Ducks Earn 10 NCAA Indoor Track Invites
EUGENE ? The University of Oregon track and field teams received word Monday evening that they received nine men’s and one woman’s invite to this weekend's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Fri.-Sat., March 11-12 at the University of Arkansas’s Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Duck men’s qualifying corps has already tallied eight prior All-America honors and are primed to make a run after their best-ever NCAA indoor placing with four, top-two ranked entries. Sophomore Tommy Skipper (season best 18-6 3/4) leads the collegiate pole vault rankings by two inches over UCLA’s Yoo Kim (18-4 3/4), and three other UO entries are ranked second in their events ? junior Matt Scherer (400, 45.95), redshirt senior Leonidas Watson (long jump, 25-11) and the 4x400 relay of Scherer, Travis Anderson, Kedar Inico and A.K. Ikwuakor (3:04.17).
One other Duck ? redshirt senior Eric Logsdon ? was also an NCAA automatic qualifier in both the 3,000 and 5,000. The Canby, Ore., native accepted an invite in the former event and ranks ninth with a season best of 7:54.29.
Junior Eric Mitchum is also tabbed to score for the Ducks in the 60 hurdles and is tied for fifth in this year’s rankings (7.74) ? only .05 seconds off his personal best and school record from last year’s NCAA prelims.
Two of the Duck men’s entries ? redshirt juniors Jon Derby (pole vault, 17-6 1/2) and Ryan Voge (pentathlon, 5,445) ? will make their NCAA debuts this weekend. The North Bend, Ore., native Derby, capitalized on a 9 1/4-inch personal best and NCAA provisional mark last weekend in Seattle, while Voge posted his PR and provisional mark in Seattle the week before in the Mountain Pacific Championships.
Inico (400, 12th, 46.41) will make his individual NCAA debut in the 400 after he ran on the Ducks’ fifth-place 4x400 relay outdoors last year.
Duck NCAA Indoor Champs Men’s Qualifiers (Collegiate Event Leader)
400 ? Matt Scherer, Jr., Sumner, Ill., 2nd, 45.95 (Kerron Clement, Florida, 45.29)
400 ? Kedar Inico, Sr., Queens, N.Y., 12th, 46.41 (Clement, 45.29)
3,000 ? Eric Logsdon, RSr., Canby, Ore., 9th, 7:54.29 (Nick Willis, Michigan, 7:48.65)
60 Hurdles ? Eric Mitchum, Jr., Calumet City, Ill., 5th-tied, 7.74 (Antwon Hicks, Ole Miss, 7.64)
4x400 Relay (Travis Anderson, Kedar Inico, A.K. Ikwuakor, Matt Scherer) ? 2nd, 3:04.17 (Florida, 3:03.95)
Pole Vault - Tommy Skipper, So., Sandy, Ore., 1st, 18-6 3/4 (5.66m) (Skipper, 18-6 3/4)
Pole Vault ? Jon Derby, RJr., North Bend, Ore.,14th-tied, 17-6 1/2 (5.35m)
Long Jump ? Leonidas Watson, RSr., St. Louis, Mo., 2nd, 25-11 (7.90m) (Aarik Wilson, Indiana, 26-7 3/4, 8.12m)
Heptathlon ? Ryan Voge, RJr., Hillsboro, Ore., 5,445 points (Maurice Smith, Auburn, 6,035)
Duck NCAA Indoor Champs Women’s Qualifier (Collegiate Event Leader)
5,000 - Laura Harmon, RSr., 15th, 16:18.56 (Maureen McCandless, Pitt, 15:48.10)
Among Pac-10 teams, the Men of Oregon featured the most qualifiers (9), ahead of Arizona State (7), Stanford (5), Arizona (4 entries, 3 athletes), UCLA (3), Washington (2), Washington State (2), California (1) and USC (1).
On the women’s side, Stanford led the Pac-10 entry list with 13 invites (with three athletes accepting double invites), ahead of Washington (7), Arizona (4), Arizona State (4), WSU (3), UCLA (2), Cal (1), Oregon (1) and USC (1 athlete with two invites).
Three of the Duck men’s NCAA qualifiers were indoor All-Americans last season - Skipper (pole vault, second, 18-4 1/2), Mitchum (60 hurdles, sixth, 7.74) and Watson (long jump, ninth, 25-2 1/2). Also last March, Scherer added 12th in the 400 prelims (46.77), and also ran anchor on the 4x400 but was injured midway through his leg.
Outdoors in recent NCAA outdoor finales, Skipper was the 2004 NCAA champion (18-8 1/4), Mitchum was the ’04 110 hurdles runner-up (13.38), Logsdon was an All-American outdoors in the 5,000 in 2004 (seventh) and ’03 (eighth), and 3/4 of this year’s 4x400 relay ran on last year’s fifth-place NCAA finisher (Anderson, Inico and Scherer).
