Duck T&F Looks Ahead to NCAA Indoors
The University of Oregon track and field teams will send one woman’s and nine men’s entries 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.
With four entries ranked top-two in their events, the Men of Oregon will try and top their previous school bests for team finish (ninth in ?02) and All-America honors (four in ?04). The Duck men will chase their first NCAA indoor individual title, and have finished second once before (Tommy Skipper, PV, 2004) and third three times (Piotr Buciarski, PV 1998; Trevor Woods, PV, 2002; Samie Parker, 60, 2003).
Oregon’s women have claimed an NCAA indoor crown before, courtesy of Melody Fairchild (3K) in 1996.
2005 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Meet Info
Dates: Fri.-Sat., March 11-12
Edition: 41st Men’s Edition, 23rd Women’s Edition
Location: Randal Tyson Track Center, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.
Online Results: www.HogWired.com / www.NCAAsports.com / www.FlashResults.com
Fri. First/Last Duck Event: 9 am Central Time - M. Hep (Ryan Voge) / 8:20 pm CT - M60H (Eric Mitchum)
Sat. First/Last Duck Event: 11 am Central Time - M. Hep (Ryan Voge) / 8:20 pm CT - M4x400
Tentative TV Rebroadcast: ESPN2, Wed., March 16, 9-10:30 am Pacific Time
Key Pronunciations: (Men) A.K. Ikwuakor (ih-KWAH-kor), Kedar Inico (kih-DAR ih-NEE-coh), Eric Logsdon (LOGS-don), Matt Scherer (SHEAR), Ryan Voge (VOE-ghee), Leonidas Watson (lee-oh-NIE-dus).
Duck Coaching Key: Martin Smith (Head Coach, 7th Year (M), 2nd Year (W), Bill Lawson (M Dec., 6th year), Lance Deal (M&W Throws, 3rd year), Dan Steele (M Sprints/Hurdles/Relays/Middle Distances, 3rd year), Mark Vanderville (M&W Pole Vault, 6th year-Volunteer), Rock Light (M&W Jumps/W Sprints/W Hurdles/W Relays/Hep., 2nd year), Marnie Mason (W Distances, 2nd 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 (Kerron 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 (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) (Tommy Skipper, Ore., 18-6 3/4)
Pole Vault ? Jon Derby, RJr., North Bend, Ore., 14th-tied, 17-6 1/2 (5.35m) (Skipper, 18-6 3/4)
LJ ? Leonidas Watson, RSr., St. Louis, Mo., 2nd, 25-11 (Aarik Wilson, Indiana, 26-7 3/4)
Heptathlon ? Ryan Voge, RJr., Hillsboro, Ore., 9th, 5,445 points (Maurice Smith, Auburn, 6,035)
Duck NCAA Indoor Champs Men’s Qualifiers (Collegiate Event Leader)
5,000 - Laura Harmon, RSr., 15th, 16:18.56 (Maureen McCandless, Pitt, 15:48.10)
UO MEN’S PREVIEW: Experienced Unit Features Four, Top-Two Ranked Entries
Sophomore Tommy Skipper leads the collegiate pole vault rankings (season best 18-6 3/4) 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 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 (#2 all-time at UO). 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 (7.69). 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. 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 (2/25-26). Inico will make his individual NCAA debut in the 400 (12th, 46.41) after he ran on the Ducks’ fifth-place 4x400 relay outdoors last year. Oregon had three other automatic/provisional qualifiers that did not receive or turned invites down ? Inico (200, 21st, NCAA prov. 21.10) and Logsdon (mile, 26th, NCAA prov. 4:01.86; 5K, 9th, NCAA auto. 13:49.99).
UO WOMEN’S PREVIEW: Harmon Makes NCAA Indoor Debut.
