Tracksters Chase Last Chance Marks Across the Country
EUGENE ? The Duck men’s and women’s track and field teams make one final run after NCAA qualifying marks this weekend in three meets in three different time zones.
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships loom a week away in Fayetteville, Ark (Fri.-Sat., 3/12-13), and several Ducks will try to sneak into their event fields that will feature a minimum of 15 athletes per event. The fields could be as big as 21 in an event, depending on the quality of the field/marks this season (relays range from 12-14 per event), and the complete field will be announced Monday evening (3/8) after 5 pm.
This Week's Duck Action
University of Idaho, Kibbie Dome, Moscow, Idaho - www.uiathletics.com
Pentathlon: Abby Andrus
Fast Times Qualifier, Sat., 3/6/04
University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. - www.Gatorzone.com
Entries: Travis Anderson, Matt Scherer, Sofie Abildtrup, Hurdler Eric Mitchum
UW Last Chance Qualifier, 3/6/04
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. - www.gohuskies.com
Multiple Entries: 13 women, 11 men Ducks on the NCAA Qualifying List
800 - Eri Macdonald, RSr., Honolulu, Hawaii - 20th, 2:08.12
400 - Matt Scherer, So., Sumner, Ill. - 11th, 46.40
3,000 - Magdalena Sandoval, RJr., Los Alamos, N.M. - 40th, 9:33.56
5,000 - Magdalena Sandoval, RJr., Los Alamos, N.M. - 6th, 16:04.40
Shot Put - Bree Fuqua, Sr. - 32nd, 51-3.5
800 - Ryan Flaherty, So., Bend, Ore. - 39th, 1:50.14
5,000 - Jason Hartmann, RSr., Rockford, Mich. - 14:01.95
60H - Eric Mitchum, So., Calumet City, Ill. - 16th-t, 7.81
4x400 - Anderson, Holliday, Dotts, Scherer - 6th, 3:06.54
HJ - Jeff Lindsey, So., Mansfield, Texas - 16th-tie, 7-1.5
PV - Tommy Skipper, Fr., Sandy, Ore. - 1st, PV, 18-8.75
LJ - Leonidas Watson, RJr., St. Louis, Mo. - 7th, 25-6.5
TJ - Leonidas Watson, RJr., St. Louis, Mo. - 9th, 52-10.25
Hep. - Gabriel LeMay, RSr., Yoncalla, Ore. - 17th, 5,443
Hep. - Andy Young, RSo., Newberg, Ore. - 20th, 5,385
Hep. - Ryan Voge, RSo., Hillsboro, Ore. - 39th, 5,194 Seattle Preview
In the UW Last Chance Qualifier in Seattle, Sat., March 5, redshirt senior Eri Macdonald will seek her first NCAA invite in the 800. The Honolulu, Hawai’i native ranks 20th nationally with an indoor personal best and provisional qualifier of 2:08.12 and will likely need a time within a quarter-second of her outdoor best of 2:06.37 from 2002 (15th is currently 2:06.97). Senior pole vaulter Kirsten Larwin looks for her first NCAA mark this season and will probably need to clear a height of 13-1 3/4 (4.01m) to have a chance at qualifying (15th is currently 13-2 1/2). The Eugene native vaulted an indoor best of 13-3 1/2 last season in her final two appearances of 2003, including her NCAA debut (10th), and just missed All-America honors on overall misses. This season she owns a best of 12-9 1/2. Redshirt senior Amanda Brown will chase her second NCAA invite and first indoors in the long jump or triple jump. Last year, the Eugene native earned an NCAA outdoor triple jump bid after she took second in the West Regional - an impressive feat since the pre-meet ninth seed practiced little the week before because of an ankle injury. She will likely need to clear 20-7 or 42-11 Saturday for a trip to Fayetteville (15th in the two events currently are 20-5 1/4 and 42-11, respectively).
