This week, the Ducks remain at home for the Oregon Twilight, Sat., May 1, in their final weekend of action before the Pac-10 Championships head to Tucson, Ariz., for the hep-dec (Fri.-Sat., May 7-8) and the meet’s remainder (Fri.-Sat., May 14-15).
Saturday evening's affair will run from 4 pm in the afternoon until 8 pm at night and will feature a mix of Ducks with various intentions. Some will focus on their primary events to improve their standings on the Pac-10 and regional lists, and others may step up or down a distance to sharpen their strength and speed at other distances. Competition will include a mix of collegians from West Coast schools of all sizes and select post-collegians mostly from the area. The meet will conclude Saturday with another edition of the Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight Mile. The race commemorates the hometown hero and Duck 5,000 and 10,000 record holder who owned a 3:56.36 mile best from the Oregon Twilight effort in 1981 when he redshirted his would-be senior season.
Last week in the Oregon Invitational (4/22-24), the UO M&W posted 10 wins (6M/4W), 30 Pac-10 marks (19M/11W) and 24 regional marks (13M/11W). NCAA vet and sophomore Matt Scherer won the 400 in his outdoor season debut in the 400 (47.11) with a Pac-10 and regional qualifier. All-America javelin thrower and junior Sarah Malone enjoyed her third meet past 174 feet en route to the win (174-5), and still leads the collegiate list with her school record in early April (179-7).
This Week's Oregon Twilight Meet Info
Date: Saturday, May 1
Location: Hayward Field, University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
First Field Events: 4 pm - M Javelin / W Hammer
First Running Event: 4:10 pm - W 4x100 Relay
Last Event: 8 pm - Memorial Twilight Mile
Results Web Site: www.GoDucks.com
Schools: George Fox, Pacific, Portland, Puget Sound, Seattle Pacific, St. Martin’s, Willamette, Western Oregon, Western State
Promotions: Tickets from Saturday’s softball game vs. top-five ranked Washington (3 pm start) are also good for the track meet, and vice versa. Saturday's track meet is also a Bi-Mart Family Day - show your Bi-Mart family card and tickets cost $10 for two adults and unlimited kids.
Single Meet Track & Field Tickets: Reserved $6; General Admission - $5 Adult, $3 Children (high school or younger) and Senior Citizens (62 or older). $2 per person group rates (10 or more). The Bowerman Building ticket office will open Saturday at 8 am. ***NOTE: Tickets from Saturday's Team XO Invite (for high schoolers) in the morning are also good for the evening Oregon Twilight, however, Oregon Twilight tickets are not good for the XO Invite (see next paragraph for more details on the XO Invite).
GOT TRACK?: Track City Offers Second Helping with Saturday’s XO Invite.
On Saturday, Hayward Field will be a busy place when it also welcomes the first-annual Team XO Invitational. The team-scored invitational will host 32 of the state’s top teams that will each bring a combined 32 boy’s and girl’s athletes (and other top individuals will also compete). The first event is at 9 am, and the meet ends at 4:55 pm. Tickets are available at the gate ($7 GA, $5 students, kids under 5 free). The meet is sponsored by the Eugene-based Team XO track club composed primarily of ex-Oregon athletes, and more info on the meet and team is available at the www.teamxo.com website.
DUCK WOMEN’S UPDATE: Andrus Makes Heptathlon Season Debut.
This week, junior Sofie Abildtrup returns to the track after an off-week to try and climb the Pac-10 lists. She became the fourth Duck female to rank top-10 in the school history in the 100, 200 and 400 with her 2004 season bests of 12.01 (#10), 23.94 (#7) and 54.49 (#9). Other Duck women that pulled the hat trick include Rosie Williams who is top-ranked in the 100 (11.58) and 200 (23.39) and 10th in the 400 (54.56), Stefanie Hunter (100 #7 11.94; 200 #3 23.75, 400 #6 54.05) and Nicole Commissiong (100 #10t 12.01; 200 #5 23.89; 400 #2 52.65). In all four of her outdoor 2004 contests, NCAA pole vault indoor veteran and senior Kirsten Larwin has topped 13 feet after she entered the campaign with a prior 12-10 preseason outdoor best. She cleared 13-1 1/2 in three of those appearances, sandwiched around her current best of 13-3 1/2 at Texas the first weekend of April (that featured several close misses at 13-7). The Eugene native and South High School was an NCAA qualifier indoors in 2003 (10th, 13-3 1/2) and was shy of All-America honors only on misses (eighth ended at the same height). Junior teammate and unattached entrant Hannah Moore was the surprise of the 2004 indoor campaign after her more than one-foot personal best in the Last Chance Qualifier (13-5) in Seattle in March that ranked her 10th nationally among collegians. She followed with her second-highest mark ever in the NCAA indoor finale (13th, 12-11 1/2) and currently ranks third all-time for the Ducks behind former NCAA champion (Becky Holliday, 14-8) and four-time All-American Niki McEwen (14-1 1/4). Outdoors, Moore has played it low-key and is redshirting since she’s on a five-year academic plan. Saturday will be her fourth outdoor meet of 2004, and the Reno, Nevada native cleared 12-9 1/2 in the Oregon Preview and 12-6 in the Pepsi Mini-Meet ? both near or above her previous outdoor best of 12-6 1/4 that placed 16th in last year’s West Regional. Javelin school record holder and top-ranked collegian Sarah Malone (179-7) continues to lead the 2004 collegiate list. The hammer is the team’s breakout event of 2004, as first-year event novice and sophomore Megan Kriz climbed another spot on the UO all-time list to third last week in the Oregon Invite (184-1), and is two feet, five inches away from second. Sophomore Whitney Gum has improved 28 feet from last year’s former personal best and now stands seventh all-time for Oregon (174-10), and both Ducks are Pac-10 and regional qualifiers. Junior transfer Katie Kersh leapfrogged two spots and one inch ahead of Gum and now stands sixth all-time for the Ducks (174-11). Unattached junior and WSU transfer Brittany Hinchcliffe leads the lot but is redshirting due to conference transfer rules. She opened her career in Eugene in March with a 10-foot personal best in her Oregon Preview win (197-2), then improved again in the Oregon Invitational (200-3) with a mark that would rank her fourth this week in the Pac-10 if she were eligible. The current Duck school record was set by former NCAA qualifier Jordan Sauvage last year (191-4) who hiked the best almost five feet in 2003. Junior Bree Fuqua stands second for the Ducks all-time in the shot put with her indoor best of 51-3 1/2 that was only two inches off her personal best and Wisconsin school record. Last week, she moved closer to a top-10 all-time ranking in the discus with her three-foot, seven-inch season best (164-1) ? less than two feet from her Badger best (165-7) ? and a toss of 166-9 or better would move her to 10th all-time for the Ducks. Senior Jill Hoxmeier is also knocking on the door of the top-10 lists with this year’s discus best (162-0), and is only two inches away from 10th in the hammer (11th, 162-6, 2003).
DUCK MEN’S UPDATE: Ducks Sprint & Field Event Turn Up the Heat.
Sophomore Matt Scherer ran 47.11 last week in his season opener in the 400, and immediately notched Pac-10 and regional invites. The Sumner, Ill., native was an NCAA qualifier outdoors in the 400 in 2003 (18th-p, outdoor PR 46.47), and indoors in ?04 (12th, 46.77). He was last seen previously on the oval in the NCAA indoor finale where he strained a hamstring on his 4x400 anchor, the day after he ran the 400 prelims. Outdoor Duck newcomer and junior Kedar Inico has run three races for the Ducks since his transfer from Barton Community College. The Queens, NY native ran 21.20w in the Oregon Invite last week and finished second, and opened his Duck career with marks of 47.43 in the Pepsi Team Invite and 47.33 (unattached) in the Oregon Preview. Sophomore Travis Anderson will also set his sights on the Duck all-time list, and his 2004 outdoor season best of 47.93 is only .11 seconds away from 10th-ranked Howard Moore’s time of 46.83 from 1998. The Arvada, Colo., native is also only .05 seconds away from the all-time UO list in the 200 with his season best of 21.27 from the Pepsi Team Invitational. Sophomore high jumper Jeff Lindsey has nailed back-to-back seven-foot clearances at home the past three weeks in the Pepsi Team Invite (first, 7-1 3/4) and Oregon Invite (7-0 1/2). Indoors in 2004, the Mansfield, Texas native cleared an indoor best of 7-1 3/4 and tied for 19th nationally. One of his next goals will be to improve upon his 7-2 prep best that came as a senior in 2002. All-America sophomore Eric Mitchum smashed the school record in the 110 hurdles by .13 seconds two weeks ago in the Mt. SAC Relays (13.53, w:2.0). The previous weeks he climbed to second on the 2004 national collegiate list in the Texas Relays (Sat., 4/3) with the fastest Duck clocking ever, albeit wind-aided (13.50w, w:3.0), then followed last week with a wind-legal personal best in his Pepsi Team Invitational (Sat., 4/10, 13.70w, first, w:1.60). Indoors in March, he finished sixth in the NCAA 60 hurdle final the same day he crushed the school indoor record with the second-fastest time overall in the prelims (7.69). Junior and Clackamas transfer Paul Etter is now only two feet away from the UO all-time top-10 list (10th is Nick Anastassiades who threw 202-1 in 1991) and will likely again face former Duck and two-time Pac-10 champ Adam Kriz who upped his best almost two feet in the Oregon Invite last week (223-2). Etter, younger brother of recent Duck discus All-American Mary Etter, debuted for the Ducks in March’s Oregon Preview with his season best and Pac-10 and regional qualifier (195-9). Senior and returning Pac-10 champion Adam Jenkins looks to climb the Pac-10 list and is ranked third with his season best of 218-0. The Gladstone, Ore., native is the top returnee from last year’s West Regional where he finished seventh and threw his season best (222-4).