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). Three other Duck entries posted NCAA provisional marks this year but were not invited to the finale. Redshirt senior Magdalena Sandoval (5,000, 48th, 16:41.21) was slowed by an occasional injury this winter and ranked fifth among collegians in ?04 with her indoor school record (16:04.40). Junior and first-year Duck Lauryn Jordan (pentathlon, 19th, 3,894) set her personal best in the Mountain Pacific Champs two weeks ago, and just missed bettering that mark last weekend in Moscow, Idaho in the McDonald’s Last Chance Qualifier (second, 3,879). The transfer from San Joaquin Delta CC missed an NCAA invite by four spots and 68 points on the NCAA provisional list. The UO women’s distance medley relay combo of redshirt junior Sara Schaaf (1,200), senior Sofie Abildtrup (400), freshman Kasey Harwood (800) and Harmon (1,600) raced only once this year and missed by two positions and 8.31 seconds on the NCAA provisional list with UO’s second-fastest mark ever (11:27.77), behind the school record of 11:25.84 from 1999.
PACING THE PAC (-10): UO Men Lead League in NCAA Indoor Qualifiers
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).
ALL-AMERICA REDUX: A Third of the Duck Qualifiers Were Top Nine in ?04.
Three of the Duck men’s NCAA qualifiers were indoor All-Americans last season ? Tommy Skipper (pole vault, second, 18-4 1/2), Eric Mitchum (60 hurdles, sixth, 7.74) and Leonidas Watson (long jump, ninth, 25-2 1/2). Also in last March’s indoor finale, Scherer added 12th in the 400 prelims (46.77), and 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).
NCAA DUCK INDOOR TEAM HISTORY: Ducks Chase Second-ever Top-10 Finish
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-20 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).
NCAA CRYSTAL BALL: UO Men picked sixth by Trackwire.
In the final regular season edition of the Trackwire rankings, Oregon jumped five spots to sixth with a projected score of 29 points. Arkansas continued to lead the rankings with a score of 55 points, ahead of Florida (second, 46), Michigan (third, 38), Indiana (fourth-tie, 31) and Auburn (fourth-tie, 31). On the women’s side, Tennessee slid back into the top spot with a projected score of 45 points, just ahead of former leaders Stanford (second, 44) and LSU (third, 42), followed by Florida (fourth, 38) and Nebraska (fifth, 35).
Trackwire Men’s Top 25 Teams
1. Arkansas , 55
2. Florida, 46
3. Michigan, 38
=4. Indiana, 31
=4. Auburn, 31
6. Oregon, 29
7. LSU, 27
8. Arizona, 26
9. Texas, 24
10. Florida State, 23
=11. Nebraska, 22
=11. Wisconsin, 22
=13. Oklahoma, 21
=13. Tennessee, 21
=15. Colorado State, 19
=15. BYU, 19
=17. Texas Tech, 17
=17. Kansas State, 17
19. Mississippi, 15
20. UCLA, 13
21. Arizona State, 12
=22. Virginia Tech, 10
=22. South Carolina, 10
=24. Texas A&M, 8
=24. Baylor, 8
Trackwire Individual Men’s Predictions
400 - 5, Matt Scherer, UO
400 - 11, Kedar Inico, UO
3K - 8, Eric Logson, UO
60H - 6, Eric Mitchum, UO
4x400 - 4th, UO
PV - 1st, Tommy Skipper, UO
LJ - 3rd, Leon. Watson, UO
Hep - 9, Ryan Voge, UO
Trackwire Women’s Top 25 Teams
1. Tennessee, 45
2. Stanford, 44
3. LSU, 42
4. Florida, 38
5. Nebraska, 35
6. Miami, 30
=7. South Carolina, 23
=7. BYU, 23
9. Texas, 21
=10. North Carolina, 20
=10. Michigan, 20
12. Auburn, 19
13. Villanova, 18
=14. Pittsburgh, 16
=14. Arkansas, 16
16. Colorado, 14
17. Washington, 13
=18. UCLA, 12
=18. Colorado State, 12
=20. Cal Poly, 11
=20. Kansas State, 11
=20. Kansas, 11
=23. Washington State, 10
=23. Georgia Tech, 10
=23. Duke, 10
OUTDOORS AROUND CORNER: Oregon Preview Opener set for March 19
Looking ahead to the upcoming outdoor campaign, the Ducks open their home schedule against a smattering of Northwest collegiate and post-collegiate talent in the Oregon Preview, Sat., March 19 at Hayward Field. The meet is tentatively scheduled for an 11:30 am start, and will likely end at approximately 4:30 pm. 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 INDOOR CHAMPS INFO?
