Ducks Go Pac-12 Title Hunting in Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Oregon track and field team is off to Tucson, Ariz., for this weekend's Pac-12 Championships. The meet begins Saturday at Roy P. Drachman Stadium. The Men of Oregon go into the meet as the 12-time defending champions while the Women of Oregon have taken nine of the past 10 league titles.

"We have our work cut out for us," head coach Robert Johnson said. "Of course, it definitely helps the cause with some points already on the board with our multis. They have given us a great shot but there are still a lot of events to be contested so we have to go there stellar in our performances and execute."

How to Follow
Both days of the 2019 Pac-12 Championships will air on the Pac-12 Network along with online coverage. Visit the track and field schedule on GoDucks.com for links to available streams and live results. Follow @OregonTF on Twitter for addition in-meet news and notes.

Sat, May 11 | Pac-12 Network - 7:30 p.m. (PT)
Sun, May 12 | Pac-12 Network - 6 p.m. (PT)

Paul Sunderland, Tom Feuer, four-time UO All-American Jordan Kent and Jill Savage will handle the meet commentary duties throughout the weekend.

Getting the Fire Started
The Oregon men opened their latest title defense with 14 points from Max Vollmer and Dalen Hargett at last weekend's Pac-12 Multis Championships, also contested in Tucson. Vollmer became the 10^th Duck in program history and fourth freshman in league history to win the decathlon title. On the women's side, Oregon got on the board with an eighth-place effort from Keira McCarrell in the heptathlon.

In the Rankings
The Women of Oregon begin the championship season as the No. 5 team in the country, up three spots from the previous week. In the men's poll, the Ducks are ranked at a season-high No. 7 which is up two spots. There are a combined 12 top-25 teams—five men's, seven women's—in the field at this year's Pac-12 meet.

Last Time Out
The Ducks' distance crew turned in four top-10 national marks at the Payton Jordan Invitational (May 2) hosted by Stanford. The times for Susan Ejore and Jessica Hull at 800 and 1,500 meters, respectively, are also conference-leading performances entering the weekend.

1. Jessica Hull - 1,500m (4:12.08)
3. Susan Ejore - 800m (2:02.66)
7. Reed Brown - 1,500m (3:38.76)
8. Carmela Cardama Baez - 5,000m (15:38.77)

Back to Tucson
The Ducks got a feel for the track at Roy P. Drachman Stadium during the Desert Heat Classic (April 27) and left Arizona with nine wins and 11 top-10 Oregon marks including a school record by senior Cravon Gillespie at 200 meters.

For more information about Oregon Track and Field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.