OREGON TWILIGHT MEET SCHEDULE
*NOTE: Updated again on Thurday, 4/29/04 at 11 am (changes made since Wed., 4/28/04 at 5 pm were only to last hour of meet)
4:00 pm W Hammer
4:00 pm M Javelin
*4:30 pm W Pole Vault (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at 4 pm)
5:00 pm W Javelin
5:40 pm M Hammer
6:00 pm W 4x100
6:00 pm W Triple Jump
6:00 pm W Discus
6:00 pm M High Jump
6:00 pm M Shot Put
*6:00 pm M Pole Vault (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at 4 pm)
6:05 pm M 4x100
6:10 pm W 100 Hurdles
6:15 pm M 110 Hurdles
6:20 pm W 1500
6:30 pm Girl's Middle School Mile
6:40 pm Boy's Middle School Mile
6:50 pm M 100
6:55 Officials Service Pin Presentation
7:00 pm W Shot Put
7:00 pm M Triple Jump
7:00 pm M Discus
7:10 pm W 800
7:15 pm W 200 (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at noon)
7:20 pm W 400 Hurdles (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at noon)
7:25 pm M 400 Hurdles (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at noon)
7:35 pm M 400 (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at noon)
7:40 pm M 800 (*adjusted Friday 4/30 at noon)
7:45 pm M Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight Mile
8:00 pm Senior Last Lap, Men and Women
THE MAGICAL MILE: Twilight Finale Renews Tradition Dating Back to 1966.
In 19 of the previous 36 editions of the Twilight Meet mile, 38 runners have combined to break the 4:00-minute barrier in the Hayward Field staple 58 times. The meet endured a short dry spell from 1992-1998 when nobody averaged sub-60 laps (although three of the five 1,500 editions in that span were on sub-4:00 pace). Since then, eight runners have eclipsed the magical barrier when Adam Goucher kickstarted the run in his 1999 win (3:57.63). That recent span includes Duck All-American Steve Fein who became Oregon's 27th sub-4:00 miler in 2000 (he stands 22nd at 3:59.46) - the same year he was tabbed an All-American in the 1,500. The annual meet has obviously benefitted from Oregon's tradition in the 1,500/mile that dates back to NCAA champions Bill Dellinger (1954) and Jim Bailey (1955), Jim Grelle (1959) and Dyrol Burleson (1960, 61, 62) - a quartet that all made Olympic appearances. The all-time fastest Twilight mile was run by another former UO collegiate champ, Dub Myers in 1986 (3:55.31), three weeks before he won the NCAA 1,500 title (3:41.72). A list of former honorees follows.
Oregon Twilight Champions & Sub-4:00 Milers
1966, Dyrol Burleson, 3:57.3; Roscoe Divine, 3:59.1; Wade Bell, 3:59.8
1969, Mike Manley, 4:01.8
1970, Roscoe Divine, 3:56.3; Steve Prefontaine, 3:57.4; Dave Wilborn, 3:58.2; Norm Trerise, 3:59.1; Steve Savage, 3:59.2
1971, Arne Kvalheim, 3:56:4; Steve Prefontaine, 3:57.4
1972, Steve Prefontaine, 3:56.7
1973, Steve Prefontaine, 3:55.0
1974, Paul Geis, 3:58.1; Mark Feig, 3:58.5
1975, Gary Barger, 4:02.7
1976, Peter Spir*, 3:43.8
1977, Peter Spir, 4:01.3
1978, Don Clary*, 3:47.0
1979, Matt Centrowitz, 3:59.7
1980, Matt Centrowitz, 3:57.77
1981, Tom Byers, 3:55.71; Bill McChesney, 3:56.36; Rudy Chapa, 3:57.04; Ed Spinney, 3:57.34; Ken Martin, 3:57.84
1982, Jim Hill, 3:56.41; Dan Aldridge, 3:59.87
1983, Dub Myers, 3:57.06; , Larry Mangan, 3:57.46; Ed Spinney, 3:58.02
1984, Dub Myers, 3:58.24; Larry Mangan, 3:58.36; Randy Wilson, 3:58.74; Mike Blackmore, 3:59.80
1985, Mike Blackmore, 3:59.81
1986, Dub Myers, 3:55.31; Mike Blackmore, 3:58.35; Kelly Britz, 3:58.55; Marty Hemsley, 3:59.70
1987, Dub Myers, 3:59.40; Harold Kuphaldt, 3:59.73; Rick Bergesen, 3:59.79; Mike Blackmore, 3:59.88
1988, Dub Myers, 3:57.44; Mike Blackmore, 3:57.46
1989, Alan Foster*, 3:42.12
1990, Eric Peterson*, 3:46.16
1991, Greg Whiteley, 3:59.22; Colin Dalton, 3:59.44
1992, Shannon Lemora, 4:04.01
1993, Shannon Lemora, 4:03.09
1994, Gordon Johnson, 4:00.23
1995, Gordon Johnson*, 3:41.38; Shannon Lemora*, 3:42.05; Daniel Das Neves*, 3:42.49
1996, Daniel Das Neves*, 3:44.01
1997, Ian Gillespie*, 3:44.84
1998, Ian Gillespie, 4:01.84
1999, Adam Goucher, 3:57.63
2000, Jason Pyrah, 3:57.63; Clyde Colenso, 3:58.49; Steve Fein, 3:59.35; Dan Browne, 3:59.71; Mike Miller, 3:59.86
2001, Mike Miller, 3:57.13
2002, Mike Miller, 4:02.26
2003, Nick Symmonds, 4:03.85
* Asterisk denotes 1,500
REMEMBERING BILL: Eugene's Own Bill McChesney Jr. Electrified Hayward Field as a Prep, Collegian & Post-Collegian.
The Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight mile is named after the Eugene native who owns Oregon records in the 5,000 (13:14.80) and 10,000 (27:50.82), but it is better remembered for his magical junior season. Following the lead of his older brothers, Steve and Tom, (who were also Duck distance runners), the younger McChesney rebounded from a heel injury in March and April of 1980 and debuted in the Pac-10 5,000 (third). Three weeks later, he repeated the same place in the NCAA 5,000 (13:47.96) as the top American in the Austin, Texas-hosted finale. The Olympic Trials followed in Eugene, and he inspired the homecrowd with a gutsy surge with a mile remaining in the 5,000. As the crowd roared, he pushed out to a 70-yard lead ? a gamble that eventually paid off with a third-place finish (13:34.4) and an Olympic Team spot. Later that summer in Europe, he became America’s second-fastest ever in the 5,000 (13:18.6) and sixth all-time in the 10,000 (27:58.50). He returned home in July to join the Duck sub-4:00 club at an Oregon Track Club all-comers meet (second, 3:59.1). In those three months, he dropped his 5K personal best almost 24 seconds (13:42.5-13:18.6) and more than a minute in the 10K from his prep personal best (29:06.8-27:58.50). In all-time national and world rankings, he stood top-five nationally in the 5,000 three years and fourth in the world in 1981 (13:15.77). In the 10,000, he ranked top-10 in the U.S. four years and ninth in the world in 1981 (27:47.50). He ran his 5K career best of 13:14.80 in 1982, while his 10K best of 27:47.25 came in 1981. Besides making the 1980 Olympic Team in the 5,000, he finished 15th in the 10,000 in the 1983 World Championships. Overall as a collegian, he claimed two All-America track honors in the 5,000, and two honors in cross country. His Oregon 5K best also stands as the American collegiate record with only Washington State Kenyan Henry Rono running faster at the collegiate level (13:08.4). As a redshirt and would-be senior in 1981, he lowered his mile best in the Oregon Twilight (second, 3:56.36) ? a race that featured a meet record five under the 4:00-minute barrier. In cross country, he raced in four NCAA Championships, including 28th overall as a freshman helping the team to its fourth NCAA title in 1977, and runner-up finishes in 1978 and 1979. He was equally decorated as a prep at South Eugene High School and helped the Axemen to four state cross country and three track team titles, and individually he won six state titles in track (3) and cross country (3). As a prep, he ran his six-mile (28:09.4) and 10,000-meter (29:06.8) national junior records during his junior year (3/20/76) at Hayward Field. On the relay front, he was a member of national record quartets in the four-mile relay (17:06.6) and distance medley (10:01.6). He broke Steve Prefontaine’s state meet record in the 3,200 by 12 seconds with his 8:50 clocking. Even today, he ranks third behind Pre (8:07.4) on the all-time state 3,000 list (8:16.2).
2004 MEN’S PREVIEW: Balanced Corps Already Championship-Tested.
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). Eleven Duck men are ranked top-10 in UO history - Tommy Skipper (pole vault, first, 18-8 3/4), Eric Mitchum (110 hurdles, first, 13.53), Jason Hartmann (10,000, third, 28:31.96), Trevor Woods (pole vault, fifth, 18-0 1/2), Leonidas Watson (triple jump, fourth, 52-10 1/4, long jump, ninth, 25-5 1/2), Jeff Lindsey (high jump, fifth, 7-1 1/2), Jordan Kent (200, sixth, 20.99; 100, eighth, 10.46), Matt Scherer (400, fifth, 46.40), Brandon Holliday (400 hurdles, seventh, 50.73), Ryan Andrus (10,000, eighth, 28:56.67) and Adam Jenkins (javelin, eighth, 222-4), and the 4x400 of Travis Anderson, Brandon Holliday, Roderick Dotts and Matt Scherer lowered the school record indoors (3:06.24). Indoors in 2004, the Duck men posted their most NCAA invites (7) and All-America (4) honors in school history, and their 18th-place team finish (13) was their second highest ever behind 2002 (ninth, 15 points). All-Americans included Tommy Skipper (pole vault, second, 18-4 1/2), Eric Mitchum (60 hurdles, sixth, 7.74) Ryan Andrus (5,000, seventh, 14:03.21) and Leonidas Watson (long jump, ninth, 25-2 1/2).