More NCAA Championships meet info will be available at the www.NCAAsports.com , www.HogWired.com and www.LadyBacks.com websites.
DUCK WOMEN TO WATCH
Laura Harmon, RSr. ? 5,000 (15th, 16:18.56)
Vancouver, Wash. (Jesuit HS ?00) ? One-Time All-American (XC)
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). She earned her first All-America honor in cross country last fall (31st) in the 255-runner race, in her second NCAA harrier appearance (she also qualified with the Duck team in 2000 at Iowa State (196th)). Outdoors in ?04, she ran a 13-second 5K personal best in the West Regional and moved up four places in the final lap for an automatic bid (third, 16:33.17). She is a two-time Pac-10 veteran in the 1,500 (12th in prelims in ?02 and ?03), and scored in the 5,000 as a junior in ?04 (eighth, 17:21.57). She leads Duck outdoor returnees in ?05 in the 1,500 (4:29.49) and ranks second in the 3,000 (9:45.52) and 5,000 (16:18.56-indoors) behind fellow senior Magdalena Sandoval (9:33.56i / 16:04.40i).
DUCK MEN TO WATCH
Jon Derby, RJr. ? Pole Vault (14th-tied, 17-6 1/2)
North Bend, Ore. (North Bend HS ?01) ? NCAA Debut
Joined NCAA provisional list for first time in his career in final regular season finale in Seattle ? the UW Last Chance (3/5) ? thanks to his 9 1/4-inch personal best (17-6 1/2) and first 17-foot clearance. That mark moves him to fifth all-time indoors for the Ducks behind four former All-Americans, and ahead of former outdoor All-American Jay Davis (17-4 3/4, 1989). The North Bend, Ore., native Derby entered last weekend with a prior best of 16-9 1/4 from Seattle’s Husky Classic in mid-February. As a prep, the Duck walk-on owned best of 15-3 from his senior season in 2001, then improved to 15-11 3/4 as a frosh, 16-6 3/4 outdoors as a redshirt frosh, and 16-9 1/4 outdoors as a redshirt sophomore. He is a two-time West Regional qualifier (18th-’03, 16-1 1/4; NH-’04), and also a Pac-10 qualifier both seasons, but did not compete since the Ducks had more entries than its 24-man Pac-10 limit.
Kedar Inico, Sr. ? 400 (12th, 46.41)
Queens, N.Y. (Campus Magnet ?01 / Barton CC ?04) ? All-American (4x400-Out. ?04)
Earned first NCAA individual invite indoors in 2004 thanks to his .54-second 400 season best (46.41) at Iowa State last weekend (3/5), and was also an NCAA provisional qualifier early in the season in the 200 (21st, 21.10). Broke school indoor 200 record formerly held by Pat Johnson (21.26, 1996). Made NCAA debut outdoors in 2004 on Ducks’ fifth-place 4x400 relay (3:03.88). Scored in Pac-10 Champs debut in ?04 in 200 (sixth, 21.19), and was a West Regional qualifier (14th-prelims, 47.28) with an outdoor season best of 46.83.
Eric Logsdon, RSr. ? 3,000 (9th, 7:54.29)
Canby, Ore. (Canby HS ?01) ? Three-Time All-American (XC-2, OTF-2 (5K))
Leading into his NCAA indoor debut, he has enjoyed Oregon’s strongest indoor campaign by a distance runner. In 2004, was the first Duck distance runner to log NCAA automatic marks in two events the same season, and ranked ninth nationally in the 3,000 (7:54.29) and 5,000 (13:49.99). Was also an NCAA provisional qualifier in the mile the final weekend of the season and ranked 26th nationally (near-four-second PR 4:01.86). Ended indoor regular season with school records in the mile (4:01.86) and 5,000 (13:49.99), and is #2 indoors in the 3,000 (7:54.29) ? .03 seconds behind former All-American Steve Fein (7:54.26). Is a two-time All-American in the NCAA 5,000 outdoors (7th-2004, 8th-2003) and twice honored in cross country (41st-2002, 29th-2003).
