Noble Scores 800 Win in NCAA Track and Field Final Day

Saturday, June 10

Sacramento, Calif.

TBA

University of Oregon

M-12, W-11th

Sacramento State University

Photo by: Associated Press

Noble Scores 800 Win in NCAA Track and Field Final Day

06/10/06 | Track and Field

By: GoDucks.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In fourth and final day action Saturday in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the University of Oregon track and field squads claimed top-15 team finishes and six more All-America honors (4W, 2M) in the event hosted by Sacramento State University at Hornet Stadium.

In the women's team races, the Duck women claimed 11th with 23 points and were one of five Pac-10 teams that finished top-15 overall. Auburn won the overall crown with 57 points, ahead of USC (second, 38 1/2), South Carolina (third, 38) and Arizona State (fourth, 37), while returning champion Texas followed in sixth place (36).

The Oregon women's previous best recent NCAA outdoor team finish was 17th in 2003 when they scored 14 1/2 points with top-eight efforts in the pole vault (2) and javelin, and their next most recent top-20 finish was in 1993 when they placed fourth with 35 points.

The Men of Oregon tied for 12th with 23 points, and were only 3 points from a fourth top-10 finish the past seven years after ninth-place efforts in 2001, '04 and '05. Overall, Florida State won its first team title with 67 points, over LSU (second, 51), Texas (third, 36) and Arizona (fourth, 34), while returning champion Arkansas followed in fifth place (33).

On the individual front, UO freshman Rebekah Noble cruised to the win in the women's 800 meters, thanks to a .77-second personal best (2:02.07) and won by almost a full second over Minnesota freshman Heather Dorniden (second, 2:03.02), California sophomore Alysia Johnson (third, 2:03.04) and Michigan freshman Geena Gall (fourth, 2:04.35).

Noble entered the meet as the third seed based on pre-meet season bests (2:02.85) behind Gall (2:02.73) and Dorniden (2:02.77) who ran their '06 bests in the Big Ten Championships four weeks ago.

Noble became UO's third outdoor national champion in the 800 meters after Leann Warren and Claudette Groenendaal won AIAW and NCAA titles in 1981 (2:06.07) and 1985 (2:01.20), respectively. Altogether, the Ducks have racked up nine All-America honors in the outdoor event since '80, including more runner-up honors (in '80 and '84) and another third-place finish ('82).

In the previous days' qualifying action, Noble ranked third in the semifinal Thursday (2:05.49) and seventh in the prelims Wednesday (2:06.37) to open her first NCAA appearance. California's Johnson led the standings in both Thursday's semifinal (2:04.76) and Wednesday's prelims (2:05.10).

Looking back over her 2006 slate, the Spokane, Wash., native Noble led the NCAA outdoor list in the 800 meters much of 2006 regular season (UO #4 all-time 2:02.85), then scored wins in the Pac-10 and West Regional (2:05.81 / 2:06.45). Indoors, the freshman led the collegiate rankings much of the season (UO #2 all-time 2:04.72), and took second in her NCAA indoor debut (2:05.72). In the 2005 fall cross country campaign, she raced twice for UO and ranked top seven for the Ducks in both the NCAA West Regional (63rd) and Pac-10 Championships (59th) as UO finished top four as a team in both (third/fourth) for the first time since 1997.

Duck teammate and redshirt senior Sara Schaaf also made her NCAA debut this week in the 800 meters and advanced to Thursday's semifinal (10th, 2:06.49) after she ranked eighth in the prelims Wednesday (2:05.87).

Schaaf's time in Wednesday's prelim was a .55-second personal over her previous best (2:06.91) and moved her to ninth all-time for UO past Francie Faure (2:06.39, 1988) and Stephanie Morris (2:06.80, 1988). Noble already ranked fourth all-time for UO with her personal best (2:02.85) from the Oregon Twilight, and moved closer Saturday to third-ranked Ranza Clark (2:01.7, 1984).