Two Duck men will also vie for NCAA bids in Seattle. Senior and All-America pole vaulter Trevor Woods will chase his second NCAA indoor trip after taking third with an indoor best (17-11 3/4) in the 2002 collegiate indoor finale. The Coos Bay, Ore., native owns a current season best of 17-0 from last weekend’s Mountain Pacific Championships in Seattle, and will need probably to clear at least 17-6 1/4 to have a chance for an invite (there is a current two-way tie at 14th at 17-5 3/4). Sophomore high jumper Jeff Lindsey met the NCAA minimum provisional mark of 7-1 1/2 (2.17m) three weeks ago in the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa and will need to go at least a quarter-inch higher for a chance. There’s currently a two-way tie at 14th at 7-1 3/4, and a six-way tie at 16th at 7-1 1/2 (and the NCAA committee unable to break a tie to determine invites in any event).
Other Duck women’s entries for Seattle include sprinters Michelle Donovan, C’Rel McAlister, Kayla Mellott, and Amanda Santana, distance runners Taylor Bryant and Laura Harmon, pole vaulters Emily Enders and Hannah Moore, jumpers Clarice Hayward-Lee and Maegan Traver. Men’s tentative entries sprinter Sam Hughes, hurdler AK Ikwuakor, middle distance runners Jeff DeWolf and Mike McGrath, distance runner Ryan Andrus, high jumper Joseph Reiter, and pole vaulters Jon Derby, David Moore and Andy Young.
The Seattle meet starts with the women’s weight throw at 9 am, and running events begin at 11 am. The last event, the men’s 4x400, starts at 3:15 pm. More meet information is at the University of Washington’s www.gohuskies.com website.
Florida Preview
A four-person group of sprinters will fly to Gainesville for the University of Florida’s Fast Times Qualifier, Sat., March 6. Junior Sofie Abdiltrup will make her first appearance of the season in the 400. She ran the 200 twice earlier this season (24.39, 24.87), with her debut just shy of the Duck all-time top-10 list (10th is 24.15). The first-year Duck from Fredericksberg, Denmark owns an outdoor 400 personal best 54.16 from 2002, while her 2003 best was close behind (54.36). To earn an NCAA invite, she’ll likely need a time of 53.30 or faster with 15th currently at 53.49.
The Duck men are tentatively sending three entries to Gainesville. Sophomore hurdler Eric Mitchum is chasing his second NCAA invite and first indoors in the 60 hurdles, but probably needs to run .01 or .02 seconds faster. The Calumet City, Ill., native is currently tied for 16th nationally with his .04-second school record (7.81) from last weekend. This year, Mitchum has dipped under the NCAA provisional mark (7.85) in all six of his races, while only three collegians have met the NCAA automatic mark (7.70). Sophomore Matt Scherer ranks 11th nationally in the 400 (46.40) and third among sophomores, and looks to already have an odds-on chance to qualify. The Sumner, Ill., native is only .15 seconds away from the auto standard (46.15), and .22 seconds ahead of the current 15th-ranked collegian (46.62). Scherer made his NCAA debut outdoors last year in the 400 (14th, 46.47) where he ran his current outdoor personal best - a time that missed the semifinal by .04 seconds (and two places) and moved him to sixth all-time for the Ducks. This year’s indoor best has moved him up a notch to fifth for the Ducks. Fellow sophomore Travis Anderson will make his season debut in the 400 after ranking second among Duck sprinters indoors this year in the 200 (21.88) behind Scherer (21.41). The Arvada, Colo., native owned a freshman indoor best of 47.98 from 2003, then ran a collegiate outdoor best of 47.48 in the USA Junior Championships. The duo will head to Arkansas next week regardless, as part of the NCAA automatic qualifying 4x400 that broke the school record three weeks ago in Ames, Iowa (3:06.24), that also included senior Brandon Holliday and junior Roderick Dotts.
Idaho Preview
Redshirt senior Abby Andrus looms as the Ducks’ other last-chance nominee, and will head to the McDonald’s Last Chance Meet in Moscow, Idaho, Sat., March 6 for her third pentathlon of the indoor season. She opened her season in Pocatello four weeks ago with a score of 3,558 points - 142 points shy of the NCAA provisional standard. Last weekend, she was on pace for an NCAA invite in the Mountain Pacific Championships with multi-event personal bests in the 60 hurdles (fifth, 8.96), high jump (second, 5-7) and shot put (fifth, 35-10 1/2), but unfortunately fouled her first two long jump tries, then salvaged a 15-2 3/4 third attempt. She withdrew from the final event (800) to save her strength for this weekend's attempt.