On the women’s side, Oregon redshirt senior Laura Harmon looks forward to her NCAA indoor track debut in the 5,000 ? thanks to her personal best from mid-February’s Husky Classic in Seattle that ranks her 15th nationally (16:18.56). The Vancouver, Wash., native earned her first All-America honor in cross country last fall (31st) in the 255-runner race, and was also an NCAA qualifier outdoors in the 5,000 in ’04 (18th).
Other Ducks With NCAA Provisional Marks That Did Not Qualify/Weren’t Accepted
200 ? Kedar Inico, Sr., 21st, 21.10
Mile ? Eric Logsdon, RSr., 26th, 4:01.86
5,000 - Eric Logsdon, RSr., 9th, 13:49.99
5,000 - Magdalena Sandoval, RSr., 48th, 16:41.21
Women’s Distance Medley ? 16th, 11:27.77
Pentathlon ? Lauryn Jordan, 19th, 3,894
Looking back to recent NCAA indoor finales, the Duck men scored their first-ever points in the 1998 edition thanks to a third-place pole vault finish by eventual World Championships qualifier Piotr Buciarski.
Since then, the men have scored again four of the past six years, including a pair of top-15 team finishes in 2002 (ninth ? 15 points) and ’04 (18th, 13 points). Last year, the Duck men claimed a best-ever, four All-America honors courtesy of Skipper (pole vault second), Mitchum (110 hurdles, sixth), Ryan Andrus (5,000, seventh) and Watson (long jump, ninth).
A full list of entries for the NCAA Indoor Championships will be posted to the www.ncaasports.com website, and the host University of Arkansas Athletic Department has additional information posted on its www.hogwired.com and www.ladybacks.com web sites.
In last week’s Trackwire NCAA predictions, the Arkansas men held a slim lead with 53 points, ahead of Florida (second, 47), Indiana (third, 37), Nebraska (fourth, 33) and Auburn (fifth, 32). The Ducks were tabbed 11th with 22 points before sizable jumps up national rankings last week in the 400 and 4x400. On the women’s side, Stanford was tabbed first at 50 points, ahead of Tennessee (second, 46), LSU (third, 42), Florida (40) and Nebraska (fifth, 35).
Looking ahead to the upcoming outdoor campaign, the Ducks open their home schedule at Hayward Field with the Oregon Preview, Sat., March 19, 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.
More NCAA Championships meet info will be available at the www.NCAAsports.com , www.HogWired.com and www.LadyBacks.com websites.
2005 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Schedule
Randal Tyson Track Center
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Ark.
Fri.-Sat., March 11-12, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
9 am M Hep 60 - Ryan Voge
9:45 am * M Hep LJ - Ryan Voge
11 am * M Hep SP - Ryan Voge
12:30 pm * M Hep HJ - Ryan Voge
Noon M Weight Throw (@ Walker Pavilion)
2:30 pm W High Jump
2:30 pm W Shot Put
4 pm W Long Jump
4:30 pm W 800 Prelim
4:45 pm M 800 Prelim
5:05 pm W 60H Prelim
5:20 pm M 60H Prelim - Eric Mitchum
5:35 pm M Pole Vault - Tommy Skipper, Jon Derby
5:40 pm W 400 Prelim
5:50 pm M 400 Prelim - Matt Scherer, Kedar Inico
6 pm M Long Jump - Leonidas Watson
6:15 pm W 60 Prelim
6:30 pm M 60 Prelim
6:45 pm W Mile Prelim
7:05 pm M Mile Prelim
7:20 pm W 200 Prelim
7:35 pm M 200 Prelim
7:50 pm W 5K - Laura Harmon
8:10 pm W 60H
8:20 pm M 60H - Eric Mitchum
8:30 pm M 5K
8:50 pm W 200
9 pm M 200
9:10 pm W Distance Medley
9:30 pm M Distance Medley
Saturday, March 12, 2005
11 am M Hep 60H - Ryan Voge
11:45 am M Hep PV - Ryan Voge
2 pm M Hep 1K - Ryan Voge
11:30 am W Pent 60H
12:30 pm W Pent HJ
2 pm W Pent SP
2 pm W Weight Throw (@ Walker Pavilion)
3:30 pm W Pent LJ
4:10 pm W Triple Jump
4:30 pm M Shot Put
4:45 pm M High Jump
5:15 pm W Pent 800
5:30 pm W Pole Vault
5:45 pm M Triple Jump
6:15 pm W Mile
6:25 pm M Mile
6:35 pm W 800
6:45 pm M 800
6:55 pm W 400
7:05 pm M 400 - Matt Scherer, Kedar Inico
7:15 pm W 60
7:25 pm M 60
7:35 pm W 3K
7:50 pm M 3K - Eric Logsdon
8:05 pm W 4x400
8:20 pm M 4x400 - UO (Anderson, Inico, Ikwuakor, Scherer)