2004 WOMEN’S PREVIEW: Field Events Again Pace Charge in 2004.
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, 179-7), Elisa Crumley (javelin, second, 169-7), Megan Kriz (hammer, third, 184-1), Hannah Moore (pole vault, third, 13-5), Kirsten (Riley) Larwin (pole vault, fourth, 13-3 1/2), Abby Andrus (heptathlon, fifth, 5,303; 400 hurdles, sixth, 59.90; 100 hurdles, seventh, 14.00), Katie Kersh (hammer, sixth, 174-11), Whitney Gum (hammer, seventh, 174-10), Magdalena Sandoval (5,000, eighth, 16:04.41), Clarice Hayward-Lee (triple jump, eighth, 40-1 1/4), Kayla Mellott (400 hurdles, ninth, 61.30) and Jill Hoxmeier (hammer, 11th, 162-6). Indoors in 2004, the Ducks claimed a best-ever four NCAA invites courtesy of Hannah Moore (pole vault, 13th, 12-11 1/2), Abby Andrus (pentathlon, 16th, 3,075), Magdalena Sandoval (17th-injured, 16:29.69) and now-graduated Eri Macdonald (800, 14th, 2:09.14).
NEWCOMERS TO WATCH: Abildtrup, Skipper & Watson Make Instant Impact.
A seven-woman group of newcomers share equal opportunity to contribute immediately. Junior sprint transfer Sofie Abildtrup arrives from Denmark and owns prior bests in the 100 (11.84, UO #10 12.01), 200 (24.02, UO #7 23.93) and 400 (54.16, UO #9 54.49) that rank top-10 in Oregon history. Indoors, she raced to an NCAA provisional mark in the 400 (54.46) in her season debut. Redshirt junior shot putter Bree Fuqua is the Wisconsin school record holder (51-5 1/2) and her 2004 indoor Duck best (51-3 1/2) put her second in UO history. Junior Katie Kersh hails from Sierra College near Sacramento and owns a hammer best (174-11) that ranks her sixth in Duck history. Two other additions, junior Mandi Fitz-Gustafson (steeple) and Brittany Hinchcliffe (hammer), arrive from Arizona State and Washington State, respectively, but will redshirt in 2004 because of inter-conference transfer rules. Hinchcliffe opened her Duck career in March’s Oregon Preview with a 10-foot personal best (197-2) that was almost six feet better than the school record set by Jordan Sauvage in 2003 (191-4). In the Oregon Invitational in late-April, she improved again to 200-3. Freshman Emily Enders ranked 10th nationally among high school pole vaulters (12-7) in 2003, and that mark stands as the Ducks’ top prep best in an event that has developed one NCAA champion, two other All-Americans and another NCAA veteran. She ranks fifth all-time among Ducks with her outdoor best 12-9 1/2, and is tied with former All-American Karina Elstrom. Freshman Amanda Santana won the state 300-hurdle crown last year and ranks second on the Ducks in the 400 equivalent (62.23). The Duck men snagged the nation’s third-best recruiting class (and tops in the Pac-10) according to Track and Field News. St. Louis Community College transfer and junior Leonidas Watson won junior college titles in the triple jump indoors and outdoors last year and was second in the long jump in each. This season he has climbed to fourth all-time for the Ducks in the triple jump (52-10 1/4) and ninth in the long jump (25-5 1/2), and he was tabbed an All-American indoors after he took ninth (25-2 1/2) in March’s finale. Barton Community College transfer and junior Roderick Dotts ran a 800 personal best of 1:48.41 that would have led the Pac-10 in 2003 and ranked 34th in the U.S. A pair of home-state freshmen ? Mike McGrath and Tommy Skipper ? led the national prep ranks in 2003 in the 800 (1:48.56) and pole vault (18-3) as seniors, respectively, with the latter tabbed prepster of the year after he upped the national pole vault by 3/4 inches. Indoors in 2004, Skipper led the collegiate pole vault list during the regular season with a school record 18-8 3/4, Watson ranked top 10 nationally in both the long jump and triple jump and earned NCAA invites. Sophomore hurdler and Colorado transfer AK Ikwuakor (110H 14.10, 400H 51.99) took fourth in the Big 12 400 hurdles last year, and his high hurdle mark would rank 10th all-time for the Ducks. This season he owns season bests and Pac-10 qualifiers of 14.30w (w3.2) and 52.55, respectively.
DUCK MEN'S NEWCOMERS
Jeff DeWolf, Fr.-HS, Bend, Ore. (Mtn. View) - 800 1:53.59
Roderick Dotts, Jr.-TR, E. St. Louis, Ill. (BartonCC) - 400 47.7, 800 1:48.41
Steve Green, Fr.-HS, Malta, Mont. (Malta) - HJ 6-6, LJ 20-9, TJ 45-10
AK Ikwuakor, So.-TR, Arvada, Colo. (Colorado) - 110H 14.10, 14.30w (UO), 400H 51.99, 52.55 (UO)
Kedar Inico, Jr.-TR, Queens, NY (Barton CC) - 200 21.66-indoors, 400 46.30
Scott Lamb, Jr.-TR, Dallas, Ore. (Mt. Hood CC) - 400 48.28
Ben Looney, Fr.-HS, Coos Bay, Ore. (Marshfield) - Dec. 6,326 (HS), 400 49.53, HJ 6-4, LJ 21-11, 110H 15.31
Mike McGrath, Fr.-HS, Portland, Ore. (Lincoln) - 800 1:48.56, 1,500 3:47.5, Mile 4:05.28
Travis Ramme, Fr.-HS, Eugene, Ore. (Sheldon) - 100 10.69a, 200 21.73a
Joseph Reiter, Fr.-HS, Tirschenrenth, Germany - HJ 6-11
Caleb Rexius, Fr.-HS, Eugene, Ore. (Churchill) - 100 10.88
Sol Rexius, Fr.-HS, Eugene, Ore. (Churchill) - 110H 14.12, 14.93w (UO), 300H 38.16
Tommy Skipper, Fr.-HS, Sandy, Ore. (Sandy) - PV 18-8 3/4 (UO) / 18-3 (HS), 100 10.83, 200 21.86, 300H 39.17, LJ 22-10 1/4, HJ 6-4, JT 211-9
Jacob Tolbert, Fr.-HS, San Jose, Calif. (Silver Creek), LJ 22-10, TJ 45-10, 400 49.28
Ryan Voge, RSo.-TR, Hillsboro, Ore. (N.Mex.), Dec. 6,448, 7,054 (UO), HJ 6-8, LJ 22-10
Alec Wall, Fr.-HS, Portland, Ore. (Grant) - 1,500 3:54.31, 3K 8:14.77-indoors
Leonidas Watson, RJr.-TR, St. Louis, Mo. (St. Louis CC), LJ 25-8, 25-6.25 (UO), TJ 53-0, 52-10.75 (UO)
Patrick Werhane, Fr.-HS, Beaverton, Ore. (Southridge), 800 2:01, 1,500 4:08, 3K 8:4
DUCK WOMEN’S NEWCOMERS
Amanda Santana, Fr.-HS, Eugene, Ore. (North) - 400 58.75, 300H 43.95, 400H 62.23 (UO)
Emily Enders, Fr.-HS, Everett, Wash. (Snohomish), PV 12-7 (HS), 12-9 1/2 (UO)
Mandi Fitz-Gustafson, Jr.-TR, The Dalles (ASU) - 800 2:16.9, 1,500 4:37.86, 3K 10:17, Steeple 10:59.85
Bree Fuqua, Jr.-TR, Polson, Mont. (Wisconsin) - SP 51-5 1/2, 51-3 1/2 (UO), DT 165-7
Brittany Hinchcliffe, Jr.-TR, Olympia, Wash. (WSU), HT 186-11, 200-3 (UO), DT 154-11
Katie Kersh, RJr.-TR, Willow Creek, Calif. (Sierra Coll.), HT 173-5 174-11 (UO), DT 14-20, SP 42-8
Megan Kriz, So.-TR, Toledo, Ore. (PSU) - SP 42-10 3/4, HT 184-1 (UO)
