EUGENE ? The University of Oregon men’s and women’s teams saluted several student-athletes with annual team awards at their year-end banquet Sunday, held in the Pittman Room in the Casanova Center.
Oregon Men’s Track & Field Team Awards
Dow Wilson (Most Inspirational Athlete) Leonidas Watson. The redshirt senior from St. Louis owns school records indoors in the long jump and triple jump (25-11 / 52-10 1/4) and was an All-American in the 2005 NCAA Championships in March in the long jump (fourth, 25-11). Outdoors this season, the second-year Duck entered the weekend ranked top-five nationally in the long jump (third, 25-10 3/4) and triple jump (fifth, 52-9 1/4), and improved his former mark to win the West Regional Friday (26-0 3/4). The past two weeks, he finished top three in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships in the long jump (third, 25-0 1/2) and triple jump (second, 53-8 1/2), and again in the West Regional Championships this weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene (long jump, first, 26-0 3/4; triple jump, third, 52-1 3/4). All-time on the UO outdoor lists, he ranks fourth in the long jump (26-0 3/4) and triple jump (53-8 1/2).
Harry Ritchies Award (High Point Athlete). Award will be decided after the NCAA Championships, June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.
Perry Hollman Award (Most Improved Athlete) - Kedar Inico. The senior from Queens, New York has reeled off an impressive five month stretch that began winter term with an indoor school record in the 200 (21.10) and 4x400 (3:04.17), and All-America awards in each (400, sixth, 46.62; 4x400, fifth, 3:05.26). Outdoors in ’05, he has shined in the championship slate with wins in the 400 in the Pac-10 (PR 45.61) and West Regional Championships (46.14). His second leg duty on the 4x400 has also helped the Ducks outdoors to a school record in the Pac-10 Championships (3:03.27) and second-place finishes in the Pac-10 and West Regional Championships (3:07.69). All-time on UO outdoor lists, he ranks third in the 400 (45.61) and 10th in the 200 (21.17),
George Scharpf Award - Outstanding Athlete. Award will be decided after the NCAA Championships, June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.
Bill Dellinger Cross Country Award - Eric Logsdon. The redshirt senior from Canby, Ore., led the Ducks in the West Regional (30:41) last fall and ranked second on the squad in the Stanford (fifth) and Pre-NCAA Invites (29th) and Pac-10 Championships (12th). In his career, he is a three-time NCAA cross country competitor and an All-American in 2004 (29th) and 2003 (41st), and a three-time Pac-10 Second Team honoree.
Oregon Women’s Track & Field Team Awards
Harry Ritchies Award (Most Inspirational Athlete) - Sofie Abildtrup. The senior from Herning, Denmark paced the women’s squad for the second straight outdoor season in both the 200 (24.32) and 400 (53.48). The second-year Duck looks forward to her second NCAA outdoor 400 appearance in two weeks in Sacramento thanks to her fourth-place West Regional finish Saturday (53.63). She logged points in the recent Pac-10 Championships in the 400 (fifth, 54.13) and 4x400 relay (fifth, 3:42.09). All-time at Oregon, she ranks top-10 in the 100 (10th, 12.01), 200 (seventh, 23.93) and 400 (third, 52.92), and is the indoor school record holder in the 200 (24.39) and 400 (54.76).
Mary Officer Award (High Point Athlete) - Lauryn Jordan. Outdoors in 2005, the junior from Stockton, Calif., joined Oregon’s all-time top-10 lists in the high jump (fifth, 5-10), long jump (10th, 19-9), triple jump (fourth, 40-11 1/2) and heptathlon (sixth, 5,299), and also led the Ducks in the 100 (12.43) and 100 hurdles (14.53). The first-year Duck scored 19 individual points in the recent Pac-10 Championships high jump (second, PR 5-10), long jump (eighth, 19-9), triple jump (fifth, 40-9 1/2) and heptathlon (fourth, 5,299) and also ran anchor on the 4x100 relay (DNF). She will likely look forward to her NCAA Championships heptathlon debut in Sacramento since she ranks 22nd nationally with her PR and NCAA provisional score from the Pac-10 Champs (5,299). Indoors in ?05, she joined UO top-10 lists in the high jump (fourth-tie, 5-8), long jump (first, 19-11 1/2) and pentathlon (second, 3,894).
Coaches' Award (Most Improved Athlete) - Bree Fuqua. The redshirt senior from Polson, Mont., led the Ducks in the shot put (53-11) and discus (165-4) for the second straight outdoor season, and hiked her shot put personal best by 1 foot, 2 1/4 inches in ’05 to break the school shot put record formerly held by Quenna Beasley (53-1 1/2). She looks forward to her second NCAA trip in the shot put after she took fifth in the West Regional (52-0) this weekend, and is also up for a potential at-large invite in the discus based on her seventh-place regional effort (163-5). Two weeks ago in the Pac-10 Championships in Los Angeles, she scored in the shot put (sixth, 50-9 1/4) and just missed points in the discus (ninth, 162-6). Indoors all-time for UO, she also owns the school record with her mark from 2004 (51-3 1/2).
Lynne Winbigler Award (Performer of the Year) - Sarah Malone. The redshirt senior from Newberg, Ore., wrapped up her home career in triumphant fashion Saturday with a seven-foot, three-inch school record in the West Regional (first, 186-10) on her final throw ? and a mark that only one collegian had topped this season before Saturday. Two weeks before she won her first Pac-10 title (170-9) after runner-up finishes in 2001, ’02 and ’04, and she was also the West Regional champion in 2004 (173-10). Malone looks forward to her fourth NCAA trip in two weeks after All-America honors in 2001 (seventh) and 2004 (third), and another NCAA appearance in 2002 (14th). At the U.S. level, only two Americans have thrown farther than Malone this season, and the two-time Olympic Trials qualifier took second last July at Sacramento’s Hornet Stadium.
Cross Country Award - Laura Harmon. The redshirt senior from Vancouver, Wash., led Oregon in all six cross country races in the fall of 2004, and claimed All-America honors in the 255-runner NCAA Championships (31st, 6K 21:08). Earlier in the fall, she was a Pac-10 First Team pick for her fourth-place league finish (20:56), and was also top-10 in the West Regional (ninth, 20:52). In the regular season, she paced the team in the Pier Park Preview (first, 18:10), Roy Griak (10th, 21:37) and Pre-NCAA Invitational (16th, 21:01).
Hayward Award (Oregon Track Club Honoree) - Jerry Jackson. An Oregon Track Club member for 29 years and a Level 2 certified USATF official, Jackson helps oversee various hurdle crews for meets at Hayward Field in the spring and summer. He is also active in various track organizations, including the Track City Kids and Springfield High School programs. The Springfield native is retired and a former Weyerheuser employee.