Noble and Schaaf had punched their NCAA tickets two weeks ago thanks to first- and fourth-place finishes in the West Regional (2:06.45/2:09.23).

Rebekah Noble In other distance action Saturday, redshirt senior Amber McGown finished 11th in her NCAA debut in the 1,500 meters (4:22.17) to wrap up her short and successful Duck career as UO's first NCAA qualifier in the event since Katie Crabb in 2000.

Overall in the event, Washington sophomore Amy Lia surprised the field for the win (4:14.63) over Villanova senior Marina Muncan (second, 4:15.27) and Florida State senior Natalie Hughes (third, 4:15.72).

McGown earned her spot in the final after she clocked a .59-second personal best in Thursday's prelims (4:18.41) – a time that won her heat and ranked her third in the 28-woman field. The same time also moved her up three spots on the Duck all-time list to sixth, past Penny Graves (seventh, 4:18.57, 1987), Cheri Williams (eighth, 4:18.9, 1979) and Lise Johansen (ninth, 4:18.90, 1989).

The Melfort, Sask., native McGown entered the meet seeded 11th with her previous personal best (4:19.00) from the Pac-10 Championships in mid-May in Eugene that ranked her ninth all-time in school history.

Overall this 2005-06 season, the Cornell transfer enjoyed a smashing debut campaign for UO in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field. In the fall, she ranked top five for the Ducks in all five cross country races and was an All-West Regional honoree for her 24th-place finish. In indoor track she ran 4:41.48 in the NCAA prelims to move to second all-time for UO, and the next day was part of the Ducks' first indoor All-American distance medley relay (seventh, school record 11:18.89). Outdoors in '06, besides her NCAA and Pac-10 success, she was also a regional qualifier in the 800 meters (2:07.80).

In field event action Saturday, Oregon received another scoring boost in the hammer throw final from the All-America pair of redshirt senior Brittany Hinchcliffe (third, 212-3) and redshirt junior Britney Henry (sixth, 208-7).

Hinchcliffe ended five places better than her pre-meet seed (eighth), and opened the day with a throw of 204-8 (62.39m), then fouled her next two preliminary throws and ranked fifth at Saturday's halfway point. In the final, she added marks of 210-9 (64.24m), 212-2 (64.69m) and 209-8 (63.90m). Those fourth and fifth throws stood as new personal bests and improved on her prior season and personal best (210-5), and both were more than 10 feet better than her preseason personal best of 199-2.

Henry stood third at the halfway point Saturday after her opening throws of 208-6 (63.57m) and 206-11 (63.07m), followed by a foul. In the finals, she threw 200-1 (61.00m) on her fourth attempt, then fouled her last two throws.

Overall in the event, Georgia junior and top seed Jenny Dahlgren won by more than five feet (226-4) with her second throw of the day over USC freshman Eva Orban (second, 220-11), Oregon's Hinchcliffe (third, 212-3) and Southern Illinois sophomore Brittany Riley (fourth, 210-5).

Henry and Hinchcliffe advanced to Saturday's 12-woman final after they ranked fourth (210-5) and ninth (198-6) in Thursday's 28-woman prelims. The Ducks had qualified individuals in the event twice before – Hinchcliffe in '05 (12th) and former Duck Jordan Sauvage in '03.

The current Duck duo entered the meet seeded third and eighth with their season and Duck bests of 221-7 and 210-5 that ranked them first and second in school history. Hinchcliffe's previous PR came two weeks ago in the West Regional in Provo, Utah and placed her third (210-5), while Henry took fourth in the same meet (209-3).

Henry had ranked top-three all season on the NCAA qualifying list and the top American collegian with her school record (221-7) from the Mt. SAC Relays. During the year in her 10 hammer appearances, the redshirt junior from Spokane, Wash., had topped 220 feet in two meets, enjoyed another above 215 feet, three more above 210 feet, and two more above 205 feet. Indoors, she broke the school weight throw record twice 2006 - in the UW Invitational (60-10 3/4) and the Mountain Pacific Championships (third, 61-1 1/4).

