University of Oregon
MPSF Championships
Purvis, Hasay, Gergel Power Women to MPSF Title
02/27/11 | Track and Field
SEATTLE, Wash. - Amber Purvis and Jordan Hasay defended their titles in the women's 60 meters and mile, respectively, and Melissa Gergel won the pole vault to lead the top-ranked Oregon women to its second consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility.
The men won the 4x400 meter relay en route to a fourth-place finish.
"I'm proud of the way or women and men competed," said Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "Our primary goal this weekend was to secure a number of NCAA marks, which we did, but our women also did a good job of taking advantage of the opportunity to compete for a championship."
The women won with 138 points, followed by No. 12 Arizona with 128, No. 21 Stanford with 96.5 and No. 25 Arizona State with 92. Washington was fifth with 62.5 points, followed by California (60), UCLA (33), Cal State Northridge (22), Washington State (16), UC Irvine (9) and Long Beach State (4).
Purvis lowered her own school 60 meters record for the second time in two weeks, running a meet and Dempsey Indoor Facility record 7.23 seconds to win. That was the fourth-fastest time in the nation this season. The junior from Hercules, Calif., bettered her previous mark of 7.25 she ran at the Tyson Invitational.
Mandy White continued her excellent MPSF meet. The senior from Lake Oswego, Ore., followed Friday's second-place finish in the 200 meters with another runner-up showing Saturday. She ran a season-best 7.43 seconds in the 60 meters to finish behind Purvis, as the 18 points scored in the event moved the Ducks into the team lead.
Earlier in the day Hasay led a 1-2 Oregon sweep in the women's mile. The sophomore from Arroyo Grande, Calif., won in 4:35.28, which was less than a second off her personal best. Senior Alex Kosinski was second in 4:38.21. Kosinski's time was the fifth-best in school history and the eighth-fastest in the nation this season.
Gergel captured the women's pole vault by clearing 14-3.5/4.36m. That tied her own school record that the senior from Glenview, Ill., set earlier this season at the Husky Invitational. It was also the third time in four meets that Gergel has cleared 14 feet.
Senior Jordan Roskelley also tied her career best in the pole vault, clearing 13-7.75/4.16m to finish fourth.
The women wrapped the title up when five Ducks scored in the 800 meters. Defending MPSF champion Anne Kesselring was second in 2:04.70 and freshman Laura Roesler was third in 2:04.93. Both of those times were NCAA Championships automatic qualifiers and ranked as the second- and third-fastest in school history. They were also the fifth- and sixth-fastest times in the NCAA this season.
The Ducks haul of 20 points in the 800 also included a sixth-place finish from sophomore Becca Friday in 2:08.56 and a seventh-place tie between sophomore Jordan Hasay and freshman Phyllis Francis (2:10.04).
Brianne Theisen broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles, running 8.35 seconds to take third. The senior from Humboldt, Sask., dropped her PR by .05. She also scored eight team points by virtue of her runner-up finish in the high jump. She cleared 5-8.5/1.74m.
The women saved perhaps their most impressive performance for last, running a meet record 3:35.44 to win the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Theisen, Chizoba Okodogbe, Roesler and Purvis recorded a time that was the second fastest in school history and fifth in the NCAA this season.
"There were many, many individuals who stepped up for the women," said Lananna. "Virtually everyone who went to the line for us today performed at an exceptional level and we really accomplished a lot today."
Okodogbe, a freshman from Antioch, Calif., ran the second-fastest 400 meters in school history, 54.44, in a third-place finish.
In the women's 3,000 meters, junior Bronwyn Crossman took sixth in 9:23.84, while freshman Lanie Thompson was seventh in 9:29.54.
For the men, the highlight of the day was a win in final event, the 4x400 meter relay. The team of David Klech, Matt Butcher, Bryan Harper and Mike Berry won in 3:10.34, finishing just ahead of Washington State's 3:10.80.
Eric Hersey was the runner-up in the men's 60 meter hurdles. The senior from Los Altos, Calif., ran a personal-best 7.94 seconds, which is the fourth-fastest time in school history.
Freshman Mike Berry took third in the 400 meters. The Seattle, Wash., native ran the fourth-fastest time in school history, 47.19.
Other points for the men came from Danny Marconi's fourth-place finish in the high jump (7-0.25/2.14m), Brian Schaudt's fourth-place finish in the triple jump (49-11/15.21m), Cole Watson's fifth-place finish in the mile (4:07.00), Kevin Godfrey's sixth-place finish in the heptathlon (5,052 points), Bryan Harper's eighth-place finish in the 400 meters (48.31, a personal best) and Boru Guyota's eighth-place showing in the 800 meters (1:52.03).
"Eric Hersey and the 4x400 relay team did a nice job today," said Lananna. "And we had a number of younger student-athletes perform well and score points for us and I think that experience will benefit the men's team in the future."
No. 6 Stanford won with 107.5 points, followed by No. 14 Arizona with 102, UCLA with 82.5 and No. 12 Oregon with 79. Arizona State was fifth with 72.5 points, followed by California (66), Washington State (63), No. 21 Washington (57), Long Beach State (20) and Cal State Northridge (13.5).
A small number of Ducks will head back to Seattle next weekend for the Husky Last Chance meet, before the NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-12 at Texas A&M.
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