Track Teams Accept 11 Invites to NCAA Indoor Champs
EUGENE - Looking ahead to this weekend's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, the University of Oregon men’s and women’s teams will send their largest combined contingent to the two-day indoor finale, scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 12-13 in the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Duck men earned seven invites in a variety of events - senior Ryan Andrus (5,000), juniors Leonidas Watson (long jump, triple jump), sophomores Eric Mitchum (60 hurdles), Matt Scherer (400), and freshman Tommy Skipper (pole vault) - and Scherer will team up with senior Brandon Holliday, junior Roderick Dotts, and sophomore Travis Anderson for the 4x400 relay's first-ever indoor NCAA appearance. Three of the six Duck individuals are NCAA outdoor veterans from 2003 (Andrus, 10,000, 13th, 29:11.04; Scherer, 400-prelims, 18th, 46.47; Mitchum, 110H-semis, 12th, 13.89), while the 4x400 set a then-school record last June in Sacramento (11th-prelims, 3:06.73) with their two-second season best. The entire Duck men’s contingent will each chase their first-ever All-America honors, with Andrus a one-time honoree in cross country (34th in 2002) and first-year transfers Watson and Dotts former junior college indoor champions.
The Duck women will send four individuals to the collegiate finale - seniors Abby Andrus (pentathlon) and Eri Macdonald (800) and juniors Hannah Moore (pole vault) and Magdalena Sandoval (5,000). All four Duck women will make their NCAA indoor debuts, with Andrus an NCAA veteran outdoors in 2003 (heptathlon, 18th, 5,019) and Sandoval an NCAA cross country qualifier last fall (105th after a fall in the opening 400 meters). None of the group has ever earned an All-America honor, while Andrus was a junior college national runner-up in 2002.
Oregon Men’s & Women’s Indoor NCAA Qualifiers = 11 (7 M / 4 W)
400 - Matt Scherer, So., Sumner, Ill. - 13th, 46.40, 2-14
*5K - Ryan Andrus, Sr., Orem, Utah - 4th, 13:51.00, 3-6
60H - Eric Mitchum, Calumet City, Ill. - 9th-tie, 7.78, 3-6
*4x400 - Anderson, Holliday, Dotts, Scherer - 7th, 3:06.54, 2-14
*PV - Tommy Skipper, Fr., Sandy, Ore. - 1st, 18-8.75, 5.71m, 2-7
LJ - Leonidas Watson, RJr., St. Louis, Mo. - 8th-tie, 25-6.5, 7.78m, 2-28; TJ - 8th, 52-10.25, 16.11m, 2-28
800 - Eri Macdonald, RSr., Honolulu, Hawai’i - 14th, 2:06.75, 3-6
5K - Magdalena Sandoval, Jr., Los Alamos, N.M. - 6th, 16:04.40, 2-14
PV - Hannah Moore, Jr., Reno Nevada - 10th, 13-5, 4.09m, 3-6
Pent. - Abby Andrus, RSr., Peoria, Ariz. - 11th, 3,908, 3-6
*= automatic qualifier
Others Who Didn't Earn/Accept Invites But Had Provisional Marks = 9 (6 M / 3 W)
800 - Ryan Flaherty, So., Bend, Ore. - 46th, 1:50.14, 2-14
5K - Jason Hartmann, Sr., Rockford, Mich. - 24th, 14:01.95, 2-14
HJ - Jeff Lindsey, So., Mansfield, Texas - 19th-tie, 7-1.5, 2.17m, 2-14
Hep. - Gabriel LeMay, Sr., Yoncalla, Ore. - 17th, 5,443, 2-28
Hep. - Andy Young, So., Newberg, Ore. - 20th, 5,385, 2-28
Hep. - Ryan Voge, So., Hillsboro, Ore. - 40th, 5,194, 2-28
400 - Sophie Abildtrup, Jr., Fredericksberg, Denmark - 45th, 54.46, 3-06
3K - Magdalena Sandoval, RJr., Los Alamos, N.M. - 41st, 9:33.56, 1-17
SP - Bree Fuqua, Sr., Poulson, Mont. - 31st, 53-0.5, 15.63m, 02-28
Among Pac-10 teams, the Oregon men featured the most qualifiers (7), ahead of Stanford (6), UCLA (6), ASU (5), Arizona & WSU (4), Washington (2), Cal & USC (1). The Duck women ranked third (4) for most qualifiers behind UCLA (10) and Stanford (5), and tied with ASU, Arizona and Washington and ahead of WSU and Cal (1).
