2006 Oregon Women's Track and FIeld Outlook
In his first year at the helm, associate athletic director and director of track and field Vin Lananna looks forward to a rejuvenated women's squad that features a national-caliber field event corps, a much improved distance squad, and a top-ranked newcomer class that will boost all areas.
Although the Ducks graduated their 2005 NCAA scorers and 35 points from their highest Pac-10 Championships point total (68) since 1998, the Oregon women's team begins the 2006 season ready to define their position on the national stage.
Seven NCAA veterans will lead the UO charge in 2006, and have already combined for 10 NCAA indoor and outdoor trips in the pole vault, javelin, hammer and heptathlon. At the Pac-10 level, Oregon returns veterans in 10 of the 19 individual events and have scored top-eight finishes in eight of those events.
Senior jumper and heptathlete Lauryn Jordan will be the team's busiest performer in the championship run after she scored 18 points in four Pac-10 Championship events last season, the most of any athlete in the conference. All-America javelin throwers Roslyn Lundeen and Elisa (Crumley) Reynoso, and NCAA veterans Brittany Hinchcliffe ? the school record holder in the hammer ? and the pole vault duo of Hannah Moore and Emily Enders will be the foundation of Oregon's impact at the national level.
Several transfers will also challenge for NCAA trips, including redshirt junior Britney Henry, the nation's top-ranked hammer returnee and an NCAA qualifier for LSU in 2004, and the middle-distance pair of graduate student Amber McGown and junior Dana Buchanan.
Oregon's touted newcomer class features several nationally-decorated freshmen, including hammer thrower Megan Maloney, javelin throwers Ashley McCrea and Rachel Yurkovich, and distance runners Zoe Nelson and Rebekah Noble. Yurkovich and Noble earned U.S. junior and Pan-Am junior titles as seniors in the javelin and 800 meters, respectively, while Nelson was a three-time Foot Locker top-10 finalist and national cross country champion in 2002.
The 2006 season will showcase a blend of talented veterans and capable new Ducks who are eager to continue the climb back toward the top for the Oregon women.
Sprints/Hurdles
Thanks to Oregon's depth across the track, the sprint unit will draw talent from other event areas after bidding farewell to several key championships performers from last season.
Among the returnees, senior Lauryn Jordan was a Pac-10 scorer in four individual events last year, and also led the team in the 100 meters (12.43) and 200 meters (25.42), while sophomore Ashley Bridenbeck owns comparable prep bests (12.1/25.56).
Stepping up to the 400 meters, redshirt sophomore Irie Searcy made her Pac-10 Championships debut last season. Freshman Leah Worthen was a two-time Oregon state champion in the 400 meters and was the 200-meter runner-up as a senior.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Jordan stands as the team's fastest returnee from last year (14.53), and fellow heptathlete Kalindra McFadden was a Montana state prep champion in the event.
In the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Kasey Harwood ran times that put her top-10 in school history in her first two collegiate races, and her personal best of 60.73 ranks her sixth among Pac-10 returnees in '06.
Redshirt sophomore Amanda Santana nearly joined the UO all-time list for the 400-meter hurdles as a freshman in '04 with her hand-timed best of 61.3, before she redshirted outdoors in 2005.
Distances
After an impressive cross country season last fall, a revamped distance roster should rattle the rafters at Hayward Field in '06. The Duck harriers posted UO's first pair of top-four finishes in the Pac-10 and West Regional since 1998 and its first national ranking since 2001.
In the 800 meters, redshirt senior Sara Schaaf jumped to 10th all-time in school history in 2005 thanks to her personal best in the Pac-10 Championships (fifth, 2:06.91). She also placed fifth in the league finale as a sophomore in '04 and was a West Regional finalist that season.
Freshman Rebekah Noble will look to follow suit in '06, and her personal best that won the 2005 U.S. junior title (2:03.73) was the fastest by a prep since 1982. According to national season best lists, only one collegiate returnee ran faster last season, and Noble's personal best would rank fourth all-time for UO behind a pair of NCAA champions and another collegiate runner-up.