2003 OREGON TWILIGHT REVIEW: McGrath Says Hello / Heino Bids Adieu.
EUGENE (5/3/03) - In front of a crowd of 3,301 spectators, the UO men and women added a host of Pac-10 and Regional qualifying mark in their final regular season home meet, the Oregon Twilight at Hayward Field, Saturday, while 27th-year Duck women’s mentor Tom Heinonen made his final appearance at Hayward Field as a collegiate head coach. On the men’s side, Jordan Kent won his 200 season debut in a personal best (21.09) to earn Pac-10 and Regional invites after dipping below the 21.20 and 21.44 standards. In the other sprints, Travis Anderson claimed second in the 400 (47.80) and ran on the winning 4x400 relay (3:13.00); Eric Mitchum won the 110 hurdles (14.04-W (w:+4.7)) just ahead of senior Terry Ellis who logged a windy season best (second, 14.13-W); and Brandon Holliday won the 400 hurdles (52.27) over Mitchum (second, 54.22). In the 800, Ryan Flaherty turned in a two-second personal best en route to the win (1:49.65) and easily met the regional (1:51.15) and Pac-10 standards (1:51.44). In other distance races, Jason Hartmann kicked to the win late in the 3,000 (first, outdoor best 8:02.39), ahead of Nike’s Ray Hughes (third, 8:03.25). Willamette’s Nick Symmonds utilized similar tactics in the final straightaway of the Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight Mile (first, school record 4:03.85), and edged unattached prep entrant and current Duck Mike McGrath (second, 4:05.28). In the field, high jumper Jeff Lindsey came away with his first Pac-10 and regional marks (second, 6-9 1/2) behind former Duck Pac-10 champion Kyley Johnson (first, 6-9 1/2). The Mansfield, Texas native Lindsey exactly met the regional height and was 3/4 inches above the Pac-10 standard (6-8 3/4). All-America pole vaulter Trevor Woods cleared his second-highest mark of 2003 (second, 17-6 1/2) and trailed only former Duck All-American Piotr Buciarski of Nike Denmark (first, 18-1). Jon Derby added fourth with a six-inch personal best (16-6 3/4) that earned him Regional and Pac-10 invites Triple jumper Derek Strubel leaped a three-inch windy best (second, 50-3 1/2). Senior James March led the Ducks in the shot put (second, 51-4 1/2) and discus (150-2), and senior Adam Kriz followed suit in the hammer (second, 213-11) and trailed only post-collegian Travis Nutter (first, 222-11). On the javelin runway, Adam Jenkins posted his then- second-best mark ever (first, 219-9). On the women’s side, seniors Eri Macdonald (third, 4:25.81) and Carrie Zografos (fourth, 4:26.09) closed their Hayward Field collegiate careers with personal bests and their first Regional qualifying efforts in the 1,500, while Zografos’ effort also her first Pac-10 qualifier of 2003. Overall in the event, Nike’s Lisa Nye led finishers (first, 4:24.96) with fellow former Duck All-American Marie Davis on her tail the entire way (second, 4:25.36). In the 800, Sara Schaaf just missed a season best in the 800 and took third (2:13.02). In the sprints, redshirt junior Abby Andrus was just shy of season bests in her wins in the 100 hurdles (14.21w, w:+2.3) and 400 hurdles (60.76), and sophomore Kayla Mellott was just behind her in the latter event (second, 61.83). Senior Heather Murtaugh also streaked to a pair of victories in the 100 (12.0-hand timed, w:+0.9) and 200 (24.72, w:+1.6), and Michelle Donovan was the top Duck finisher in the 400 (third, 58.25) and part of the Ducks’ runner-up 4x400 (second, 3:51.01). In the field, senior Amanda Brown flashed her consistency again with near season bests and wins in the long jump (18-11 3/4, w:+0.8) and triple jump (40-4, w:+1.5). In the vertical pursuits, senior Jenny Brogdon placed second in the high jump (5-6), and All-American and redshirt senior Niki McEwen (first, 13-1 1/2) led a UO 1-4 pole vault sweep that featured regional and Pac-10 efforts also from Kirsten Riley (second, 12-9 1/2), senior Georgette Moyle (third, season best 12-5 1/2), and a Pac-10 mark from Hannah Moore (fourth, 12-0). Javelin All-Americans Roslyn Lundeen (second, 158-3) and Elisa Crumley (third, 157-9) had their best combined showing in their return from injuries; senior Mary Etter topped the 48-foot line to claim the shot put (first, 48-2 1/2); and senior Jordan Sauvage took second in the hammer (182-4). Saturday’s meet also marked the final coaching appearance at Hayward Field by Oregon’s Tom Heinonen who will retire this season after 27 years as the helm of the women’s track and field program. The three-time NCAA Women’s Coach of the Year has guided the Ducks to a trio of collegiate team titles (XC-1983, 1987; TF-1985), and two Pac-10 track and field titles to go along with 134 track and cross country All-America honors.
Twilight Meet Women’s Records
100 - 11.86, Dena Burroughs, BYU (1993)
200 - 23.53, Judi Brown, Team Nike (1984)
400 - 52.62, Maria Mutola, Nike (1998)
800 - 2:01.28, Claudette Groenendaal, Oregon (1985)
1,500 - 4:07.50, Maria Mutola, Mozambique (1992)
3,000 - 8:59.76, Kathy Hayes, Oregon (1983)
Steeplechase - 10:02.92, Kelly MacDonald, NY Elite (2002)
5,000 - 15:07.66, Marla Runyan, Asics (2000)
100 Hurdles - 13.39, Cindy Greiner, Athletics West (1988)
400 Hurdles - 57.27, Judi Brown, Team Nike (1984)
400 Relay - 48.20, Boise State (Alderson, Bolstad, Kociemba, Legard) (2003)
Mile Relay - 3:44.17, Oregon (Nelson, Otterstedt, Morris, Hilsenteger) (1985)
High Jump - 6-21/4, Denise Gaztambide, Unattached (1992)
Pole Vault - 13-51/4, Niki Reed, Unat., Becky Holliday, Oregon (2002)
Long Jump - 21-5 1/4, Shana Williams, Adidas (1997)
Triple Jump - 40-61/4, Sara Howell, Oregon (1994)
Shot Put - 51-33/4, Kathy Picknell, Nike Coast (1989)
Discus - 189-7, Kathy Picknell, Bud Light (1985)
Javelin - 174-0, Sarah Malone, Oregon (2001)
Hammer - 190-5, Abbey Elsberry, Boise State (2003)
Twilight Meet Men's Records
100 - 10.31, Pat Johnson, Oregon (1995)
200 - 21.02, Joao DaSilva, Brazil (1985)
400 - 46.88, Klaus Weigeldt, Oregon (1990)
800 - 1:45.9, Mike Boit, Unattached (1977)
1,500 - 3:41.38, Gordon Johnson, Unattached (1995)
Mile - 3:55.31, Dub Myers, Oregon (1986)
3,000 - 7:37.7, Rudy Chapa, Oregon (1979)
2-mile - 8:29.46, Ritchie Harris, Athletics West (1981)
Steeplechase - 8:30.7, Danny Lopez, Mizuno (1992)
5,000 - 13:25.6, Rudy Chapa, Oregon (1978)
10,000 - 27:43.6, Steve Prefontaine, Oregon TC (1974)
110H - 14.1, Dwight Robertson, Oregon (1982), LaMar Hurd, Oregon (1983), Muhammad Oliver, Oregon Int. (1994)
400H - 50.89, Brian Wright, Oregon (1989)
400 Relay - 40.01, Oregon (Gray, Wilson, Russell, Weigeldt) (1989)
1,600 Relay - 3:13.00, Oregon (Anderson, Scherer,Holliday Finol) (2003)
High Jump - 7-3 1/4, Jason Boness, Oregon (2000)
Pole Vault - 19-0 1/4, Kory Tarpenning, Pacific Coast Club (1989)
Long Jump - 26-1 1/2, Bouncy Moore, Oregon (1971)
Triple Jump - 53-9 3/4, Spencer Williams, Unattached (1994), Gregg Bleakney, Oregon (1998)
Shot Put - 67-83/4, Neil Steinhauer, U.S. Army (1969)
Discus - 206-8, Mitch Crouser, MUSA (1982)
Hammer - 266-0, Lance Deal, New York AC (1992)
Javelin - 256-0, Brian Crouser, Team Nike (1989)
LAST WEEK’S RECAP: Malone and Logsdon Lead M&W in Oregon Invite.
EUGENE (4/22-24) - The Duck track and field teams took advantage of another beautiful spring day to net 10 wins (6 M, 4 W) against a smattering of the West Coast’s top talent in Saturday’s Oregon Invitational day and twilight sessions at Hayward Field. The Duck women posted four wins Saturday - three of which came from the throws - and seven regional and 11 Pac-10 qualifying marks (including one new regional qualifier and two new conference qualifiers). All-America junior and national collegiate javelin leader Sarah Malone posted her third contest past 174 feet in four appearances this season en route to the win (174-5). The Newberg, Ore., native entered the meet ranked third in the USA and 26th in the world on the 2004 season best list with her school record from early April’s Texas Relays (179-7). Junior and first-year Duck Bree Fuqua upped her UO best in the discus by three feet, four inches in her win (164-1) and was just shy of her personal best for the Wisconsin Badgers (165-7). Senior Jill Hoxmeier turned in her third, +160-foot mark this season in the discus (third, 160-5) after the Aloha, Ore., native entered the campaign with a prior best of 151-9 from her 2003 regular season finale at Stanford. Junior and redshirt Duck Brittany Hinchcliffe again competed unattached since she transferred last summer from Washington State, and pushed her hammer personal best and would-be school record up another three feet (first, 200-3). Another pair of first-year hammer transfers - sophomore Maegan Kriz and junior Katie Kersh - also improved more than a foot on their bests to climb to third and sixth all-time for the Ducks, respectively, with marks of 184-1 (fourth) and 174-11 (sixth). Kersh’s mark was her first regional qualifier of the season after she eclipsed the 173-3 standard. On the oval Saturday morning, sophomore Haripurkh Khalsa logged the Ducks’ other victory, thanks to her 12-second personal best in the 5,000 - also the first Pac-10 track qualifier of her career. The Los Angeles native led part of the race’s middle portions when the lead slowed, before she kicked back ahead late to the victory (17:25.33). Her clocking met the Pac-10 standard of 17:30.14, and drew her closer to the regional standard of 16:56.43. On the men’s side, the Ducks continued to pick up momentum with the Pac-10 Championships three weeks away and sported six event wins, 13 regional qualifying marks (including four new qualifiers) and 19 Pac-10 qualifying marks (including 1 new qualifier). Overall, the Men of Oregon’s wins were evenly divided between the sprints (2), hurdles (1), middle distances (1) and jumps (2). NCAA veteran and sophomore Matt Scherer won his 2004 outdoor opener in the 400 (47.11) for Pac-10 and regional invites, ahead of Highline’s Melvin Jenkins (second, 47.28). In the 200, junior Kedar Inico lowered his season best by .27 seconds (third, 21.20w w:2.9) and missed the regional mark by .01 seconds (21.19). Freshman sprinter and football player Ryan Gilliam lowered his overall 100 best by .08 seconds (third, 10.64w, w:2.9) for his second Pac-10 qualifier in as many weeks, and edged closer to the regional mark of 10.50. In the morning session, freshman Travis Ramme won the 100 (10.99w, w:2.4), then sped to a .51-second season best in the 200 (ninth, 22.19w, w:2.5). In the hurdles, sophomore Eric Mitchum claimed his second 400-hurdle win in Hayward Field in