The Olympia, Wash., native Hinchcliffe has been on a tear in the second half of the season with personal bests in four of the past seven meets. In the Pac-10 Championships in mid-May, she added sixth (206-1), and also scored in the discus (eighth, 146-2).

In the heptathlon's second and final day Saturday, senior Lauryn Jordan scored her first All-America honor in her second NCAA trip (seventh, 5,499) thanks to her 73-point personal best in the seven-event competition. That same score moved her up the UO all-time list three spots to third place behind current assistant coach Kelly Blair (first, 6,038, 1993) and Camille Jampolsky (second, 5,516, 1987).

The Stockton, Calif., native and San Joaquin Delta Junior College transfer Jordan claimed second day marks of 19-10 1/4 in the long jump (w:2.9), 121-1 in the javelin and 2:31.95 in the 800 meters. Jordan's javelin mark was an approximate nine feet season best and only four inches off her personal best (121-5), her 800m time was a .15-second season best and only .80 seconds off her personal best (2:31.15), and her long jump mark was just over a foot off her season and personal best (20-11 1/4).

Jordan also competed in the NCAA event in 2005 (14th, 5,367) and her then-personal best helped her place eight spots better than her pre-meet seed.

Rebekah Noble McFadden opened Saturday with a 18-6 3/4 mark in the long jump – a 3 3/4-inch heptathlon personal best. She suffered three fouls in the next event, the javelin, then returned to win her heat of the final event, the 800 meters and stood third overall (2:14.06) – less than a second behind event winner Sara Jane Baker of Nebraska (2:13.28).

Jordan and McFadden opened the day in sixth and 24th places overall after first day scores of 3,357 and 3,017 points, respectively.

Jordan's 10-point first-day personal best score featured near personal bests in all four events - 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). 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).

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 pre-meet season and personal bests of 5,428 and 5,426 points, respectively, from mid-April's Mt. SAC Relays.

Jordan wrapped up an impressive second year for the Ducks. In '06, she led the team outdoors in the 100m (11.7-h, w:1.4), 200m (24.59w, w:2.9), 100m hurdles (14.05, w:0.5), high jump (5-8 3/4), long jump (UO #2 all-time, 20-11 1/4, w:1.1), triple jump (43-2.5W, UO #2 all-time 41-4.5, w:0.2), and heptathlon (NCAA provisional, UO #3 all-time 5,499). In the Pac-10 Championships four weeks ago, the second-year Duck senior from Stockton, Calif., scored in four events for the second straight season - the heptathlon (third, 5,378), long jump (fourth, 20-4 1/4, w:1.5), high jump (fifth, 5-8 3/4) and triple jump (sixth, 41-2 1/2; w:0.8). Indoors, she also led the team in '06 in the 60m hurdles (school record 8.73), long jump (19-5 1/4), triple jump (39-10 1/2), shot put (41-11 1/2) and pentathlon (school record 3,929), and ranked second in the high jump (5-5 1/4).

McFadden was equally on par in her debut collegiate season. She added sixth in the Pac-10 heptathlon (5,036), and overcame a fall in the first event, the 100 hurdles, thanks to hep personal bests in the high jump (5-6 1/2), long jump (18-3) and 800m (2:14.22). Indoors, she claimed a school record in the pentathlon (3,929).

Overall in the heptathlon Saturday, Arizona State redshirt sophomore Jacquelyn Johnson extended her first day lead to win with 5,939 points - 112 points better than Missouri State senior Tracy Partain (second, 5,827) and Washington State junior Diana Pickler (third, 5,757).

Johnson led the first day by 10 points 93,526) , ahead of Missouri State senior Tracy Partain (second, 3,516) and Washington State's set of junior twins Julie and Diana Pickler (third-tie, 3,451).

On the men's side, the 4x400-meter relay of seniors Travis Anderson, Matt Scherer and Akobundu Ikwuakor and redshirt junior Jordan Kent claimed the Ducks' third straight top-six finish in the NCAA outdoor event (sixth, 3:04.85), and Saturday's .06-second season best time stood as the eighth-fastest in school history.