Eric Mitchum, Jr. ? 60 Hurdles (5th-tied, 7.74)
Calumet City, Ill. (Mt. Carmel HS) ? Two-time All-American (60H-1, 110H-1)
Seeks his second indoor All-America honor after he took sixth in the ?04 NCAA indoor 60 hurdle final (7.74), and broke the school record earlier in the day in the prelims (second overall, 7.69). Three months later in Austin, he took second in 2004 NCAA outdoor 110 hurdle final with his .15-second school record (13.38). Also won Pac-10 and West Regional 110 hurdle titles as a sophomore in ?04 (13.62 / 13.72). As a freshman in ?03, was an NCAA qualifier outdoors (12th-semi, 13.89) and top-three in the Pac-10 (second, 13.73w) and West Regional (third, 13.95). Indoors as a frosh, he just missed NCAA 60 hurdles invite (7.86).
Matt Scherer, Jr. ? 400 (2nd, 45.95)
Sumner, Ill., (Red Hill HS ?02) ? One-Time All-American (4x400-’04 outdoors)
Has jumped into contention for 400 individual title after his .35-second personal best and indoor school record (45.95) in the regular season final weekend at Iowa State’s NCAA T&F Qualifier (3/5). He broke the Lied Recreation Center track record in Ames, Iowa by .01 seconds, formerly held by Minnesota’s 2003 World Champs relay vet Mitch Potter. He came back at meet’s end to make up a four-meter deficit on his 4x400 anchor to pass ASU’s highly ranked Domenik Peterson at the finish tape, and help UO to another school record (3:04.17), 1 1/2 hours after his open 400 record. Scherer declined an NCAA invite outdoors in ?04 after he took fourth in the West Regional (PR 45.95) ? the same PR time he ran in the Pac-10 final (fifth) two weeks before. Also earned NCAA invites indoors in ?04 (12th-prelims, 46.77) and outdoors in ?03 as a frosh (18th, 46.47). Outdoors, he ranks third all-time for UO behind former world record holder Otis Davis (45.07, 1960) and former All-American Pat Johnson (45.38, 1995).
Tommy Skipper, So. ? Pole Vault (1st, 18-6 3/4)
Sandy, Ore. (Sandy HS ?03) ? Two-Time All-American (Pole Vault - Ind./Out.)
Enters third straight NCAA finale with collegiate regular season’s top mark (18-6 3/4) after he led the ?04 indoor (18- 8 3/4) and outdoor (18-10 1/4) regular season lists with school records. Took second as a frosh in ?04 NCAA indoor finale (18-4 1/2) and won NCAA outdoor title (18-8 1/4). Also outdoors in ?04, he broke the Pacific-10 Conference record in the West Regional (18-10 1/4) after he won the Pac-10 title in mid-May (18-3 1/4). Also appeared in the Olympic Trials prelims (14th-prelim, 17-8 1/2) and Pre Classic (eighth, 18-4 1/2). The linebacker-sized athlete (6-2, 195) nearly propelled the Pac-10 runner-up Ducks to the league title with an NCAA automatic decathlon mark (7,589, #8 all-time at UO), fifth place in the javelin (PR 215-2), and also competed in the open high jump (no-height at 6-6 3/4). Ended his prep career in 2003 as the Track & Field News National Boys Athlete of the Year, prep pole vault record holder (18-3), two-time U.S. junior pole vault champion, four-time Oregon 4A state champ (PV-3, 100-1) and 10-time top-eight state finisher.
