Ducks Receive 20 NCAA Invites to NCAA Champs
EUGENE - The University of Oregon men’s and women’s track and field teams received word Tuesday that they received 20 invites to the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, scheduled for Austin, Texas, Wed.-Sat., June 9-12.
The men will send 13 entries spread among 10 events, including three All-America distance runners, three hurdlers, two decathletes and high jumpers, a school record 4x400 relay, the nation’s top pole vaulter (and only a true freshman), and a hammer thrower. Among that group, four have received prior All-America honors in indoor and outdoor track (Outdoors - Eric Logsdon - 5K / Indoors - Ryan Andrus - 5K, Eric Mitchum - 60H, Tommy Skipper - PV), three have combined for four cross country honors (Andrus, Brett Holts, Logsdon (2)), two others are NCAA vets (Brandon Holliday, 4x400), and five will make their NCAA debuts (AK Ikwuakor - 110H, Teddy Davis - HJ, Jeff Lindsey - HJ, Paul Etter - HT, Andy Young - Dec., Gabriel LeMay - Dec.)
The Duck women were granted seven entries spread in six events around the track, including a pair of pole vaulters, the javelin school record holder, another sprinter, distance runner, shot putter and heptathlete. That group consists of one All-American (Sarah Malone - JT), two other NCAA vets (Outdoor - Abby Andrus - Heptathlon / Indoor - Andrus - Pentathlon, Kirsten Larwin - PV), and a quartet of NCAA newcomers (Sofie Abildtrup - 400, Laura Harmon - 5,000, Emily Enders - PV, Bree Fuqua - SP).
2004 Oregon NCAA Outdoor Champs Qualifiers
Event - Duck Men, Yr., Hometown - Rank, 2004 Best (UO All-time Rank) / (Better PR*)
Steeple - Brett Holts, RJr., Bend, Ore. - 13th, 8:44.57
5,000 - Eric Logsdon, RJr., Canby, Ore. - 9th, 13:48.12
10,000 - Ryan Andrus, RSr., Orem, Utah - 10th, 28:56.67 (#8 UO)
110H - Eric Mitchum, So., Calumet City, Ill. - 3rd, 13.50w, 13.53 (#1 UO)
110H - AK Ikwuakor, So., Arvada, Colo. - 26th, 14.13 (#10) / - 14.12 (2003)*
400H - Brandon Holliday, Sr., Beaverton, Ore. - 16th, 50.52 (#6 UO)
4x400 - Travis Anderson, Holliday, Kedar Inico, Matt Scherer - 6th, 3:03.49 - 3:03.49 (#1 UO)
HJ - Jeff Lindsey, So., Mansfield, Texas - 18th, 7-1 3/4 (#5 UO) / 7-2 (2002-HS)*
HJ - Teddy Davis, So., White Salmon, Wash. - 22nd-t, 7-1 (#6 UO)
PV - Tommy Skipper, Fr., Sandy, Ore. - 1st, 18-10 1/4 (#1 UO)
HT - Paul Etter, Jr., Everett, Wash. - 27th, 199-0 / 199-3 (2003)*
Dec. - Andy Young, RSo., Newberg, Ore. - 16th, 7,372
Dec. - Gabriel LeMay, RSr., Yoncalla, Ore. - 20th, 7,333
Event - Duck Women, Yr., Hometown - Rank, Best (UO All-time Rank) / (Better PR*)
400 - Sofie Abildtrup, Jr., Fredericksberg, Denmark - 24th, 52.92 (#3 UO)
5,000 - Laura Harmon, Rr., Vancouver, Wash. - 21st, 16:33.17
PV - Kirsten Larwin, Sr., Eugene, Ore. - 9th, 13-6 1/4 (#3 UO)
PV - Emily Enders, Fr., Snoqualmie, Wash. - 20th, 13-2 1/4 (#5 UO)
SP - Bree Fuqua, RJr., Poulson, Mont. - 23rd, 52-8 3/4 (#2 UO)
JT - Sarah Malone, RJr., Newberg, Ore. - 3rd, 179-7 (#1 UO)
Hep. - Abby Andrus, RSr., Peoria, Ariz. - 13th, 5,325 (#5 UO)
Among the Ducks’ invites, nine men and four women qualified automatically based on their top-five regional efforts. A trio of Ducks - Brett Holts (steeple), Sofie Abildtrup (400) and Kirsten Larwin (PV) - did not finish top-five in the West Regional last week but still earned invites since they ranked high enough on the national season best lists to fill out the 26-28 person NCAA event fields. Another quartet of Oregon athletes - two decathletes, and one men’s 10K runner and heptathlete - earned their slots based on season best qualifying marks and national rankings.
