Saturday, and 4-8 athletes are likely to be added to each individual event Tuesday morning. Redshirt senior Rachel (Kriz) Wallace scored a personal best for the second straight meet in the javelin (seventh, 151-3) and is also for an at-large bid. The four-time top-12 Pac-10 high jump placer opened the season with a previous javelin best of 139-6 that ranked her ninth all-time at UO, and the
In the shot put ring, redshirt senior and school record holder Bree Fuqua earned a repeat NCAA invite thanks to her fifth-place finish (52-0). The Polson,
Junior Lauryn Jordan faces a similar situation in the triple jump as she finished sixth (40-4 3/4, w:1.6) and will learn Tuesday if she earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.
The Ducks nabbed two other women's automatic invites on the track midway through the afternoon.
Senior sprinter Sofie Abildtrup locked up her first automatic bid and second overall after she finished fourth in the 400 (53.63) and match her pre-meet seed. Abildtrup's time Saturday was only .15 seconds off her season best from the Pac-10 prelims (53.48) two weeks ago, while her best of 52.92 came in the 2004 Pac-10 prelims and ranks her third in school history.
"I tried really hard in the first 200 and just tried to keep it going before the other girls came up on me,” Abildtrup said. “I'm really happy with the time and really content with qualifying (for NCAA's). I've had a really good time here, and I really the love the
Duck senior Kayla Mellott earned her first NCAA trip Saturday after she finished fifth in the 400 hurdles (60.38) - two places higher than her pre-meet seed (seventh). The
On the men's side Saturday, senior Kedar Inico improved one spot from the Friday's prelims to win in come-from-behind fashion (46.14) over Arizona State's Domenik Peterson (second, 46.33), UCLA's Craig Everhart (third, 46.50) and UO junior Matt Scherer (fourth, 46.52).
Both
"I did get a little behind, but I still knew I had it, because I had a lot saved,” Inico said. “I wish my time was a little bit faster, but that's OK because it is all about getting to Sacramento, and that's what I came herer to do."
Top seed and three-time All-America junior junior Eric Mitchum repeated as the West Regional 110 hurdles champion (13.65, w:-1.1) to net his third NCAA outdoor invite. The victory came two weeks after Mitchum repeated as the Pac-10 champion in
On Saturday, Mitchum finished ahead of USC junior Blake Fazier (second, 14.09) and UO junior A.K. Ikwuakor (third, 14.16) as the Duck pair both finished top five in the regional at Northridge, Calif., last year (first/fifth, respectively). Barely an hour later in the afternoon, Ikwuakor also qualified for the NCAA 400 hurdles for the first time in his career with a fifth-place effort (51.92).
The men's 4x100 relay of juniors Richard Del Rincon and Scherer, Inico and sophomore Jordan Kent missed the third and final automatic spot in the 4x100 relay (fourth, 39.80) by .14 seconds that went to Washington (third 39.66). The UO quartet will now vie for an at-large NCAA invite Tuesday based on their season best and school record (39.29) that ranks them eighth nationally and took second in the Pac-10 finale.
In Saturday's 4x100 showdown, the field was even at the first exchange and down the back straight before
In the final running event of the evening, the men's 4x400 relay of junior Travis Anderson, Inico, Ikwaukor, and Scherer netted their third straight NCAA outdoor invite after they took second (3:07.69) Saturday behind Arizona State (3:06.94), Washington followed barely a half-second back (third, 3:08.15) for the last automatic berth. The Ducks avoided a mid-race tangle on the third-to-fourth exchange with UCLA and the baton momentarily hit the ground but bounced back into the hands of the anchor Scherer.
In the field, redshirt senior Leonidas Watson earned his second NCAA invite in as many days, thanks to his third-place finish in a cool, wet triple jump (52-01.75). A pair of top-two NCAA veterans led the field ? BYU's Rodrigo Mendes (first, 55-5) and USC's Allen Sims (second, 55-4 1/4) ? although neither of them finished top-five in Friday's long jump that Watson won by a six-inch margin (26-0 3/4) over NCAA indoor runner-up Trevell Quinley from ASU.
Earlier in the afternoon in the pole vault, redshirt junior Jon Derby (third-tie, 16-07.25) far outdistanced his pre-meet seed (15th-tie) and netted his first NCAA outdoor invite and second overall after he competed in the 2005 NCAA indoor finale. While Derby missed his ensuing three tries at -1, sophomore Tommy Skipper opened his day at the same bar but no-heighted and did not earn an NCAA return after he won NCAA outdoor and indoor pole vault tiles in 2004 and '05.