three weeks (first, 52.30). Sophomore AK Ikwaukor finished narrowly behind in second thanks to a.38-second season best and Pac-10 qualifier (52.55) that was .04 seconds shy of the regional standard (52.51), with Duck senior Brandon Holliday not far behind in third (53.37). In the middle distances, freshman and Portland native Mike McGrath again dipped under the Pac-10 standard in the 800 (first, 1:51.42) and held off Weber State’s Brad Osguthorp at the line (second, 1:51.47). In other distance action, freshman Kyle Alcorn reeled off an auspicious steeplechase debut (ninth, 9:05.96) and cleared the regional (9:08.15) and Pac-10 (9:09.14) standards in the morning section. All-American and redshirt junior Eric Logsdon capped the evening with arguably the Ducks’ top mark of the day as he chopped another four seconds of his 5,000 personal best (seventh, 13:48.12) that only eight collegians had bested previously in 2004. Logsdon’s mark moved him closer towards Oregon’s hallowed all-time 5,000 list with Dave Taylor ranked 10th at 13:43.82. The Canby, Ore., native’s first sub-14:00 effort and prior personal best came in last year’s edition (13:52.62). Overall in Saturday’s evening finale, Wisconsin freshman Chris Solinsky bested the 5K field with a personal best (13:42.44) over Japanese entrant Tomohiro Seto (second, 13:42.96). Northern Arizona’s Henrik Ahnstrom whittled another two seconds off his best from last year’s race for third place (13:43.88), followed by the Badgers’ Simon Bairu (fourth, 13:45.50) and Tim Keller (fifth, 13:47.40). Two other collegians almost broke 14:00 - Montana’s Antony Ford (ninth, 14:01.05) and Wisconsin’s Tim Nelson (10th, 14:03.20) - in a race held under perfect conditions (53 degrees, no wind, and clear sunset skies). In the field, sophomore high jumper Jeff Lindsey cleared 7 feet for the second straight meet outdoors with his winning leap (7-0 1/2) - second only to his 7-1 3/4 winning height two weeks ago in the Pepsi Team Invite in Eugene. Fellow sophomore Teddy Davis tied his outdoor season best (fifth, 6-10 3/4). Senior and All-America pole vaulter Trevor Woods improved his overall 2004 outdoor best to 17-1 and took second behind Matt Phillips of the Willamette Striders (first, 17-9). Woods’ mark improved on his prior outdoor season best of 16-9 1/4 from the Pepsi Team Invite, while he cleared 17-0 indoors in late February. Fellow Oregon Coast native and North Bend product, redshirt sophomore Jon Derby improved his overall best by 2 1/2 inches to 16-9 1/4 and added third place. All-America junior and first-year Duck Leonidas Watson notched his second-best outdoor triple jump mark of 2004 (first, 51-1 3/4w, w:2.7) and was just shy of his wind-legal best of 51-5 from late March. In other field event action, junior Paul Etter hiked his hammer season best by more than three feet (sixth, 199-0) and missed his pre-Duck best from last year for Clackamas CC (199-3) by only three inches. Freshman Brandon Tower popped an almost- four-foot season best in the hammer (145-2), and his discus mark (seventh, 156-10) was a half-foot shy of his 2004 best (157-4). Oregon’s decathletes also showed well as redshirt senior and Yoncalla, Ore., native Gabriel LeMay celebrated a seven-inch personal best in the pole vault (16-0 3/4) and tied redshirt sophomore Andy Young for second place, and sophomore Ryan Voge added another noticeable best in third place (14-7 1/4). The trio also ran on the ?B’ 4x400 relay that placed fifth in 3:18.50, and featured an anchor leg added by Kedar Inico. On Thursday and Friday, the Duck decathletes and heptathletes got a jump on the competition. Senior Abby Andrus made her season debut on the NCAA provisional qualifying list with her fourth-place score (5,060). The returning NCAA qualifier posted final day marks of 17-2 3/4 in the long jump (w:-0.1), 113-6 in the javelin and 2:22.03 in the 800. Her javelin toss was only five feet shy of her personal best (118-4), while her other second-day event bests from last year include 18-5 1/4 in the long jump and 2:14.42 in the 800. On the first day, she ranked fifth with 3,072 points, and posted first day marks of 14.15 in the 100 hurdles, 5-3 3/4 in the high jump, 34-7 in the shot put, and 26.07 in the 200. Her hurdle time ranked second in the hurdles, her high jump ranked fourth, and her shot put and 200 stood fifth. Her first-day tally (3,072) was only 46 points off her first day personal best (3,108) that came in the 2003 Pac-10 Championships where she ultimately finished third with her current personal best (5,303). Andrus easily bested the NCAA provisional mark of 5,000 points on Thursday and Friday, and fell shy of the NCAA automatic standard (5,500) by 440 points. Looking back over her 1 1/2-year Duck career, Andrus’ season debut score was her third-highest tally ever behind her 2003 Pac-10 Champs third-place score (5,303) and her then-best in last year’s Oregon Invite (5,152). Oregon’s fifth-ranked heptathlete all-time made her NCAA seven-event debut last year (18th, 5,019), and followed with an NCAA invite indoors in 2004 in the pentathlon (16th, 3075) after she ranked 11th during the regular season with a personal best of 3,908. In the men’s decathlon, former Duck NCAA champion Santiago Lorenzo won by 166 points (7,551) over unattached entrant Andrew Levin (second, 7,385), while UO freshman and unattached entrant Ben Looney took sixth with 456-point personal best (6,470). The Coos Bay native compiled second day scores of 15.56 in the 110 hurdles (sixth overall, w:1.2), 100-6 in the discus (10th), eighth in the pole vault (13-1 1/2), 142-5 in the javelin (10th) and 4:37.39 in the 1,500 (second). On the first day, he stood sixth with 3,404 points thanks to the following marks and places in the 100 (ninth, 11.46, w:0.7), long jump (eighth, 21-7 1/4, w:2.7), shot put (10th, 35-8 1/2), high jump (eighth, 6-0) and 400 (seventh, 51.77). Overall, his score qualified him for a return trip to the U.S. Junior Championships in Buffalo, NY at the end of June since he cleared the 5,950-point standard. In 2003, he led the prep national list for decathlon marks with international implements (6,014), and ended the season with a ninth-place finish (5,972) in the U.S. Junior Champs in Stanford.
AT THE HELM: Duck Head Coach Martin Smith Profile.
In 2004, sixth-year men’s head coach Martin Smith adds the women’s head coach title for the first time after the retirement of Tom Heinonen last spring. The 2002 Pac-10 and West Regional Men’s Coach of the Year, Smith guided the Duck men to the 2003 Pac-10 Championships team title ? their first since 1990. At the national level, he led the ?Men of Oregon’ to a trio of top-15 NCAA team finishes in 2001 (outdoors-ninth), 2002 (indoors-ninth) and 2003 (outdoors-13th), and three more top-15 cross country team finishes in 1999 (sixth), 2001 (13th) and 2002 (fifth). Individually, the Duck men have combined for 36 All-America honors in track and cross country (including two NCAA individual wins), 14 individual Pac-10 crowns, and nine Academic All-America honors in that stretch. Prior to his arrival in Eugene in July 1998, he served as the distance mentor and assistant track coach at Wisconsin, as his Badgers posted two cross country NCAA team titles (1982-88), five NCAA individual track and cross country wins, and 78 All-America honors (44 track and 34 XC). The Alexandria, Va., native made his initial mark on collegiate history as the Virginia women’s distance coach and guided the Cavaliers to consecutive harrier national crowns in 1981 and 1982, while individual Lesley Welch won the individual title in ?82.
HAYWARD FIELD PROFILE: Eugene Welcomed its Ninth NCAA Finale in ?01.
One of the most famous track facilities in the world, Hayward Field is named for Bill Hayward, who coached the Oregon’s men’s team from 1904-1947. Originally dedicated in 1919, the 10,205-seat stadium now boasts a standing room capacity of 10,505. In 2001, the venue welcomed the world’s fastest, strongest and most explosive to a Triple Crown of great meets ? the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Prefontaine Classic (www.preclassic.com) and USA Outdoor Championships. Altogether, nine NCAA Championships (1962-64-72-78-74-77-91-96-01) have visited Track City USA, along with three Olympic Trials (1972-76-80) and six U.S. Championships (AAU 1971-75, TAC 1986, USATF-1993-99-01). Since the NCAA started rotating outdoor championships sites in 1934, Oregon has welcomed more finals (9) than any other school. California follows with eight (although they haven’t hosted one since 1968), and no other school has hosted more than five.
THE ROAD TO AUSTIN: Explaining the NCAA Regional Qualifying System.
After several years of research and urging by the U.S. Track Coaches Association, the NCAA Championships Division 1 Board of Directors switched to a regional qualifying procedure for the first time for the 2003 outdoor season. Four, two-day regionals, drawn in a vertical fashion geographically, were held nationally on Fri.-Sat., May 30-31 with regional qualifying standards based on the 100th best performance nationally from 2002 (while all conference champions are also automatically invited to their respective regional). Except for the 10K and heptathlon/decathlon (which still operate on an automatic/provisional standard system), the top-five finishers from each regional event automatically advanced to the NCAA Championships, nearly two weeks later. Besides the automatic advancers, an additional 6-8 athletes nationally per event were invited by the NCAA Championships selection committee based on a season performance list (in case of injury, illness, false-start/DQ, etc.) as long as that athlete competed in the regional. Coaches hoped that the easier regional qualifying standards (compared to previous national provisional standards) enabled athletes to obtain marks during the regular season and avoid 'chasing marks', especially in mid- to late-May, while the regional competition encouraged head-to-head competition at the end of the season and increase fan and media interest. In other NCAA committee news, the championships field sizes were raised approximately 40 percent ? most individual events were previously 18-21 deep with relays inviting 11-12 entries, and will grew to 27-29 and 15-16, respectively. Previous men's and women's fields were set at 388 athletes among the 21 individual and relay events, and in 2003, the number expanded to 544 each.
QUALIFYING UPDATE: Ducks Sprint Towards Pac-10 24-Person Limit.