Entire NCAA Qualifying List
A complete list of NCAA collegiate rankings are available at Oregon’s www.goducks.com website in the ?statisics’ dropdown menu.
In last week’s Mountain Pacific Championships finale at the University of Washington, redshirt senior Amanda Brown paced the women with a pair of personal bests in the long jump and triple jump by more than nine inches in both (third, 19-10 1/4; 41-5 3/4). The Eugene native joined the Oregon all-time top-10 long jump list (ninth) for the first time, and also climbed two spots in the triple jump to second all-time behind school record holder Sara Howell (42-6, 1995). Senior Bree Fuqua also climbed up one spot to second on the Oregon shot put list with a 3 1/2-inch indoor best (third, 51-3 1/2) that also moved up the NCAA provisional list slightly. The sprints featured indoor bests in the 400 prelims from junior Michelle Donovan (ninth, 57.53) and senior C’Rel McAllister (13th, 58.54), and junior Kayla Mellott (12th, 58.31) was only .09 seconds shy of her indoor best, while the 4x400 (fourth, 3:48.89) ended less than a quarter-second shy of their season best. Redshirt sophomore Sara Schaaf clocked nearly a second indoor best in the 800 prelims (seventh, 2:12.03-p; 2:13.96-final). Redshirt junior Laura Harmon ran a one-second personal best in the 3,000 (ninth, 9:49.85) and missed scoring by less than two seconds. On the men’s side in Seattle last weekend, redshirt junior Leonidas Watson boomed a two-foot, two-inch season best to win the triple jump (52-10 1/4) on the last day by more than a foot and moved to fourth all-time for the Ducks. That same NCAA provisional mark was more than two feet better than his previous season best (50-8), and was barely a half-foot away from the NCAA automatic mark (53-5 3/4). He had three other jumps more than a foot better than his previous season best (50-8) after he opened at 52-0 1/2, cleared 51-1 on his third try and 51-11 3/4 on his fourth effort. After he cleared his daily best on his fifth try (52-10 1/4), he passed his sixth attempt with the win already decided. On the first day, he nudged up the long jump NCAA provisional list with a 3/4-inch personal best (third, 25-6 1/4) that was only three inches away from the NCAA automatic mark (25-9 1/4). In the 60 hurdles, sophomore Eric Mitchum ran a .04-second school record (second, 7.81; 7.93-p), and was only .01 seconds behind the winner in his fifth race in 2004 under the NCAA provisional mark (7.95). On the first day of the meet, sophomore and national pole vault leader Tommy Skipper cleared the third-highest mark of his career and his second 18-foot bar in three weeks with four-inch winning mark (18-1 3/4, 5.53m). Three other Duck pole vaulters finished top eight and met the Pac-10 qualifying mark of 16-4 3/4 - senior Trevor Woods (fifth, season best 17-0), sophomore Jon Derby (seventh, PR 16-6) and freshman David Moore (eighth, indoor PR 16-6). Sophomore high jumper Teddy Davis turned in a one-inch season best (fifth, 6-9 3/4) and tied sophomore teammate Jeff Lindsey. Freshmen Bobby Owen (ninth, 6-8) and Joseph Reiter (10th, 6-6) also finished top 10 with marks 3/4 inches under their season bests of 6-8 3/4 and 6-6 3/4, respectively. Junior Derek Strubel added points in the triple jump (sixth, 50-3 1/2) and was a half-inch off his personal best from two weekends before, and senior Brandon Holliday (eighth, 48.33) paced a quartet of season bests in the 400 prelims that included junior Scott Lamb (ninth, 48.55), sophomore AK Ikwuakor (14th, 48.69) and freshman Jeff DeWolf (22nd, 49.38). Two other Ducks, redshirt sophomores Andy Young (third, 5,385) and Ryan Voge (eighth, 5,194), easily met the NCAA provisional standard of 5,100 points and all three made their season debuts. The Yoncalla, Ore., native LeMay won by a slim six-point margin after he stood fifth on the first day (2,937), ahead of Voge (seventh, 2,894) and Young (ninth, 2,810).
