University of Oregon
Oregon Twilight
Buckman Leads Seniors at Twilight Meet
05/09/10 | Track and Field
EUGENE, Ore. -- Zoe Buckman won the 1,500 meters on senior night and Matthew Centrowitz and Mac Fleet became the 29th and 30 Ducks to run under four minutes in the mile Saturday before 6,118 fans at the Oregon Twilight meet.
The women's 4x100 meter relay team rolled to a meet record in 44.24, Lyndsay Pearson was a double winner for Oregon, Jordan Roskelley set a PR in the pole vault and former Duck Matt Scherer broke his own meet record in the men's 400 meters.
If that wasn't enough, Brian Schaudt had a PR in the men's triple jump, Jordan Stray also had a PR in the men's hammer, and the Oregon football players entertained in the 100 meters and an exhibition 60 meters.
Those were just a few of the highlights Saturday at Hayward Field.
"The fact that the seniors went out with a bang was fantastic," said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "We had PR's in the men's hammer throw and triple jump, as well as in the women's hurdles and women's pole vault. The football players also did really well today."
In the men's mile, the final race of the night, Centrowitz moved into the lead on the final turn and just edged Russell Brown of the Oregon Track Club Elite by five-hundredths of a second. Centrowitz, a sophomore from Arnold, Md., won in 3:59.33, with Brown second in 3:59.38. Oregon freshman Mac Fleet was third in 3:59.88.
"I just realized it's my first outdoors sub-4:00; kind of fun to run a quote-unquote real mile," said Centrowitz. "Mac came up at the end that gave me a good push. It was a great field, I'm just fortunate to get then win."
Buckman, a senior from Canberra, Australia, closed out the night for the senior class with a women's 1,500 meter win in 4:16.66. Dianne Cummins of Mountain West Athletic Club was second in 4:17.25, while Oregon freshman Anne Kesselring was third in a personal-best 4:17.71 and senior Nicole Blood ran fourth in a seasonal-best 4:18.85. Kesselring's time was No. 10 all-time at Oregon.
"In the last lap I just went for it," said Buckman. "It was a bit risky, but at 300 meters I just remembered the training I had in closing and went for the win.
"I want to claim the 1,500 as my territory, I just love this race," said Buckman. "I'm still feeling out the pain threshold to see how fast I can push myself in the 1,500 meters."
Early in the meet, Scherer got things rolling by running 46.06 in the 400 meters. That lowered his own meet record, 46.59, which was set just last season.
Oregon's women's 4x100 meter relay team also got into the record book by running 44.24. The team of Mandy White, Amber Purvis, Keshia Baker - in her last regular season meet at Hayward - and Jamesha Youngblood bettered the previous meet record by more than three seconds.
The Ducks also saw a number of promising personal bests heading into the championship season.
Sophomore Lyndsay Pearson clocked a wind-aided PR of 13.71 to win the women's 100 meter hurdles and then came back to win the 400 meter hurdles in 1:02.36. Fellow sophomore Rebecca Rhodes was second in the 100 meter hurdles in a wind-aided PR of 13.87. Later in the meet, Rhodes won the women's long jump with a leap of 19-0.
In the men's triple jump, sophomore Brian Schaudt had a PR of nearly a foot to win with a wind-aided leap of 49-07.25.
Junior Jordan Stray continued his solid season with a PR in the men's hammer of 217-8. That was good for second place and was the top collegian on Saturday.
"It feels great to get my PR especially going into the Pac-10 with that throw," said Stray. "It was the second throw of the day and after that I just wanted to keep competing and do even better. My first three throws felt great, the technique was there and I was consistent, which is a great feeling."
Roskelley was perfect through her first five heights in the women's pole vault, the last of which gave the Spokane, Wash., native the win and a personal-best clearance at 13-4.25. That's the sixth-best clearance in school history.
Even the Oregon football players got into the act on Saturday.
LaMichael James won the men's 100 meters in a seasonal-best 10.62, with teammate Kenyon Barner second in 10.76. Those two were also on the winning 4x100 meter relay team (41.10).
The football team also staged an exhibition 60 meters, which was won in impressive fashion by freshman cornerback Dior Mathis in 6.87. Tight end Brandon Williams was second in 7.12.
"I'm so excited that I was able to come back and run track," said Mathis. "I know I'm faster than that obviously based on times I've run in the past but not bad for just coming back.
"I actually started with track before football so it's kind of my first love, said Mathis. "I knew I would run track for the rest of my life."
Williams was also impressed by his track experience,
"It was great being able to run at the famous Hayward Field," said Williams. "Coach asked us who wanted to run and it was my first time running track, but I love to compete, so I wanted to compete in the race. We just wanted to see who would win the race for bragging rights."
In other regulation events, junior Michele Williams won the women's 200 in a season-best 24.03, while freshman Alexandria Davidson won the women's 400 in 55.24. Freshman Becca Friday set a PR in a second-place finish in the women's 800 in 2:07.55.
Senior Jasmine Kelly was also victorious in her last regular season competition at Hayward Field. The Vancouver, Wash., native won the high jump at 5-5.75. Also for the women,
Junior David Klech took the men's 110 hurdles in 14.26 and then came back to finish third in the high jump at 6-10.75. Sophomore Matt Butcher won the men's 200 meters in 21.87
Among non-Oregon competitors, Ben Bruce of OTC Elite was impressive in taking the men's 5,000 meters in 13:31.87. Teammate Kevin Chellimo was second in 13:34.92 with Ian Dobson third in 13:37.90. Rachel Yurkovich won the women's javelin with a throw of 176-0, while former Duck Ryan Brandel captured the men's javelin at 212-0.
Saturday also saw an impressive record in the girl's middle school mile. Paige Rice of West Sylvan won in 5:02.50 to take nearly 13 seconds off the previous mark of 5:15.27, set by Erin Gray in 2000.
The meet began with New York Athletic Club's Loree Smith winning the women's hammer in a good competition with former Duck Britney Henry. Smith won at 216-1, with Henry just behind her at 213-10.
"I'm really working on consistency and throwing farther, when I come out its always my goal to throw great," said Smith. "It's great to be back in Oregon. This really is a great atmosphere."
Buckman summed up the night for the seniors.
"It's the perfect atmosphere to go out like this," she said.
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