Overall in the event, LSU won its third title in four years (3:01.58), over TCU (second, 3:02.12), Baylor (third, 3:02.93), USC (fourth, 3:03.08) and Indiana (fifth, 3:04.81).

The UO combo advanced to Saturday's final after they ranked fifth in Thursday's prelims (3:04.91) with a 1.41-second then-season best that was the eighth-fastest time in school history. That mark 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.

All-time for UO, other All-America relay finishes in the event came in 1965 (fourth), 1970 (fourth), 1971 (second), 2004 (fifth) and 2005 (third). Oregon's recent excellence in the event is also reflected on the UO all-time list that includes nine, sub-3:05 marks the past three years and 15 of the 17 fastest times in school history in the span of 2003-06, including a school record in last year's NCAA finale (3:00.81).

In other sprint action in the 400 meters final, senior Matt Scherer logged his second straight All-America outdoor honor (fifth, 45.41) with the third-fastest time of his career Saturday.

Overall in the event, LSU sophomore Xavier Carter won the single lap race by .18 seconds (first, 44.53) over Florida State sophomore Ricardo Chambers (second, 44.71), Indiana junior David Neville (third, 44.94) and TCU senior Lewis Banda (fourth, 45.10).

Scherer earned his spot in the final after times of 45.20 and 45.52 in Thursday's semifinal and Wednesday's prelims – clockings that were the then- 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 he entered the meet seeded second based on season bests behind LSU's Carter (44.84).

Scherer also claimed an All-America plaque in the outdoor 400 meters in '05 after he ranked 11th in the semifinal (45.70), and UO's other All-America award in the event came courtesy of former teammate Kedar Inico also last season (eighth, 45.85). Scherer has added other All-America honors in prior years indoors in the 400 meters in '05 (ninth, 47.15), and three more times in the indoor 4x400m relay (fifth, '05) and outdoor 4x400m relay (fifth, '04; third, '05).

Scherer polished off another busy stretch run for the Ducks the past month. In the Pac-10 Championships, he scored in three events besides his 400 meters win, including the school's first-ever relay victory (4x100m, first, 39.74; 4x400m, second, 3:06.75; 200m, fourth, 20.93, w:1.7). Two weeks ago in the West Regional he was the 400m runner-up (45.64) after her finished fourth in '03, '04 and '05, and ran on NCAA qualifying 4x100m (third, 40.10) and 4x400m (third, 3:06.32) relays.

Two other members of the UO 4x400-meter relay also competed individually in the meet on Wednesday, Thursday and/or Friday.

Ikwuakor ranked 16th in Friday's 400-meter hurdles semifinal (51.87), two days after he stood 14th in the prelims with a .03-second season best (50.77) Thursday – both better than his pre-meet seed of 20th. The Arvada, Colo., was just off his personal best Thursday from 2005 (50.61) that ranks him eighth all-time in school history.

Kent stood 13th in Friday's 200 meters semifinal (20.98, w:-0.7) 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.

The Duck relay corps also claimed an All-America honor Friday evening in the 4x100-meter relay, courtesy of senior Richard Del Rincon, Scherer, freshman Derrick Jones and Kent (seventh, 39.48). The group clocked the fifth-fastest time in school history and 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. Entering 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 after they ran a school record in the 2005 NCAA final (sixth, 39.20) and also claimed honors in 1971 (fourth, 40.5).

Full NCAA meet results are available at the www.HornetSports.com website, or at the Flash Results website at the http://www.flashresults.com/2006_Meets/outdoor/ncaa1 URL address.

Looking ahead, the Duck men and women have an off-week before they send athletes to the USA Outdoor Championships, and USA Junior Championships, Thu.-Sun, June 22-25 in Indianapolis, Ind. More meet information is available at the www.usatf.org website at the http://www.usatf.org/events/2006/USAOutdoorTFChampionships URL address.

Please go to the the next page for full results and heat sheets