In Fayetteville, Ark., last March (3/14-15/03), Samie Parker led the UO men with his second straight top-fourth in the 60 (third, 6.64). The first day, he lowered his school record in the event prelim by .01 seconds (fourth, 6.62), even after the field was whistled back after two false starts. The Long Beach, Calif., native entered the meet seeded 13th of 17 entries with a regular season best of 6.68, and in the final stood as the highest returning finisher from the 2002 edition. Overall in the event final, East Carolina's Julien Dunkley (first, 6.54) lowered his collegiate season best for the second straight day, this time by a .01-second margin, and edged Mississippi State senior and Canadian Pierre Browne (6.60) and Texas senior Tre Gardner (third, 6.62). Two months later, Dunkley was ruled ineligible so Parker improved one place from his initial fourth place. In first day action, Adam Kriz added 15th in the 35-lb. weight throw in his NCAA indoor debut with his third-best mark ever (64-9 1/4). The Toledo, Ore., native entered the meet seeded 15th with a season best of 67-7 that ranked him 15th nationally, as the fifth-year Duck notched personal bests in his previous four meets in 2003, and all five of season marks, including the NCAA finale, outdistanced his preseason best of 61-7 1/2. In the collegiate indoor showdown, he launched his daily best on his first effort, then lost control and never released his second throw as he slowed his momentum, while his third throw - likely a new daily best - crossed over the left sector line by a couple inches. In the team race, the Ducks finished 34th with six points.
Last March (3/14-15/03), redshirt senior Becky Holliday (second, indoor school record 14-3 1/4) led a trio of top-10 Duck finishers in the NCAA Indoor Championships pole vault and just missed winning the event. Second seeded entering the competition, she did not miss an attempt until her final height of 14-7 1/4 and was in prime position to win after first-attempt clearances at 13-3 1/2, 13-7 1/4 and 14-3 1/4, until Florida State sophomore Lacy Janson cleared her third and final attempt at 14-7 1/4 (then missed her three attempts at the next height of 14-10 3/4). Even more impressive, the Sparks, Nevada native Holliday cleared the last three heights on a borrowed pole from an Arkansas vaulter, after the correct pole was inadvertently left in Eugene. In contrast, Holliday's final clearance was nearly two feet higher than her season opener in mid-January, the Pole Vault Summit (12-5 1/2 ). Afterwards in February, she picked up momentum with marks of 13-2 1/4 and a school record 14-1 3/4 in a pair of meets in Nampa, Idaho. Redshirt senior Niki McEwen also wrapped up her indoor collegiate career by matching her highest NCAA placing with her second-highest clearance ever (fourth, 13-11 1/4). The Newport, Ore., native also began the competition with a clean slate converting opening attempts at 13-3 1/2, 13-7 1/4 and 13-11 1/4, before narrowly missing several of her chances at 14-3 1/4. The third seed entering the meet, McEwen's finish marked her third All-America honor for the Ducks in her sixth NCAA appearance indoors and outdoors, including fifth place outdoors in 1999 (12-9 1/2) and fourth place indoors in 2000 (13-5 1/4). Indoors in 2003, she stood out as the Ducks’ most consistent pole vaulter with four clearances of 13-9 1/4 or better, including a then-school record in her season opener (14-1 1/4) in the Pole Vault Summit. However, her toughness stood out after she had missed two weeks of training in mid-February because of a bout with shingles. Rounding out Oregon's third, top-10 finisher in the event, junior Kirsten Riley (Larwin) enjoyed an auspicious NCAA debut, and matched her personal best (10th, 13-3 1/2) and just missed her attempts at a 4 1/4-inch improvement (13-7 3/4). The Eugene native and South High School graduate entered the meet seeded in a tie for 13th, and opened the evening with first-attempt clearances at 12-5 1/2 and 12-11 1/2. She then needed a third-attempt clearance at 13-3 1/2 on the same borrowed pole that Holliday used for her runner-up finish. Overall in the event, indoor collegiate record holder and top seeded Amy Linnen of Arizona followed in sixth, while other top placers included Arkansas’ April Steiner (third, 14-3 1/4) and Georgia’ Fanni Juhasz (fifth, 13-7 1/4). The NCAA field altogether featured six Pac-10 entries - all of whom finished top-12. Overall in the team race, the Ducks finished 15th with 13 points.