"It was a bad day for everybody on the runway,” Skipper said. “The headwinds were really strong, and it makes you move your approach up, and yet you have to still try and stay relaxed. I felt really good in the warm-ups, and I had a really good attempt on my first try, so I had confidence even after that. This season, I have no regrets. I worked as hard as I could, and I didn't take anything for granted. I just have to keep working hard and get ready for the next meet, whenever that it is."
Skipper entered the meet with limited practice after he underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery in late March after he competed on a meniscus tear the second half of the indoor slate en route to an NCAA win and USA Champs runner-up finish in March and February, respectively. He cautiously resumed his training in late April/early May and had practiced on the pole vault runway for barely three weeks before Saturday after missing approximately nine weeks of practice in the rehab process.
The fickle blustery spring weather certainly effected Saturday's remaining pole vault marks, too. Collegiate outdoor season list leader Robison Pratt of BYU tied for the win (17-1) with teammate Trent Powell. However, Pratt was 1 foot 3 1/2 inches below his season best (18-4 1/2), while Powell was nearly a foot off his season best (18-0 1/2) that ranked him fourth nationally. In comparison, last year's top-five West Regional placers cleared final heights between 18-10 1/4 and 17-3, while Pratt won the 2003 West Regional (18-2 3/4) and Powell was sixth that year at 17-3.
Soon after the pole vault ended, a oft-blustery cold front moved in that featured occasional thunder and lightning, and ultimately forced a one hour and 40 minute rain delay. With three running events remaining at 7:10 pm, the men's steeplechase finally got underway soon after and in the latter, top-seeded section, redshirt senior Brett Holts picked up his third NCAA invite in the event (fourth, 8:42.03) thanks to a strong kick that netted a 2 1/2-second personal best. Sophomore teammate Kyle Alcorn jockeyed for an NCAA at-large invite with his eighth-place finish (8:45.62) that easily bettered his prior season and personal best of 8:53.77. The Duck duo entered the meet seeded eighth and 12th respectively, in an event that featured an impressive nine runners that broke 8:46.00.
The final round of the men's hammer was also delayed more than 1 1/2 hours by Saturday's heavy rain and wind, and Duck senior Paul Etter capitalized on a strong second throw in the prelims to ultimately take third in the final results with a 3-foot, 4-inch PR (206-8). The
Among other top performances from other regional individuals, UCLA senior Jon Rankin was part of two NCAA West Regional meet records, finishing first in the 1,500 (3:44.07) and second in the 800m (1:48.20, (1:41.195)). The Bruin senior appeared in command of the 800 halfway down the homestretch but prematurely flashed a victory signal and was narrowly nipped at the tape on his outside by sophomore and recent Pac-10 champion Ryan Brown of
"The meet record was a bonus (for the top six finishers), but you can't go into that as a goal because that may take away from your focus and make you vulnerable,” Rankin said. “I honestly didn't know he was there (
Rankin's female teammate and Olympic 4x400 gold medalist Monique Henderson won her third consecutive regional title in the 400 (50.78) and both will represent their team in two weeks in Sacramento.
In the women's 110 hurdles, Trojan junior Virginia Powell set an NCAA West regional meet record (12.81) two weeks after winning the Pac-10 title. Powell entered the meet ranked first nationally (12.70w, 12.75), and also second in the 100 (11.15) and was the Pac-10 champion in both two weeks ago.
Saturday's automatic qualifiers joined Friday NCAA advancer Galen Rupp (5,000, fifth), as automatic NCAA qualifiers. First-day at-large-eligible top-eight finishers included two-time outdoor All-American and redshirt senior Eric Logsdon (5,000, seventh, 14:03.25) and Brittany Hinchcliffe (hammer, sixth, 196-0). Rupp is also an NCAA automatic qualifier in the 10,000 based on his season and personal best from the Oregon Twilight, Sat., May 7 that broke the
Complete West Regional results, athlete quotes, pictures and races in review are located at the www.GoDucks.com website.
More information on NCAA qualifying and Tuesday's NCAA at-large field additions will be announced at the www.NCAAsports.com website, while specific NCAA Championships meet info and a schedule is located on the Sac State www.hornetsports.com website.
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Players Mentioned