Ryan Voge, RJr. ? Heptathlon (9th, 5,445)
Hillsboro, Ore. (Hillsboro ?01 / OIT/New Mexico) ? NCAA Debut
Makes first Duck appearance in two-year old men’s collegiate indoor championship event. Raised his personal best by 251 points this indoor season (compared to his ?04 best ? an NCAA prov. 5,194). His current best (5,445) placed third in the Mountain Pacific Champs in late February in Seattle. Ranks third all-time for Ducks behind former NCAA decathlon champion Santiago Lorenzo (5,608, 2002) and All-American Billy Pappas (5,446), and ahead of former/current teammates Gabriel LeMay (fourth, 5,443) and Andy Young (fifth, 5,385) who were NCAA decathlon participants outdoor in ?04. Voge was a Pac-10 scorer in his league decathlon debut in ?04 (fifth, NCAA prov. 7,245), and also competed individually in the league high jump (fifth, 6-6 3/4) and long jump (10th, 22-7 3/4). Transferred to Oregon after he competed one season at New Mexico (fifth in 2003 Mountain West decathlon with then-PR 6,448), and was a student at Oregon Institute of Technology in fall 2001-spring 2002 but did not compete in track.
Leonidas Watson, RSr. ? Long Jump (2nd, 25-11)
St. Louis, Mo. (Parkway West HS ?00 / St. Louis CC ?03) ? One-Time All-American (LJ-Ind.)
Makes his second NCAA indoor appearance after he took ninth indoors in ?04 (25-2 1/2). Upped his school record indoors in 2005 by 5 1/2 inches to win the Mountain Pacific Champs title (25-11) in late February. Indoors in his Duck debut season in ?04, ranked eighth on collegiate regular season lists in long jump (25-6 1/2) and triple jump (52-10 1/4) with school indoor bests in both, and also competed in ?04 NCAA triple jump (13th, 50-1 1/4) but was slowed by an injury. Saw limited action outdoors in ?04, but weathered injuries to score in Pac-10 long jump (fourth, 24-8 1/4) and triple jump (fifth, 50-8 3/4). Transferred to UO from St. Louis Community College where he won 2003 junior college triple jump national titles both outdoors (53-0) and indoors (52-5), and also took second nationally in the long jump both outdoors and indoors (25-1 / 24-9). Initially was a basketball point guard as a freshman in 2000-01, then switched to jumping as a sophomore in 2001-02. In debut collegiate track season in 2002 he added three more top-five national horizontal jump finishes (outdoors - third, 25-3; fifth, 50-2; indoors - long jump, fourth, 23-11), also ran in 2003 outdoor JC finale in 100 (10.62) and on 4x100 (fourth).
Men’s 4x400 Relay ? (2nd, 3:04.17)
Travis Anderson, Jr., Arvada, Colo., Kedar Inico, Sr., Queens, NY; A.K. Ikwuakor, Jr., Arvada, Colo., Matt Scherer, Jr., Sumner., Ill.
The men’s mile quartet continues to rewrite the UO record books indoors in 2005 with a 2.34-second school record (3:04.17) last weekend at Iowa State (3/5). The UO 4x400 has run two other marks this season that rank top-four in school history (3:06.98 - Mtn. Pac in Seattle (2/26/05); 3:07.55 - Mountain T’s Invite in Flagstaff (2/5/05)), and could have added a fifth midseason in the Iowa State Classic if Anderson hadn’t been tripped on the opening leg. The squad has put A.K. Ikwuakor on its third leg (46.8 and 47.5 splits) in its last two appearances (3:04.17 and 3:06.98), while senior Roderick Dotts and junior newcomer Richard Del Rincon have run legs in other meets and own season-best relay splits of 47.1 and 49.1, respectively. Last season, three members (Anderson, Inico and Scherer) teamed with Brandon Holliday to take fifth in the NCAA outdoor finale (3:03.88), and also topped their preseason school record (3:06.73 in ?03 NCAA prelims) in the 2004 Pac-10 Champs (second, school record 3:03.49), West Regional Champs (second, 3:03.73) and NCAA prelims (sixth, 3:03.73). Indoors in 2004, Anderson, Scherer and Dotts ran with Brandon Holliday to run a then-record of 3:06.54 at Iowa State in mid-February and earned an NCAA invite, but Scherer injured his hamstring midway through his anchor leg and was forced to jog the final 250 meters.
