University of Oregon
Stanford Invitational
Ducks Break 16-Year-Old Women?s 4x100 Meter Relay Record at Stanford
03/29/09 | Track and Field
STANFORD, Calif. -- Oregon broke a 16-year-old record with a sizzling performance in the women's 4x100 meter relay during the final day of the Stanford Invitational Friday at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
The Ducks' quartet of Mandy White, Amber Purvis, Keshia Baker and Jamesha Youngblood ran 44.64 on Saturday to win the competition and break the 1993 school record of 44.76 set by the team of LaReina Woods, Camara Jones, Lisa Bedwell and Jamila Godfrey.
"They looked terrific," said associate director of track and field Dan Steele. "They ran really well; their exchanges were clean. They were clearly the class of the field."
The Ducks' time was also an NCAA regional championships qualifying mark, one of 28 accumulated by Oregon's men's and women's track and field teams during this past week of competition. That brings the Ducks' total number of qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA West Regional, which will be held May 29-30 at Historic Hayward Field, to 33 through the first two weeks of the outdoor season.
By way of comparison, Oregon had 22 regional competitors at the same point last season.
"We're rolling along, absolutely thrilled with the weekend," said Steele. "We performed at an exceptional level and it's looking very clearly like we're going to have two very good teams.
"Obviously, there's a long way to go this season, but we're confident the kids will continue to compete well and improve as we work towards the championship meets."
In other events from Stanford on Saturday, sophomore Melissa Gergel won the women's pole vault with a season-best clearance of 13-5.25, which was the Ducks' last NCAA regional-qualifying mark of the meet.
Earlier in the day, sophomore Jamesha Youngblood placed second in the women's triple jump with a best leap of 40-6.75, an NCAA regional mark.
Megan Maloney took third in the women's hammer with a season-best throw of 180-1. The senior from Barrington, R.I., recorded an NCAA regional mark and missed a PR by four feet.
Senior Lucy Cridland placed second in the women's discus with a regional throw of 157-2.
Junior Zoe Buckman finished fourth in her heat of the 800 meters, running an NCAA regional time of 2:06.62.
In the men's hammer, sophomore Jordan Stray and senior Steven Johnson both hit regional marks. Stray finished ninth with a throw of 189-0, while Johnson was 10th with a season-best effort of 188-10.
In action from late Friday night, four Ducks ran personal-best times in the 10,000 meters that ranked among the top 10 all-time for the University.
Senior Shadrack Biwott ran an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 28:28.83 in finishing seventh (fifth collegian). The Eldoret, Kenya, native set a personal best by :32 and his time was the fourth-best in school history.
Also in the men's 10,000 meters, twins Diego and Danny Mercado both hit NCAA provisional times and lifetime bests. Diego Mercado finished 12th in 28:48.54, which is the eighth-best 10,000 time in school history, while Danny Mercado ran 28:53.02 in a 14th-place finish that was Oregon's No. 10 all-time mark. Diego ran a :26 PR, while Danny had an :11 PR.
On the women's side, junior Mattie Bridgmon set a PR by an amazing 3:21 in running 33:37.73. She finished sixth overall and second among collegians in recording the sixth-fastest time in school history.
The Ducks return to Hayward Field next weekend for the Pepsi Team Invitational.
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