Sizing up this year’s teams, the Duck men and women return after 13th and 17th-place finishes in the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and first and seventh-place Pac-10 Conference finishes, respectively.
The Duck men return nine NCAA qualifiers and a 4x400 relay from last year’s NCAA outdoor finale, including three All-Americans (Jason Hartmann, 10K, fourth; Trevor Woods, pole vault, eighth; Eric Logsdon, 5K, eighth), to go along with two Pac-10 champions (Brandon Holliday, 400 hurdles; Adam Jenkins, javelin). Seven Duck men are ranked top-10 in UO history - Eric Mitchum (110 hurdles, second, 13.75), Jason Hartmann (10,000, third, 28:31.96), Trevor Woods (pole vault, fourth, 18-0 1/2), Jordan Kent (200, sixth, 20.99; 100, eighth, 10.46), Matt Scherer (400, sixth, 46.47), Brandon Holliday (400 hurdles, seventh, 50.73) and Adam Jenkins (javelin, eighth, 222-4).
The Duck women return three All-Americans in 2003 - javelin throwers Sarah Malone (javelin-2001, 7th), Roslyn Lundeen (javelin-2002, 7th, 2003, 8th) and Elisa Crumley (javelin-2002, 13th), and two other NCAA veterans from last season - senior Kirsten Larwin (indoor pole vault, 10th) and Abby Andrus (heptathlon, 18th). Current Ducks on the all-time top-10 lists include Sarah Malone (javelin, first, 179-2), Elisa Crumley (javelin, second, 169-7), Kirsten (Riley) Larwin (pole vault, third, 13-3 1/2), Amanda Brown (triple jump, fourth, 40-9 1/2), Mary Etter (shot put, fourth, 49-1 1/4), Abby Andrus (heptathlon, fifth, 5,303; 400 hurdles, sixth, 59.90; 100 hurdles, seventh, 14.00), Eri Macdonald (800, seventh, 2:06.37), Hannah Moore (pole vault, seventh, 12-6 1/4), Jill Hoxmeier (hammer, eighth, 162-6), and Kayla Mellott (400 hurdles, ninth, 61.30).
Top Duck women’s newcomers in 2004 include junior sprinter Sofie Abildtrup from Fredericksburg, Denmark (PRs - 100 - 11.84 (1999); 200 - 24.02 (1999); 400 - 54.16 (2002)), freshman pole vaulter Emily Enders from Everett, Wash. (12-7), junior shot putter and Wisconsin transfer Bree Fuqua (51-5 1/2), and freshman hurdler Amanda Santana (300H 43.95). Top men’s newcomers include sophomore hurdler and Colorado transfer AK Ikwuakor (110H 14.10, 400H 51.99), junior middle distance runner and Barton CC transfer Roderick Dotts (800 1:48.41), freshman miler Mike McGrath (1:48.56, 1,500 3:47.5, mile 4:05.28), junior jumper and St. Louis CC transfer Leon Watson (LJ 25-8, TJ 53-0), freshman pole vaulter Tommy Skipper (pole vault HS-18-3, college indoors-18-8 3/4), junior thrower and Clackamas CC thrower Paul Etter from Everett Wash. (HT 199-3, DT 153-5, SP 48-4). The 2004 season marks the unification the men’s and women’s programs after former women’s coach Tom Heinonen retired last June after his 27th season at the helm. Martin Smith returns for his sixth season in charge of the men’s program and will oversee the women’s program for the first time. The rest of the Duck women’s staff is composed of first-year assistant coaches Rock Light (sprints, hurdles, jumps, heptathlon), Marnie Mason (distances) and Lance Deal (throws). The men’s staff is composed of Bill Lawson (jumps, decathlon, fourth year), Dan Steele (sprints, hurdles, relays, second year), and Deal (throws, second year). ? www.GoDucks.com ?Last Week's Review
2003 NCAA Men's Indoor Rewind
2003 NCAA Women's Rewind
2004 Season Outlook
Duck Men to Watch
Duck Women to Watch
Newcomers to Watch
Coaching Update