Looking back to the 2003 NCAA outdoor finale in Sacramento, the Men of Oregon also featured a robust travel party with a national-leading 13 different individuals (not including a 4x400 relay) earning invites - a tally that tied with Arkansas (13), and topped Penn and UCLA (third-most, 12), Nebraska and Tennessee (fifth-most, 11), and Stanford and USC (seventh-most, 10). The Oregon women sported eight invites themselves. Among those groups, only one woman (Abby Andrus) and four men (Ryan Andrus, Brandon Holliday, Brett Holts and Eric Mitchum) will make a return NCAA outdoor trip in 2004.
Among last year’s NCAA outdoor highlights, Eric Logsdon nabbed an All-America eighth in his NCAA 5K track debut (13:59.00), Eric Mitchum led frosh in the 110 hurdle semis and missed the final by .02 seconds, and the men’s 4x400 ran a then-school record in the prelims (3:06.73) and ranked 12th after they entered the meet seeded 25th. Among Duck seniors last year, Becky Holliday won the women’s pole vault in an NCAA outdoor meet record (14-5 1/2) and teammate Niki McEwen claimed her fourth All-America honor. The men added field event All-America honors by now-graduated John Stiegeler (javelin, fourth, 241-5) and Adam Kriz (hammer, fifth, 220-2). Team-wise, the UO men finished 13th with 19 1/4 points, and the women took 15th with 13 points.
Full NCAA meet results this season will be available at the www.TexasSports.com website, and more pre-meet information is also at the www.NCAAsports.com website.
Looking ahead another month, several Duck individuals will likely travel to the U.S. Olympic Trials, July 9-18 in Sacramento, Calif., at Hornet Stadium. Junior Sarah Malone (javelin), sophomore Eric Mitchum (110 hurdles) and freshman Tommy Skipper (pole vault) have met the A qualifying standards, while several others are close to A or B standards. The top three finishers from each Olympic Trials event, provided they also meet a respective ?A’ qualifying standard between January 1 2003-August 2004, will earn bids to the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in mid- to late-August.
Oregon Track & Field NCAA Championships Roster Breakdown
This year’s 19 Duck individual qualifiers (14M, 7 W, not including the men’s 4x400) include:
This year’s 20 Duck individual qualifiers (12M, 7 W, not including the men’s 4x400) include:
- Five athletes that have combined for five All-America indoor & outdoor honors (M-Andrus (1), Logsdon (1), Mitchum (1), Skipper (1); W-Malone (1)), including one NCAA runner-up (Skipper indoors in pole vault in 2004).
- Nine individuals that have combined for 12 prior NCAA trips (M (8) - Andrus-2, Mitchum-2, Holliday-1, Holts-1, Logsdon-1, Skipper-1; W (4) - Andrus-2, Malone-1, Larwin-1)
- Four athletes (4M, 0W) that have combined for four Pacific-10 Conference Crowns (M (4) - Holliday, Mitchum, Skipper (2)))
- Three athletes that own school records (M (2) - Mitchum (110H, 13.53), Skipper (pole vault - 18-10 1/4); W (1) - Malone (javelin, 179-7))
- One athlete that owns a Pac-10 record (M (1) - Skipper (pole vault - 18-10 1/4))
- One athlete (1M) that has been named an Academic All-American (Ryan Andrus)
- Four athletes (3M, 1W ) that were named 2004 Pac-10 First Team All-Academic picks - M - Andrus, LeMay, Young, W - Larwin)
- Three athletes (2M, 1W) that claimed 2004 West Regional titles (M-Mitchum, Skipper; W-Malone)
- 5 seniors (3M, 2W); 7 juniors (3M, 4W); 5 sophomores (5M, 0W); 2 freshmen (1M, 1W)