The Duck women and men return after 15th and 34th-place team finishes in the 2003 NCAA indoor finale and scores of 13 and 6 points, respectively. Graduated pole vaulters Becky Holliday (second), Niki McEwen (fourth) and senior Kirsten Larwin (10th) all took top-10 finishes, and former UO men Samie Parker and Adam Kriz finished third and 15th, in the 60 and weight throw, respectively. Outdoors in 2003, the Duck men and women followed with 13th and 17th-place team efforts and 19 1/4 and 13 1/2 points, respectively.
A full list of entries for the NCAA Indoor Championships is available at the www.ncaasports.com web site, and the host University of Arkansas Athletic Department has additional information posted on its www.hogwired.com and www.ladybacks.com web sites.
The team races look to favor recent champions as the Arkansas men are projected comfortably ahead of Auburn, Florida, LSU and Michigan. On the women’s side, LSU holds a slim hypothetical edge over Florida, Nebraska, Texas and Tennessee in what could be the tightest ever NCAA women’s finale.
Looking ahead to the upcoming outdoor campaign, the Ducks open their home schedule at Hayward Field with the Oregon Preview, Sat., March 20, tentatively scheduled for an 11:30 am start. Ticket prices are $ 6 for reserved seats, $ 5 for adult general admission (GA), $ 3 for kids and senior citizen GA, and $ 2 individually for group rates. Call the Duck ticket office at 1-800-WEB-FOOT or (541) 346-4461 for more information.
NCAA Indoor Championships Schedule & Duck Entries
Friday, March 12, 2004
9 a.m. M Hep - 60
9:45 M Hep - LJ
10:45 M Hep - SP
Noon M Hep - HJ
Noon W WT
2:30 p.m. M HJ
2:30 M SP
4:00 W LJ
4:30 W 800 Prelim - Eri Macdonald, Sr. (14th, 2:06.75)
4:45 M 800 Prelim
5:05 W 60H Prelim
5:20 M 60H Prelim - Eric Mitchum, So. (9th-tie, 7.78)
5:35 W PV - Hannah Moore, Jr. (10th, 13-5)
5:40 W 400 Prelim
5:50 M 400 Prelim - Matt Scherer, So. (13th, 46.40)
6:00 M LJ - Leonidas Watson, RJr. (8th-tie, 25-6.5)
6:15 W 60 Prelim
6:30 M 60 Prelim
6:45 W Mile Prelim
7:05 M Mile Prelim
7:20 W 200 Prelim
7:35 M 200 Prelim
7:50 W 5,000 - Magdalena Sandoval, RJr. (6th, 16:04.40)
8:10 W 60H
8:20 M 60H - Eric Mitchum, So. (9th-tie, 7.78)
8:30 M 5,000 - Ryan Andrus, RSr. (4th, 13:51.00)
8:50 W 200
9:00 M 200
9:10 W DMR
9:30 M DMR
Saturday, March 13, 2004
11:00 W Pent - 60H - Abby Andrus (11th, 3,908 (8.96))
11:30 M Hep - 60H
12:15 W Pent - HJ - Abby Andrus (11th, 3,908 (5-7))
12:45 M Hep - PV
2:00 M WT
2:15 W Pent - SP - Abby Andrus (11th, 3,908 (35-7))
3:15 W Pent - LJ - Abby Andrus (11th, 3,908 (18-9.75))
4:00 M Hep - 1,000
4:10 W TJ
4:30 W SP
4:30 W Pent - 800 - Abby Andrus, Sr. (11th, 3,908 (2:23.10))
4:45 W HJ
5:30 M PV - Tommy Skipper, Fr. (1st, 18-8.75)
5:45 M TJ - Leonidas Watson, RJr. (8th, 52-10.25)
6:05 W Mile
6:15 M Mile
6:25 W 800 - Eri Macdonald, RSr. (14th, 2:06.75)
6:35 M 800
6:45 W 400
6:55 M 400 - Matt Scherer, So. (13th, 46.40)
7:05 W 60
7:15 M 60
7:25 W 3,000
7:40 M 3,000
7:55 W 4x400
8:10 M 4x400 - Oregon
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