University of Oregon
Sacramento State University
Track & Field Teams Add Four All-America Honors in NCAA Third Day
06/10/06 | Track and Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In third day action Friday in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the University of Oregon track and field squads claimed three, top-eight men's finishes and another women's effort in the event hosted by Sacramento State University at Hornet Stadium.
On the men's side Friday, junior Tommy Skipper captured his second NCAA outdoor pole vault crown with his second-best mark of the season (18-8 1/4), and defeated returning NCAA champion Robison Pratt of BYU (second, 18-0 1/2) and UCLA junior Mike Landers (third, 18-0 1/2).
Skipper opened the afternoon with passes at the first four heights (16-8 3/4, 17-2 3/4, 17-6 1/2, 17-10 1/2), then converted his first attempt at 18-0 1/2 (5.50m) to take the lead in the competition and was guaranteed a top-three finish since Robison and Landers were the only others to clear the same height, and on their third tries.
At the next height – 18-4 1/2 (5.60m) – Landers missed his three attempts, while Skipper and Pratt both passed. At the following bar of 18-8 1/4 (5.70m), Skipper again responded with a first-attempt conversion, while Pratt missed his first two tries, then passed up to 18-6 1/2 (5.60m) for his final attempt but missed. With the victory in hand, Skipper missed three attempts at the next and final bar, 19-2 1/4 (5.85m).
The Sandy, Ore., native Skipper also won the 2004 outdoor crown as a freshman (18-8 1/4), and also indoors in 2005 (18-4 1/2) and '06 (18-6 1/2), and was also the indoor event runner-up as a freshman in '04 (18-4 1/2).
Skipper became the 10th Duck to win multiple NCAA outdoor titles, with the first Duck multiple honoree also a pole vaulter - George Rasmussen (1947, '48) – and the most recent multiple winner Joaquim Cruz (800 meters, 1983, '84; 1,500 meters '84).
Altogether in the pole vault, Oregon has now scored 20 All-America honors outdoors to go along with five honors indoors.
Friday's appearance was Skipper's fifth meet this outdoor season – a stretch that included a Pac-10 record in the Oregon Preview (19-0), and an additional win in the Pac-10 Championships (18-0 1/2). He also topped 18 feet in the West Regional (second, 18-1) behind Robison two weeks ago.
The Ducks added another four points in the team scoring column thanks to senior Eric Mitchum who claimed his third straight, top-five NCAA outdoor finish in the 110-meter hurdles (fifth, 13.58, w:0.3).
Overall in the event, Tennessee junior Aries Merritt won the event by .28 seconds (13.21, w:0.3) over Maryland sophomore Dominic Berger (second, 13.49), South Carolina sophomore Jason Richardson (third, 13.51) and Ole Miss sophomore John Yarbrough (fourth, 13.56).
Mitchum entered the meet seeded fourth nationally with his windy season best (13.48w), and is the Ducks' school record holder in both the outdoor 110-meter and indoor 60-meter hurdles (13.38 / 7.67).
In previous NCAA outdoor finales, Mitchum took fourth in 2005 (13.53) and second in 2004 (13.38), and also made the event semifinal and was the top freshman in 2003 (12th, 13.89). Friday's All-America distinction was the sixth of his career, after he also finished top-six indoors in the 60-meter hurdles in 2006 (third, 7.68), fourth in '05 (7.73) and sixth in '04 (7.74).
Oregon added two more points with their third All-America honor in school history in the 4x100-meter relay by the quartet of seniors Richard Del Rincon and Matt Scherer, freshman Derrick Jones and junior Jordan Kent (seventh, 39.48), thanks to the fifth-fastest time in school history.
Friday's time was only .03 seconds off their season best (39.45) from the event prelims Wednesday (39.45) that ranked fourth all-time in school history and ranked them seventh in the 18-team field. Coming into the meet, UO was seeded 14th in the field based on its prior season best (39.74). The only times faster in Oregon's history came in the 2005 NCAA final and prelims (39.20 / 39.22) and the Pac-10 Championships final last season (39.29).
Oregon's top-eight placing was its second straight in the race after they ran a school record in the 2005 NCAA final (sixth, 39.20) and also claimed honors in 1971 (fourth, 40.5).
Overall in the event, LSU won by .42 seconds (38.44) over Tennessee (second, 38.86) and UTEP (third, 38.99).
In semifinal action, redshirt junior Jordan Kent ranked 13th in the 200 meters (20.98, w:-0.7), while LSU senior Kelly Willie led Friday's results (first, 20.46, w:-0.7), ahead of UTEP sophomore Churandy Martina (second, 20.47, w:-0.7) and Florida State sophomore Walter Dix (third, 20.50, w:-0.8).