Athletes qualify for the Pacific-10 Conference Championships (Sat.-Sun., May 5/14-15) based on their season best mark in an event and if he/she meets a pre-set league standard (see the 2004 Oregon outdoor season best list to see each event standard). Marks can be performed either indoors or outdoors in 2004, and sprint/jump marks are even accepted with wind readings of more than 4.0 meters per second (although +4.0 readings are not permissible for regional or NCAA qualifying). Each Duck squad is limited to a 24-person travel roster, composed of 1) qualifiers, 2) wild card entries (each is coach is allowed to enter 3 athletes without qualifying marks) and 3) right of entry additions (each is team is granted one entry per event by the right of entry rule regardless of the athlete’s season best).
Twenty-nine Duck men have posted 36 marks in 16 events of 18 possible individual events (there is no qualifying standard in the 4x100, 4x400 or 10,000) - Ryan Gilliam (100), Travis Anderson (200, 400), Kedar Inico (200, 400), Matt Scherer (400), Ryan Flaherty (800), Mike McGrath (800), Eric Logsdon (1,500), Ryan Andrus (1,500, 5,000), Brett Holts (steeple), Kyle Alcorn (steeple), Jason Hartmann (5,000), Eric Mitchum (110H, 400H), Brandon Holliday (400H), AK Ikwuakor (110H, 400H), Jeff Lindsey (high jump), Teddy Davis (high jump), Bobby Owen (high jump), Tommy Skipper (pole vault, javelin), Trevor Woods (pole vault), Jon Derby (pole vault), Andy Young (pole vault, decathlon), David Moore (pole vault), Leonidas Watson (long jump, triple jump), Derek Strubel (triple jump), Paul Etter (hammer), Adam Jenkins (javelin), Gabriel LeMay (decathlon) and Ryan Voge (decathlon). Events with multiple men’s qualifiers include the pole vault (5), high jump (3), decathlon and 400 hurdles and 400 (3), 200, 800, steeple, 5,000, 110H, triple jump and javelin (2). At the regional level, 22 Duck men have posted 24 marks in 12 of a possible 19 events (400 (3), 800, steeple (2), 5,000, 110H (2), 400H (2), high jump (2), pole vault (5), long jump, triple jump (2), hammer, javelin, 4x400). * NOTE: See page 9 of the attached PDF document for a complete qualifier list.
On the women’s side, 20 Ducks have combined for 28 marks in 15 of a possible 18 events (the 4x100, 4x400 or the 10K don’t have standards) - Sofie Abildtrup (100, 200, 400), Sara Schaaf (800, 1,500), Laura Harmon (1,500, 5,000), Taylor Bryant (1,500), Erinn Gulbrandsen (1,500), Magdalena Sandoval (5,000), Haripurkh Khalsa (5,000), Abby Andrus (100 hurdles, high jump, heptathlon), Kayla Mellott (400 hurdles), Rachael Kriz (high jump), Hannah Moore (pole vault), Kirsten Larwin (pole vault), Emily Enders (pole vault), Clarice Hayward-Lee (triple jump), Bree Fuqua (shot put, discus), Whitney Gum (shot put, hammer), Jill Hoxmeier (discus), Megan Kriz (hammer), Katie Kersh (hammer) and Sarah Malone (javelin). Events with multiple women’s qualifiers include the 1,500 (4), 5,000, pole vault and hammer (3), and high jump, shot put and discus (2). First-year women’s qualifying newcomers include junior transfers Sofie Abildtrup, (100/200/400), Bree Fuqua (shot put, discus) and Katie Kersh (hammer) and veteran junior Taylor Bryant (1,500), sophomores Sara Schaaf (800, 1,500), Haripurkh Khalsa (5,000), Whitney Gum (shot put, hammer) and Megan Kriz (hammer), and freshman Emily Enders (pole vault). At the regional level, 13 women have accounted for 15 marks in 11 of 19 possible events (200, 400, 800, 5,000, high jump, pole vault (2), triple jump, shot put, discus (2), hammer (3), javelin).
UO newcomers to the West Regional season list last week included Matt Scherer (400), Kyle Alcorn (steeple), AK Ikwuakor (110 hurdles), Jon Derby (pole vault) and Katie Kersh (hammer). Pac-10 qualifying newcomers included Taylor Bryant (1,500), Haripurkh Khalsa (5,000) and Kyle Alcorn (steeple). On the NCAA provisional list, NCAA veteran senior Abby Andrus joined the NCAA list in the heptathlon (5,060).
ALL-AMERICA EQUATION: Breaking down the NCAA Honor.
Based on their NCAA Championships performances, individuals are awarded All-America honors at season’s end by the U.S. Track Coaches Association. The top-eight finishers from each event are honored regardless of citizenship, and any additional U.S. finishers that are among the top eight American finishers are also rewarded. If necessary, the U.S.-based honors can even extend to the top performances in the preceding qualifying round if there are not eight Americans in the event’s final.
MEN’S 2003 SEASON REVIEW: Ducks Shine in Championship Slate.
With a narrow 131-130 Pac-10 Championships win over Stanford, the Duck men won their first league crown since 1990 in anticlimactic fashion when the meet was rescored in October because of an ineligible USC sprinter which dropped the Trojans from first to fourth. Three Duck men claimed Pac-10 crowns, and 23 of the team’s 24 entries (spread among 19 events) scored in an individual event or relay. Two weeks later at the end of May, The Oregon men captured 11 automatic NCAA invites courtesy of top-five finishes, including sprints wins by Samie Parker (100) and Jordan Kent (200). The Ducks continued to surge through the NCAA Championships with their second, top-15 outdoor finish in three years (13th, 19 1/4), and featured six All-Americans among their 14 entries. Two then-seniors capped the year with USA Championships appearances in the hammer and javelin. On the year-end season best list, three freshmen propelled the men’s 4x400 to a school record in the collegiate finale (3:06.73), Eric Mitchum and Samie Parker ended the year second and third on the Duck all-time charts in the 110 hurdles (13.75, 13.73w) and 100 (10.18). Indoors, Parker took third in the 60 final (6.64), after he broke his school record by .01 seconds in the prelim (6.62).
WOMEN’S 2003 SEASON REVIEW: Holliday Soars to New Heights.
Then-senior Becky Holliday penned a fairy-tale ending to her Duck pole vault collegiate career with a World Championships appearance and third-place USA finish (14-3 1/4) last summer. In the collegiate championship stretch she broke meet records in her victories in the NCAA (14-5 1/2), West Regional (14-8) and Pac-10 Championships (14-6) with her regional mark a collegiate outdoor record. Among the Ducks’ eight NCAA outdoor invites, Niki McEwen added fifth (pole vault, 13-5 1/4) and Roslyn Lundeen took eighth (javelin, 159-0) to give the Ducks 14 1/2 points which placed them 17th overall. In the inaugural West Regional, discus thrower Mary Etter joined Holliday on the victory stand as Tom Heinonen’s crew ended with seven, top-five finishes. In the Pac-10 showdown in USC, the women took seventh with 60 points and enjoyed runner-up efforts from Niki McEwen (pole vault, 13-3 1/2) and Roslyn Lundeen (javelin, 159-8). Joining Holliday in the Duck record books NCAA hammer qualifier Jordan Sauvage upped the UO hammer best in the Texas Relays by more than three feet (191-4), and Mary Etter climbed to second in the discus with her winning regional effort (179-7).
PICK OF THE PAC-10: Four Ducks Claim Weekly Honors in 2003.
In 2003, the Duck men tied with USC for the most weekly Pac-10 Athlete of the Week honors with USC (4), among the five editions that honor both a track and field event performer. The Duck men claimed the most field event honors (2), USC held court for most track honors (3), and UCLA claimed the other field event honor (1). The Trojans also led in women’s honors in 2003 (3), ahead of UCLA (2), ASU (1), Stanford (1) and WSU (1). Santiago Lorenzo claimed Oregon’s final AOW honor of 2003 for his Pac-10 decathlon victory in USC (7,564, 5/10-11) as he led the field in the javelin (187-4) and 400 (48.96), and stood top three in seven of the 10 overall events. Lorenzo’s win was also his fourth, top-two league decathlon finish after runner-up nods in 2000 (7,649) and 1999 (7,150). Lorenzo’s athlete of the week honor also stood as the fourth of his career. As a junior in 2001, the Buenos Aires, Argentina native was honored after winning the Pac-10 (7,617) and the Texas Relays (7,726) decathlons, and as a sophomore in 2000 after his Texas Relays decathlon then-personal best (third overall, 7,580). The previous week (Tue., 5/6), Brett Holts was selected in the men’s track category after he took the Pac-10 steeplechase lead with his four-second personal best in the Cardinal Invitational (8:48.81, Fri., 5/2). The week before (Mon., 4/28), Adam Jenkins was selected in the field event category after he leapfrogged teammate John Stiegeler to the top of the Pac-10 javelin rankings, thanks to his three-foot personal and six-foot, seven-inch season best in the Oregon Invitational (221-4). Hammer thrower Adam Kriz claimed his first conference award two weeks prior in 2003’s inaugural honor for his then-best and Pepsi Team Invite win (217-10). Besides this year’s quartet of honorees, two other current Ducks have combined for five other Pac-10 honors the past three seasons - Trevor Woods (Pepsi Team Invite 4/02, pole vault, first, 18-0 1/2) and Sarah Malone (Oregon Twilight 5/01, javelin, first, 174-0).