A pair of Canadian transfers ? graduate student Amber McGown and junior Dana Buchanan ? were regional finalists in the 1,500 last season for Cornell University and the University of Hawai'i, respectively. McGown owns the team's fastest 1,500-meter personal best (4:23.81), and Buchanan could compete in the 800 meters, 1,500 meters or steeplechase.
Freshman Zoe Nelson was an 11-time Montana state champion in track and field and cross country and owns a 5,000-meter best of 17:31. Redshirt freshman Katie Leary was a 2005 All-Pac-10 Second Team cross country pick and teamed with Nelson to lead the harrier squad last fall.
Among the squad's distance returnees, sophomore Sarah Pearson netted U.S. Junior Championships invitations in all four of her 1,500-meter races in '05. Redshirt senior Amanda Fitz-Gustafson was a two-time Pac-10 scorer in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for Arizona State in '02 and '03, and ranks fourth all-time for UO with her junior season best of 11:09.20 in '05.
Jumps
Assistant coach Robert Johnson looks forward to the return of Pac-10 scorers in all four jumps events in his first season with the Ducks.
In the pole vault, redshirt senior Hannah Moore and junior Emily Enders were NCAA qualifiers in '04. The duo ranked third indoors and fourth outdoors, respectively, on UO all-time lists with their bests of 13-5 and 13-2 1/4. Enders has added top-eight scoring efforts the past two seasons in the Pac-10 Championships, and a fifth-place West Regional finish as a freshman.
In the high jump, long jump and triple jump, senior Lauryn Jordan is the team's obvious leader after a hat trick of top-eight Pac-10 individual finishes last year. Even more impressive, her Pac-10 marks in the high jump (5-10) and long jump (40-9 1/2) were personal bests, and her triple jump mark (40-9 1/2) was only two inches off her personal best, all of which rank her top-10 all-time for UO.
Throws
Keeping with tradition, the javelin unit looms as one of the nation's best with two returning All-Americans and a pair of incoming prep All-Americans from the state of Oregon.
Since the start of their Duck careers in 2002, redshirt seniors Elisa (Crumley) Reynoso and Roslyn Lundeen have combined for four All-America honors, and five NCAA appearances and top-six Pac-10 placings. They rank second and third all-time for UO with personal bests of 169-7 and 166-11, respectively.
Freshman Rachel Yurkovich reset the national prep record last April (176-5) at Hayward Field, and her best ranks fourth among collegiate returnees this season. Freshman Ashley McCrea also won a state title last year in the 3A ranks and stood second nationally among preps as a senior with her best of 158-6.
The hammer throw also will serve as an impact event for several Ducks at the Pac-10 and national levels. Redshirt senior Brittany Hinchcliffe upped the school record almost eight feet to 199-2 in her UO debut season in '05, and she was an NCAA qualifier after top-six finishes in the Pac-10 (fifth) and West Regional (sixth). Redshirt junior and transfer Britney Henry will don an Oregon jersey for the first time in '06. Last year she joined the team as a redshirt transfer and ranked fifth overall in the U.S. with her best of 223-8, a mark that leads collegiate returnees in '06.
Freshman and prep All-American Megan Maloney could also factor into the team's Pac-10 scoring and ranked third among preps in '05 with her hammer best of 169-10.
Heptathlon
Senior Lauryn Jordan left her mark on the Duck history books in the heptathlon in 2005 and moved to fifth all-time for UO thanks to her personal best in the NCAA Championships (5,367). A month before, she placed fourth in her Pac-10 debut with a then-personal best (5,299). Indoors, she ranked 19th among collegians in the pentathlon with her best of 3,894 points.
Senior Roslyn Lundeen enjoyed a favorable return to the heptathlon in the Pac-10 Championships (eighth, 4,935) ? her first heptathlon since her prep days ? and missed the UO all-time top-10 list by only 13 points.
Redshirt freshman Kalindra McFadden was a nine-time Montana state champion in the 100, 200, 100-meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump, and she looks forward to her collegiate heptathlon debut in '06.
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