DUCK NCAA ENTRIES
2005 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
University of Arkansas - Fayetteville, Ark.
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)
THE ROAD TO SACTO: Explaining the Outdoor Regional Qualifying System.
In contrast to the indoor season where athletes qualify based on season bests that meet NCAA automatic and provisional qualifying standards, the outdoor season relies on a head-to-head regional system that features four, two-day regionals, drawn in a vertical fashion geographically. This year, Eugene is one of four sites that will host a regional Fri.-Sat., May 27-28, and regional qualifying standards are based on the 100th best performance nationally from 2004 (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 individual regional event and top three from the relays automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, nearly two weeks later (June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.). Besides the automatic advancers from each regional, an additional 6-8 athletes nationally per event are 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 hope that the easier regional qualifying standards (compared to previous national automatic/provisional standards) enable 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. The switch to the regional method was made prior to the 2003 season, the same year the championships field sizes were increased 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.
PICKS OF THE PAC-10: Skipper & Abildtrup Claimed Weekly Honors in 2004.
Freshman Tommy Skipper became the second Duck to be named track and field athlete of the week by the Pacific-10 Conference in the fifth and final edition of the award in 2004 (5/10). The freshman from Sandy, Ore., won the conference decathlon title in his collegiate event debut with an NCAA automatic score (7,589) that was 89 points above the decathlon auto standard, and 105 points better than runner-up Arizona State senior Joshua Kinnaman (second, 7,484). Skipper gave Oregon its fourth straight Pac-10 decathlon title and 11th overall including Pac-8 history dating back to 1965. Among final day marks, he led the pole vault marks by almost a full foot with his clearance of 17-4 1/2, was also 18 feet better than the field in the javelin, and also topped the field the first day in the 100 (10.69) and shot put (44-6 3/4). In the award’s opening edition on April 12, 2004, UO junior Sofie Abildtrup claimed similar honors for the women’s track category. The Saturday before (4/10/04), she helped Oregon to team wins over Colorado, Minnesota and Washington in the Pepsi Team Invite and claimed individual blue ribbons in the 200 (23.94) and 400 (54.49), and also ran a 54.40-second split on the victorious 4x400 relay. Looking back to 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). Among current Ducks tabbed last year, 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). Another current Duck, Sarah Malone, won an honor in early May 2001 for her javelin school record and Oregon Twilight win (174-0).
2004 NCAA INDOOR MEN'S RECAP: Ducks Score Record Four All-America Nods.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (3/12-13/04) ? In last 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. 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 2004’s 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 in 2004. Redshirt senior Ryan Andrus added two more points in the 5,000 (seventh, 14:03.21) for his first track All-America honor after he missed 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 WOMEN'S INDOOR RECAP: Three of Four Ducks Make NCAA Debuts.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (3/12-13/04) ? 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.
AT THE HELM: Duck Head Coach Martin Smith Profile.
In 2004, seventh-year men’s head coach Martin Smith also returns for his second season as women’s head coach. The 2002 Pac-10 and West Regional Men’s Coach of the Year, Smith has guided the Ducks to eight, NCAA top-20 finishes, 40 All-America honors and 17 Pac-10 individual titles combined in cross country and track and field. The UO men have claimed a league-best three straight top-two team finishes, including first in 2003 ? their first league title since 1991. At the national level, he led the ?Men of Oregon’ to a trio of ninth-place finishes outdoors in 2001 and ?04 and indoors in 2002, and three more top-15 cross country team finishes in 1999 (sixth), 2001 (13th) and 2002 (fifth). In the classroom, Oregon has featured 12 Academic All-Americans since 1999. At the league level, the UO men have led the Pac-10 in first-team all-academic picks in 2002, (4), ?03 (5) and ?04 (5), while 11 of last year’s 18 eligible women received first, second or honorable mention acclaim. 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. Looking ahead, the fabled facility will host the 2005 West Regional Championships (5/27-28/05) and 2006 Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
ALL-AMERICA EQUATION: Breaking down the NCAA Honor.