2003 NCAA OUTDOOR REVIEW: Ducks Net Most All-Americans Since ?96.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (6/11-14/03) - The men’s largest NCAA outdoor qualifying corps in recent memory came away with their second top-15 finish in three years (13th, 19 1/4 points), thanks to five All-America honors from Jason Hartmann (10,000, fourth, PR 28:31.96), John Stiegeler (javelin, fourth, 241-5), Samie Parker (100, fifth, 10.41), Adam Kriz (hammer, fifth, 220-2), Eric Logsdon (5,000, eighth, 13:59.00) and Trevor Woods (pole vault, eighth-tie, 16-10 3/4). Among other highlights, the 4x400 broke the school record with a two-second season best (3:06.73) that ranked 11th in prelims after the squad ended the regular season ranked 25th nationally with their prior runner-up clocking from the regional finale. Ryan Andrus just missed another All-America plaque in the 10,000 by one place and one second, although he still netted a one-second personal best (13th, 29:11.04). In last year’s women’s collegiate outdoor finale, Becky Holliday extended her amazing championship run with her third meet record in as many tries against the nation’s best. The native of nearby Penryn, Calif., topped the best-ever outdoor field with a meet record (14-5 1/2) and ended the meet with her first tries at 15 feet. Senior teammate Niki McEwen added her fourth All-America honor in her seventh NCAA trip and took fifth (13-5 1/4). The Ducks also sent a pair of javelin entries and Roslyn Lundeen posted her second straight All-America honor (eighth) after she set a season best in the prelims (161-10), while Elisa Crumley missed the final by one place (13th in prelims). Abby Andrus reeled off the 11th-best second day in the 27-person heptathlon field to finish 18th (5,019) after missing much of the previous 1 1/2 weeks of practice due to injuries. The Ducks’ other NCAA entries also came from three seniors and field-event specialists - Mary Etter (17th-prelim), Jordan Sauvage (hammer, 25th-prelim) and Amanda Brown (23rd-prelim).
2004 NCAA INDOOR M RECAP: Ducks Score Record Four All-America Nods.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (3/12-13) - In March’s indoor collegiate finale at the University of Arkansas, the Duck men posted school bests for most NCAA indoor entries (7) and All-America honors (4) and added their second-highest team finish (18th, 13 points) behind 2002 (ninth, 15 points). UO’s tally ranked third among Pac-10 teams just behind UCLA and ASU (12th-tie, 17), and ahead of Stanford (19th, 12), Washington (22nd, 11), Arizona (34th, 5), WSU (50th, 3) and USC (65th, 1 1/2). On the second day, freshman Tommy Skipper challenged for the NCAA pole vault title in the upper 18-foot range before he took second (18-4 1/2) with his second highest-ever clearance behind returning NCAA champion and indoor record holder Brad Walker, a redshirt senior for Washington (first, 18-8 1/4). Skipper opened the day with first attempt makes at 17-4 1/2, 17-8 1/2 and 18-0 1/2, then lost the lead when he needed a second try to clear 18-4 1/2. In comparison, Washington’s 19-footer Walker missed only his opening attempt at his starting height of 17-8 1/2, then cleared the rest of his first tries through 18-8 1/2. Skipper led early thanks to his initial clean slate, but when he missed his first try at 18-8 1/2, and Walker converted, the Duck was forced to go up another bar to 19-0 1/4 for his remaining two tries, which he missed with solid attempts. The Sandy High School product Skipper entered the competition seeded first nationally thanks to a 5 3/4-inch personal best in early February in Idaho (18-8 3/4), while Walker followed one place behind on the national qualifying list (second, 18-1). On the Oregon all-time list, Skipper’s early season clearance broke the school record of Olympian Kory Tarpenning who cleared 18-6 1/2 in 1985. The first-year phenom will chase his own Olympic dream in July’s Olympic Trials after he met the A qualifying standard of 18-8 1/4. Skipper became the Ducks’ third indoor All-America pole vaulter in event history after Trevor Woods took third as a sophomore in 2002 (indoor best 17-11 3/4), and Piotr Buciarski also took third as a senior in 1998 (18-0 1/2). Skipper’s honor also stood as the Ducks’ 21st overall in the event including outdoor collegiate finales, as he also challenged for UO’s third NCAA crown after victories by George Rasmussen in 1947 (14-0) and 1948 (14-0). Horizontal jumper and redshirt junior Leonidas Watson added an All-America honor on the first day with his daily best on his second prelim effort in the long jump (ninth, 25-2 1/2), then added 13th in the triple jump the second day (50-1 3/4) and was less than eight inches away from making the event final. The transfer from St. Louis Community College Watson entered the meet seeded eighth in both events thanks to season bests (25-6 1/2 / 52-10 1/4) that ranked him ninth and fourth all-time for the Ducks. The 4x400 fell short of its All-America goal when anchor leg and sophomore Matt Scherer strained his right hamstring 150 meters into his anchor leg and fell. The Sumner, Ill., native got up to slowly jog the remaining lap to the finish. The unit of Scherer, senior Brandon Holliday, junior Roderick Dotts, and sophomore Travis Anderson entered the meet seeded seventh in its first NCAA indoor appearance thanks to a school record and NCAA automatic mark of 3:06.54 a month prior in the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. Their nearly-three second season best rewrote the previous record of 3:06.73 from the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships that featured three of the 2004 NCAA indoor members (Anderson, Holliday and Scherer, and two-sport star Jordan Kent). In the first day’s 60 hurdles, sophomore Eric Mitchum claimed his first All-America honor as the top finisher in his class (sixth, 7.74) and trailed only seniors and juniors. Three hours earlier in the afternoon, the Calumet City, Ill., native Mitchum won the third of three prelims with a .09-second personal best and school record (7.69) that ranked second in the 18-man field. Mitchum entered the meet tied for ninth nationally with the Ducks’ former school record with his then-personal best from the previous weekend in Gainesville, Fla. (7.78), and bettered the NCAA provisional mark of 7.95 in all eight of his races this season. Redshirt senior Ryan Andrus added two more points in the 5,000 (seventh, 14:03.21) for his first track All-America honor after missing a similar plaque outdoors in the NCAA 10,000 outdoors in 2003 by one place and one second. The Orem, Utah., native entered the meet seeded fourth nationally after a surprise 15-second personal best and NCAA automatic qualifier (13:51.00) the previous weekend in Seattle. The Ducks’ other first-day entry, sophomore Matt Scherer added duty in the 400 (12th, 46.77) and missed the final by .32 seconds and four places. The Sumner, Ill., native finished fourth in the second of four heats (46.77), after he entered the meet seeded 13th with a season best of 46.40 a month before in Ames, Iowa - a clocking that broke the Oregon indoor school record and moved him to fifth all-time for the Ducks. He made his NCAA debut outdoors in 2003 as a freshman and ran his outdoor best (46.47) that then ranked him sixth in school history. Overall in the final team race, the LSU men won their second national men’s crown with 44 1/2 points to edge host Arkansas and Florida which tied for second (38), ahead of Texas (fourth , 31) and Michigan (fifth, 28). With their women’s victory, the Bayou Bengals became the first school to sweep both titles in NCAA indoor history.
2004 NCAA W INDOOR RECAP: Three of Four Ducks Make NCAA Debuts.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (3/12-13) - Junior pole vaulter Hannah Moore sealed a strong postseason indoor run as the Ducks’ 12th NCAA pole vault entry in pole vault Mark Vanderville’s five-year tenure overseeing the event. The Reno, Nevada native Moore ended 13th overall with her second-highest mark ever (12-11 1/2) in a field that featured four Pac-10 vaulters and three All-Americans - Chelsea Johnson of UCLA (second, 13-11 1/4), Connie Jerz of Arizona (third, 13-7 1/4) and Kate Soma of Washington (fifth-tie, 13-3 1/2). Moore opened the day with a second-attempt clearance at the opening height of 12-5 1/2 and third-try make at 12-11 1/2, before she missed her three attempts at 13-3 1/2. Moore entered the meet seeded 10th after her 1 foot, 1 1/4 inch personal best the previous weekend (13-5) for her first-ever NCAA provisional mark, and one that raised her to third all-time for the Ducks. Prior to the 2004 indoor season, she owned an indoor best of 11-8 in 2003, and an all-time best of 12-6 1/4 from the West Regional outdoors last spring. On the track the first day, redshirt junior Magdalena Sandoval gave a valiant effort in the 5,000 and ran the first 3/4 of the race in seventh place before an injury forced her to drop back to 17th (16:29.69). The Los Alamos, N.M. native entered the meet seeded sixth with an NCAA automatic time (16:04.40) from a month before in Seattle that was a 40-second personal best that moved her to eighth all-time for the Ducks. Her NCAA indoor debut came on the heels of her first postseason harrier trip the previous November, when she suffered a hard fall in the opening quarter-mile of the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships. She got up in last place, and had the courage to pass more than half of the nation’s best 255 runners to finish 105th on the 6K course. In the 800, redshirt senior Eri Macdonald closed her collegiate career with her NCAA track debut (14th, 2:09.14). The Honolulu, Hawai’i native entered the meet seeded 14th overall thanks to her 1 1/2-second indoor personal best in Seattle the previous weekend (2:06.75), and her NCAA prelim clocking ranked as her third-fastest ever indoors. All-time for the Ducks she ranked seventh in the event thanks to her outdoor best from 2002’s Washington Dual win (2:06.37). This indoor season, she also led the Duck season best list in the mile with her season opener also in Seattle (4:54.85). Her NCAA appearance ended a string of qualifying bad luck when she missed an NCAA outdoor invite in 2002 by .04 seconds and was just over a second away as a sophomore outdoors in 2003. On the second day, redshirt senior Abby Andrus made her first NCAA indoor appearance as the pentathlon made its collegiate indoor championships debut. Andrus had a good news and bad news effort with personal bests or near marks in three of the five events, before a trio of fouls in the long jump torpedoed her final tally and put her 16th overall with 3,075 points. Andrus opened with a mark of 9.20 in the 60 hurdles, then followed with marks of 5-6 in the high jump (only an inch off her hep best), and a 36-0 season best in the shot put, before her fouls in the long jump. She closed with a 2:23.05 season best effort in the 800. The Peoria, Ariz., native Andrus entered the meet ranked 11th with a personal best and NCAA provisional mark of 3,908 points the previous weekend in Moscow, Idaho. Andrus’s appearance was her second in a collegiate finale after she took 18th with 5,019 points in the 2003 NCAA heptathlon. Overall in the final team race, the LSU women repeated as team champions with 52 points for their 14th title in 23 years of the championships’ existence (it started in 1982), and also won the men’s crown by a 6 1/2-point advantage for the first same-school team title sweep in NCAA indoor history.