Kent advanced to Friday's semifinal after he ranked eighth in Wednesday's opening round (20.94, w:1.1). The Eugene native entered the meet seeded 25th nationally with his season best (20.82) from the West Regional – while his initial personal best from 2005 (20.82) ranks him fifth all-time for UO.
Also in semifinal action, senior Matt Scherer stood fourth in the 400 meters Friday (45.20) after he finished third in his section. LSU sophomore Xavier Carter led the field (first, 44.96), ahead of Florida State sophomore Ricardo Chambers (second, 44.98) and Indiana junior David Neville (third, 45.03).
The Sumner, Ill., native Scherer earned a spot in the 16-man semifinal field after he won his prelim heat Wednesday and ranked third overall among the 26 entries (45.52)
In the past two days, Scherer has run the second- and third-fastest times of career behind his winning time from the Pac-10 Championship three weeks ago (45.19). That time ranks him second all-time for UO and seeded him second in the field before Wednesday behind LSU's Carter (44.84) based on season bests.
In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Akobundu Ikwuakor ranked 16th in Friday's semifinal (51.87) with his fourth-fastest time of the season behind his prior season bests from the Oregon Twilight (51.11) and West Regional (50.69) and NCAA Championships prelims Wednesday (50.77).
The Arvada, Colo., native entered the meet seeded 20th with his pre-NCAA meet season best of 50.80, and was just off his personal best (50.61) from 2005 that ranks him eighth all-time in school history.
Ikwuakor has one appearance left in the 4x400-meter relay final Saturday, and will join senior Travis Anderson, Scherer, and Kent who ranked fifth in Thursday's prelims (3:04.91). That 1.41-second season best was the eighth-fastest time in school history, and also improved on their prior season best of 3:06.32 from their third-place West Regional finish two weeks ago that ranked them 15th entering the meet.
On the women's side Friday, freshman Rachel Yurkovich claimed seventh in the javelin final (165-2) and led freshmen in the event final.
The Newberg, Ore., native weathered a rocky start with opening throws of 148-4 (45.23m) and 141-9 (43.20m) and stood 11th in the 12 woman event with one preliminary throw remaining. She responded with a third throw of 160-10 (49.03m) to make the nine-woman final, then improved again with her fourth throw of 165-2 (50.35m). She ended the afternoon with marks of 158-5 (48.28m) and 156-3 (47.64m).
Yurkovich entered the NCAA finale seeded fifth overall with a season and personal best (179-10) from the Oregon Preview that ranks her second all-time for UO. Over the course of 2006, she has topped the 160-foot line in all 10 of her appearances.
Friday's finish marked Oregon's 24th All-America honor in the event since 1981, including the eighth honoree (and fourth freshman) since 2000.
Overall in the javelin, senior Dana Pounds of Air Force won her second straight NCAA title (190-3) after she won the '05 competition (185-4) also held in Sacramento. Nebraska junior Kayla Wilkinson followed in second place (178-10), ahead of top seed and Georgia junior Krista Woodward (third, 177-11).
In the first day of the two-day women's heptathlon, senior Lauryn Jordan and redshirt freshman Kalindra McFadden stood sixth and 24th overall with scores of 3,357 and 3,017 points, respectively.
Jordan scored a 10-point first-day personal best score and posted the following first-day marks in the 100-meter hurdles (sixth, 14.25, w:-0.7), high jump (12th-tie, 5-6 1/2), shot put (seventh, 39-7 3/4) and 200 meters (eighth, 24.79, w:0.0). Jordan's marks Friday were just off her personal bests in each event, and those marks follow – 100m hurdles (14.05), high jump (5-7 3/4), shot put (40-7) and 200 (24.59).
McFadden was 159 points off her first-day personal best score from the 2006 Mt. SAC Relays (3,186), and her first-day individual event marks follow: 100-meter hurdles (17th, 14.69, w:-0.5), high jump (26th-tie, 5-0 1/2), shot put (12th, 38-4 3/4) and 200 meters (13th, 25.66, w:-0.8). She was only .05 seconds off her heptathlon 100m hurdles best (14.64), and her other heptathlon event bests follow: high jump (5-6 1/2), shot put (40-7) and 200m (25.01).
McFadden and Jordan entered the meet seeded ninth and 10th nationally in the 28-woman event, and ranked fifth and sixth all-time for UO with their personal bests of 5,428 and 5,426 points, respectively, from mid-April's Mt. SAC Relays.
Overall in the event, Arizona State redshirt sophomore Jacquelyn Johnson owned a 10-point lead on the field with 3,526 points, ahead of Missouri State Tracy Partain (second, 3,516) and Washington State's set of junior twins Julie and Diana Pickler (third-tie, 3,451).
Full NCAA meet results this season are available at the www.HornetSports.com website, and more pre-meet information is also at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
Players Mentioned