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2004 NCAA Outdoor Champs Schedule & Duck Entries
Wed., June 9
12:30 pm - W 100 Hurdles (Hep) (Andrus)
1 pm - W Javelin Prelim (Malone)
1 pm - W Pole Vault Prelim (Larwin, Enders)
1:30 pm - W High Jump (Hep) (Andrus)
3:45 pm - W Shot Put (Hep) (Andrus)
4 pm - W Discus Prelim
4:30 pm - W 4x100 Prelim
4:40 pm - M 4x100 Prelim
4:50 pm - W 800 Prelim
5:10 pm - M 800 Prelim
5:30 pm - W Long Jump Prelim
5:30 pm- W 200 (Hep) (Andrus)
5:55 pm - W 100 Hurdles Prelim
6:20 pm - M 110 Hurdles Prelim (Ikwuakor, Mitchum)
6:40 pm - W 100 Prelim
6:55 pm - M 100 Prelim
7 pm - W High Jump Prelim
7 pm - M Discus Prelim
7:10 pm- W 400 Prelim (Abildtrup)
7:25 pm - M 400 Prelim
7:45 pm - W 100 Hurdles Semi
8 pm - M Long Jump Prelim
8 pm - M 110 Hurdles Semi (Ikwuakor, Mitchum)
8:15 pm - W 100 Semi
8:25 pm - M 100 Semi
8:35 pm - W Steeple Prelim
9:10 pm - M Steeple Prelim (Holts)
9:35 pm - W 5000 Prelim (Harmon)
10:05 pm - M 5000 Prelim (Logsdon)
Thursday, June 10
12:30 pm - M Javelin Prelim
2 pm - W Hammer Prelim
2 pm - W Long Jump (Hep) (Andrus)
2 pm - M Pole Vault Prelim (Skipper)
3:30 pm - W Javelin (Hep) (Andrus)
5 pm - M Hammer Prelim (Etter)
5:30 pm - W Long Jump
6 pm - W Shot Put Prelim (Fuqua)
7 pm - M High Jump Prelim (Davis, Lindsey)
8 pm - M Long Jump
8:30 pm - M Shot Put Prelim
5:20 pm - W 200 Prelim
5:40 pm - W 800 (Hep) (Andrus)
6 pm - M 200 Prelim
6:20 pm - W 400 Hurdles Prelim
6:35 pm - M 400 Hurdles Prelim (Holliday)
6:50 pm - W 800 Semi
7 pm - M 800 Semi
7:15 pm - W 200 Semi
7:35 pm - M 200 Semi
7:55 pm - W 1500 Prelim
8:15 pm - M 1500 Prelim
8:30 pm - W 4x400 Prelim
8:45 pm - M 4x400 Prelim (Oregon)
9:25 pm - W 10,000
10:05 pm - M 10,000 (Andrus)
Friday, June 11
12:30 pm - M 100 (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
1:30 pm - M Long Jump (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
2:45 pm - M Shot Put (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
3:30 pm - W Discus
4 pm - M High Jump (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
6 pm - M Discus
6:15 pm - W Triple Jump Prelim
6:30 pm - W Pole Vault (Enders, Larwin)
7 pm - W 4x100
7:10 pm - M 4x100
7:20 pm - 400 (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
7:30 pm - W High Jump
7:45 pm - W Steeple
8:05 pm - M Steeple (Holts)
8:15 pm - W Javelin (Malone)
8:20 pm - W 400 Semi (Abildtrup)
8:30 pm - M Triple Jump Prelim
8:35 pm - M 400 Semi
8:50 pm - W 100 Hurdles
9 pm - M 110 Hurdles (Ikwuakor, Mitchum)
9:10 pm - W 100
9:20 pm - M 100
9:30 pm - W 400 Hurdles Semi
9:45 pm - M 400 Hurdles Semi (Holliday)
Saturday, June 12
Noon - M 110 Hurdles (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
1 pm - M Discus (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
1 pm - W Hammer
3:15 pm - M Javelin
3:30 pm - M Pole Vault (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
4 pm - M Hammer (Etter)
4:45 pm - W Triple Jump
5 pm - W Shot Put (Fuqua)
6 pm - M Javelin (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
6:45 pm - M Pole Vault (Skipper)
7 pm - M High Jump (Davis, Lindsey)
7 pm - W 400 (Abildtrup)
7:10 pm - M 400
7:15 pm - M Triple Jump
7:20 pm - W 1500
7:30 pm - M 1500
7:40 pm - W 400 Hurdles
7:50 pm - M 400 Hurdles (Holliday)
8 pm - M Shot Put
8 pm - M 1500 (Dec) (LeMay, Young)
8:15 pm - W 200
8:25 pm - M 200
8:35 pm - W 800
8:45 pm - M 800
8:55 pm - W 5000 (Harmon)
9:15 pm - M 5000 (Logsdon)
9:35 pm - W 4x400
9:45 pm - M 4x400 (Oregon)
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