2003 USA CHAMPS REVIEW: Hartmann & Holliday Go Top-Eight.
STANFORD, Calif. (6/19-21) ? On the second day of the three-day U.S. finale, redshirt senior pole vaulter Becky Holliday tied for third (14-3 1/4) to claim the final position on the U.S. squad for the World Championships. The event featured relatively low heights due to fairly strong and changing crosswinds ? the bane of most vaulters ? but Holliday’s concentration at her final clearance proved the difference as one of five vaulters that ended at that height and only two bound for France. She opened with first-attempt clearances at her first three heights ? 13-1 1/2 (4.00m), 13-7 1/4 (4.15m) and 13-11 1/4 (4.25m). She cleared her final height on the third try and slightly brushed the bar on the way down. As it bounced slightly on the pegs for a moment, Holliday gleefully celebrated below on the mat. Overall in the event, world record holder Stacy Dragila of Nike won with a final height of 14-9 to edge Nike’s Jillian Schwartz (second, 14-5 1/4) and Mary Sauer (third, 14-3 1/4). Normally, countries are offered three invites to the World Championships provided athletes meet the A qualifying standard (14-5 1/4), but the USA was offered a fourth spot since Dragila was the returning World Champion from 2001 and automatically offered an invitation. In the second-day javelin final, All-America sophomore Elisa Crumley recorded a daily best of 133-3 on her first throw and followed with two fouls to finish 15th overall. Unattached entrant Erica Wheeler pulled a surprise win in the event (first, 186-6) over former national record holder Kim Kreiner of Nike (second, 185-0). Stanford, Calif. (6/19-21) ? Senior and two-time All-America javelin thrower John Stiegeler took ninth with his second-best mark of the season (234-5) and stood as the fourth collegiate finisher. National record holder Breaux Greer of adidas (260-5) won the U.S. title over Boise State’s Rob Minnitti (second, 253-4) and Joshua Johnson (third, 249-10). On the second day, hammer All-American Adam Kriz finished 18th (202-9) in an event won by James Parker of the U.S. Air Force (first, 239-7).
2003 REGIONAL RECAP: M&W Claim 18 Top-Five Finishes & NCAA Invites.
STANFORD, Calif. (5/30-31) ? In the first go-around at regional qualifying, the Oregon men and women reaped one of their biggest lists of NCAA invitations in recent memory (13 men’s individuals & the 4x400 relay / eight women’s individuals). In the team scoring races, the Duck men third with 71 points behind UCLA (101) and USC (92), and the Oregon women tallied 60 points to place seventh in the 42-team race. Collegiate leader Becky Holliday stole first-day headlines with a 1/4-inch collegiate record (and two-inch Pac-10 record) that moved her to sixth all-time among Americans and fourth on the weekly world season best list. Niki McEwen added her seventh NCAA trip in the pole vault and tied her second-best outdoor mark ever (third-tie, 13-6 1/4), and three other Ducks vaulters competed in the 40-woman field that had all cleared 12-0 during the year, including Kirsten Riley (Larwin) and Hannah Moore tied for 16th and 24th (12-6 1/4). A pair of javelin All-Americans earned NCAA returns as Elisa Crumley and Roslyn Lundeen placed third (157-11) and fourth (157-3) and improved on eighth and fifth-place pre-meet seedings. Oregon’s other women’s winner, Mary Etter, claimed her fifth and most important blue ribbon of the season with a two-foot, six-inch discus season best (179-7). The Everett, Wash., native earned her fourth NCAA discus invite, and edged returning NCAA champion Chaniqua Ross of UCLA who took second (176-10) with a mark nearly three feet behind. The upset bug also bit Amanda Brown who springboarded off a ninth-place seeding in the triple jump to finish second (41-5w, w:+2.2) with a 7 1/2-inch best. After she had missed most of the previous week’s practice with an ankle injury, she started slowly with a halfway best of 39-10, then improved in the final to place four places better than her Pac-10 showing two weeks prior. Similar qualifying rumblings occurred in the hammer ring as Jordan Sauvage followed a similar method to finish fifth (183-11). She owned a prelim effort just past 179 feet that ranked her eighth overall, and climbed to fifth with a daily best on her fifth effort. On the high jump apron, Jenny Brogdon improved on her 17th-place seeding to tie her personal best (ninth-tie, 5-9 1/4) and miss an NCAA invite on number of total misses. The LaGrande, Ore., native had jumped that mark only once before in her career in her runner-up finish in the 2002 Pac-10 Championships, and tested her coach’s and teammates’ patience by relying on two attempts to clear 5-5 1/4, and three attempts at 5-7 3/4 and 5-9 1/4. Abby Andrus faced the fastest hurdles fields of her career and scored a .06-second windy best in the 100 hurdles prelims (fifth-heat, 14th overall, 13.93w). The Peoria, Ariz., native returned in the evening for the 400 hurdles prelims (third-heat, 12th overall, 60.22), and was only .43 seconds from the final time qualifier. The men’s squad featured a pair of wins in the sprints courtesy of Samie Parker in the 100 (10.25w, w:0.8) and Jordan Kent in the 200 (20.99, w:0.8), to go along with four more sprint and hurdle qualifiers and another field event invite. Parker claimed the first win of the meet for the ?Men of Oregon with his third fastest time of his career (10.25w, w:0.8) - and led the first day prelims by .12 seconds (10.34, w:1.5). Kent, the sixth seed entering the meet, stole the win out of lane eight with a .10-second personal best (20.99) after leading much of the first half of the race, then surged again in the final stretch to hold off USC’s Wes Felix (second, 21.06). Kent also made his first season appearance on the 4x400 relay as the Ducks led from wire to wire in the slower section (3:08.05) in a time that stood up second-fastest overall, one second behind fast heat winner Stanford (3:07.23). Another freshman sprinter, Matt Scherer, entered the meet seeded 12th in the 400, and improved to fourth in the final (personal best, 46.56) after leading the previous day’s prelims (.02-second then-best, 46.85). That time also moved him up three positions to seventh all-time for the Ducks. Seeded second going into the 110 hurdles, Eric Mitchum ended up third in the final (13.95-final, 13.95-prelims (1st-heat, into -2.1 mps wind) behind a pair of senior rivals that included the eventual NCAA champion Ryan Wilson of USC (13.54). 400 hurdler Brandon Holliday netted his first NCAA invite (fifth, 50.73), and avenged a fall in the Pac-10 prelims earlier in May after winning the league title as a sophomore in 2001. In the distances, Brett Holts earned his first NCAA steeplechase invite and ran most of the race close to his final position (fifth, 8:50.70) in the heat and overall, with his second-fastest career effort. In the 5K, Eric Logsdon earned his first NCAA invite with a third-place effort in the 5,000 (13:54.28) and was less than two seconds off his personal best from the Oregon Invite (13:52.62), and improved two places off his pre-meet fifth-place seeding. In the 800, Ryan Flaherty capped his season with an eighth-place finish in a final marked by its share of physical contact (1:53.47). The Bend, Ore., native took second in the first of two prelim heats the day before (1:50.20) - and fourth-fastest of the 15 entries - with the second-fastest of his career. In the field, hammer thrower Adam Kriz wrapped up his final preparation for an NCAA return with runner-up honors (207-7) on the first day thanks to a daily best on his initial throw. Former NCAA javelin champion John Stiegeler earned his second NCAA trip thanks to an eight-foot season best (fourth, 228-2), and 2003 Pac-10 champ Adam Jenkins fell four feet shy of a second invite but still netted a one-foot personal best (seventh, 222-4). Triple jumper Foluso Akinradewo ranked seventh overall (50-11 1/2, w:+0.6) with his third-best mark of the season, and sophomore Derek Strubel added 13th (48-9).
2003 PAC-10 REVIEW: Ducks Combine for 4 Wins & 1 Duck Record.
LOS ANGELES (5/17-18) - In the 73rd and 17th annual Pacific-10 Conference Championships, the Duck men and women took first (131) and seventh (60 points) at USC’s Katherine Loker Stadium. The UO men initially finished third in the team race with 127 points behind USC (139) and Stanford (128), but were later awarded the win when USC’s Brandon Matlock, a scorer in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400 was ruled ineligible and the meet was rescored and gave the Ducks a one-point decision over Stanford in the tightest 1st-4th race since 1969's 14-point spread. Individually in the league finale, collegiate season leader and Becky Holliday paced the UO women with their first-ever pole vault title (14-6) and her third outdoor meet above 14 feet in ’03, to go along with two others indoors. Niki McEwen tied for second in the same event (13-3 1/2), and Roslyn Lundeen also claimed runner-up honors in the javelin (159-8). The Duck men featured three individual champions ? Santiago Lorenzo (decathlon, 7,564), junior Adam Jenkins (javelin, 217-9) and Adam Kriz (hammer, 221-3) - and three runners-up ? Brett Holts (steeple, 8:55.00), Jason Hartmann (10,000, 29:18.00) and Eric Mitchum (110 hurdles, 13.73w, w:+3.8).
Online Track & Field Resources
UO Athletics: www.GoDucks.com
Pacific-10 Conference: www.pac-10.org
NCAA Championships: www.ncaasports.com
NCAA Outdoor Host: www.TexasSports.com
NCAA: www.ncaa.org
USATF Oregon: www.usatf-oregon.org
USA Track and Field: www.usatf.org
USOC: www.olympic-usa.org
IAAF: www.iaaf.org
High School T&F Info: www.dyestat.com
Oregon Track Club: www.oregontrackclub.com
Prefontaine Classic: www.preclassic.com
Olympic Trials: www.sacsports.com
Olympics: www.athens2004.com
World Rankings: www.tilastopaja.net
Runner’s World: www.runnersworld.com
Trackwire: www.trackwire.com
Collegiate Track Results: www.trackshark.com
T&F News: www.trackandfieldnews.com
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