Based on their NCAA Championships performances, individuals are awarded All-America honors 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.
2004 OLYMPIC TRIALS REVIEW: Malone Takes Second in Javelin.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (7/9-18/04) ? In the 2004 U.S. finale last July at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium, Sarah Malone claimed UO’s highest placing of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. The Newberg, Ore., native Malone took second in the 12-woman javelin final (Sun., 7/12) with a daily best of 177-11 (54.22m) on her final throw, and was edged only by American record holder and Nike entrant Kim Kreiner (first, 182-7). Her top-three Olympic Trials finish was the first step towards qualifying for the U.S. team for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece (8/20-29). However, she fell short in subsequent attempts to meet the Olympic ?A’ qualifying standard of 198-5 (60.50 meters) by August 8. At the end of the season, she ranked sixth in the U.S. and 95th in the world with her Texas Relays school record (179-7) from April. Malone made her second Olympic Trials trip after she competed as a prep for Newberg High School in Sacramento in 2000 (eighth-flight, 156-11, 47.84m) ? the same year she ranked third among preps and 38th in the U.S. (Prep implement 172-0). On the men’s side, Eric Mitchum placed seventh in the first of two 110-hurdles semifinals and ranked 14th among the 16 finishers with his clocking of 13.53 (w:0.6) ? his second fastest-ever wind-legal time and third best overall (13.38-NCAA, 13.50w-Texas Relays). Former Duck Micah Harris also competed in the same race on the meet’s final day and ranked eighth in the section and 15th overall among the two races (13.55). Among collegians, Mitchum ranked third in the semifinal results behind Ohio State’s Joel Brown (ninth, 13.39, w:1.6) and Ole Miss’s Antwon Hicks (11th, 13.45, w:0.6). Mitchum ran two rounds the day prior on Saturday (7/17), and clocked times of 13.67 in both the prelims (third-fourth heat, ninth overall, w:-0.8) and quarterfinals (fourth-third heat, 14th overall, w:-1.1). Going into the meet, Mitchum tied for 11th with Harris on the 2004 U.S. season best list in the 110 hurdles with his NCAA runner-up time and school record from mid-June in Austin, Texas (13.38, w:1.2). Looking back over ?04, Mitchum ran 15 sub-14.00 clockings in 16 races overall, including 10 efforts that were faster than his preseason best of 13.73 that ranked him second in school history heading into ?04 behind former UO record holder Harris (13.67, 2002). On the opening event of the opening day of the meet, freshman Tommy Skipper just missed advancing to the pole vault final (Fri., 7/9). The Sandy, Ore., native needed three attempts to clear the opening height of 17-8 1/2, then missed his three tries at 18-0 1/2. The event’s youngest competitor, Skipper tied for 14th overall, and if he would have cleared 17-8 1/2 on one of his first two tries he would have qualified for the 12-man final. The prelims marks were all noticeably hampered by a steady to strong crosswind from right-to-left that caused havoc to many approaches in the short, one-minute window for each attempt. One victim was American record holder Jeff Hartwig who no-heighted at his opening bars at 18-0 1/2. Skipper entered the meet ranked 10th in the U.S. on the 2004 best list that included seven Americans that had cleared 19 feet indoors and outdoors.
ONLINE TRACK RESOURCES
UO Athletics: www.GoDucks.com
Pacific-10 Conference: www.pac-10.org
NCAA Championships: www.ncaasports.com
NCAA Championships Outdoor Host: www.HornetSports.com
NCAA: www.ncaa.org
College Track Results: www.TrackShark.com
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
World Championships: www.helsinki2005.fi
World Rankings: www.tilastopaja.net
Runner’s World: www.runnersworld.com
Trackwire: www.trackwire.com
T&F News: www.trackandfieldnews.com
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