Track Teams Set For Seattle & Fayetteville
EUGENE, Ore. ? In their third weekend of indoor track and field action, the University of Oregon men’s and women’s teams hit the halfway point of the season, and will compete in a pair of meets this weekend in Seattle and Fayetteville, Ark.
Seven Duck men and women will compete Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, in the Tyson Invitational, hosted by the University of Arkansas in the Randal Tyson Track Center. The Ducks will enter six men from the sprint, jump and pole vault units, and women’s NCAA veteran Lauryn Jordan will also compete in several jumping events. Friday's first and last events start at 10 am and 9:55 pm (Central Time), respectively, and Saturday's first and last events start at 10 am and 5 pm (CT), respectively.
On Sat., Feb. 11 in Seattle, the UO squads will enter approximately 40+ athletes from the men’s and women’s distance, jumps, sprints and throws events in the Husky Classic, held in the Dempsey Indoor Center on the University of Washington campus. Saturday’s first event is scheduled for 9 am, and the last event starts at 4:35 pm.
Among the athletes head to Arkansas, a pair of Duck double All-Americans - junior Tommy Skipper and senior Eric Mitchum - headline the UO travel party.
Last weekend in the United Heritage Invitational, Skipper upped his pole vault season best with his winning height and NCAA provisional mark (17-9), and inched closer to the NCAA automatic mark (18-0 1/2). The Sandy, Ore., native set the school record as a freshman in 2004 (18-8 3/4), and has finished top-two in the NCAA Championships on the same Arkansas track in '05 (first, 18-4 1/2) and '04 (second, 18-4 1/2).
Senior teammate Jon Derby is also chasing an NCAA pole vault return and has cleared two of his three best final heights of his career already in ’05 (17-0 3/4 and 16-9 1/4). The North Bend, Ore., native already stands fifth all-time for UO with his personal best of 17-6 1/2 from 2005.
Mitchum is a two-time All-American already in the 60-meter hurdles based on his top-eight NCAA indoor finishes in 2004 (sixth) and ’05 (fourth), and he also ran his school record (7.69) at Arkansas in the NCAA prelims in ?04. This season, he ran a season best of 7.78 to win the UW Indoor Invitational in his ’05 debut two weekends ago in Seattle (1/28) ? a mark not far off the NCAA automatic mark (7.80) and .13 seconds faster than the NCAA provisional standard.
Mitchum will be joined by senior teammate and two-time NCAA outdoor 110 hurdles veteran Akobundu Ikwuakor who has run a time of 8.04 in three of his first four 60-meter hurdles races of ?05. The Arvada, Colo., native ranks fourth all-time for UO with his slighty-better best from 2005 (8.03). Ikwuakor also stands first this season for the team in the 400 (47.92), and second in the 200 (22.15) behind Mitchum (21.85).
On the women’s side, Lauryn Jordan opened her season in Boise last weekend, and moved to third all-time for UO in her Oregon indoor triple jump debut (39-8 3/4). The second-year Duck already owned the school indoor long jump record (19-11 1/2, 2005) ? a mark she was only 6 1/4 inches off last week in Idaho (19-5 1/4). She also stands fourth in the high jump indoors for UO with her 2005 season and personal best (5-10).
Closer to home in Seattle this weekend, several of UO’s top performers in the distance and throws events are slated to compete.
In the women’s pole vault, junior Emily Enders has vaulted a personal best and exactly met the NCAA provisional mark the past two meets (3.95m, 12-11 1/2). She currently stands fifth all-time for UO indoors, while senior and NCAA indoor veteran Hannah Moore ranks third (13-5, 2004).
In the throws, the women’s weight throw record has been improved in successive weeks by redshirt junior Britney Henry in the UW Indoor Invitational (60-10 3/4) and United Heritage Invitational (61-0 3/4). Former school record holder and senior Brittany Hinchcliffe also improved her personal best last weekend in Boise (57-9), and stands second all-time for UO in the event.
In Duck men’s throws news, redshirt junior Colin Veldman made his debut for UO on the all-time weight throw list in Boise last weekend (#5, 58-10 1/4), thanks to his 8 1/4-inch season best. The first-year Duck and Ft. Collins, Colo., native owns a shot put season best of 55-0 1/4 from his last trip to Seattle, and is only 3/4 inches away from UO’s all-time fifth spot (55-1).
On the track, the women’s distance medley relay returns to duty and will try to climb the NCAA list. The quartet of Dana Buchanan (1,200), Rebekah Noble (800), Sara Schaaf (400) and Amber McGown (1,600) ran a 3.03-second school record in Seattle two weeks ago (11:22.81), and easily eclipsed the NCAA provisional standard (11:28.00).
Among men’s distance action, redshirt sophomore Michael McGrath joined UO all-time indoor lists in the mile (second, 4:03.53) and 800 (fifth, 1:51.61) in Seattle in late January - his first race for the Ducks in 1 1/2 years - and will likely race the mile again this weekend.
More meet information is located at the University of Washington's www.GoHuskies.com and the University of Arkansas’s www.TysonInvitational.org , www.HogWired.com and www.LadyBacks.com websites.
After this weekend, the collegiate season hits the homestretch, and only three more weeks of qualifying follow after this weekend’s stops in Washington and Arkansas. UO will take the weekend of Feb. 18-19 off before they return to Seattle for their Mountain Pacific Federation Championships, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 24-25, then have one final weekend of individual NCAA qualifying on Sat., March 4.
The NCAA Indoor Championships return the following weekend to the University of Arkansas, Fri.-Sat., March 10-11.
2006 Oregon NCAA Indoor Championships Qualifiers
Men’s Qualifiers - Event - 2006 Best (PR)
Tommy Skipper, Jr. - Pole Vault, 17-9 (PR 18-8.75, school record)
Michael McGrath, RSo. - Mile, 4:03.53 (#2 UO all-time)
Eric Mitchum, Sr. - 60 Hurdles, 7.78 (PR 7.69, school record)
Women’s Qualifiers - Event - 2006 Best (PR)
* Rebekah Noble, Fr. - 800, 2:04.72 (PR) (school record)
Emily Enders, Jr. - Pole Vault, 12-11.5 (PR) (#5 UO all-time)
Kalindra McFadden, RFr. - Pentathlon, 3,850 (PR) (#3 UO all-time)
Buchanan, Noble, Schaaf, McGown - Distance Medley, 11:22.81 (school record)
* indicates NCAA Automatic qualifier.
(Note: *Links to the regularly-updated NCAA qualifying lists is available at the www.GoDucks.com website in the STATISTICS dropdown menu on the track and field main page.)
Tyson Invitational * Tentative* Oregon Entries
*Note Oregon entries are tentative and subject to change (several Ducks are entered in multiple events and may not compete in every event)
Friday Day Session*
10 a.m. Long Jump (W) - Lauryn Jordan
10 a.m. Pole Vault (M) ? Jonathan Derby
11:20 a.m. 60m Hurdles Prelims ? Jared Huske, Akobundu Ikwuakor, Eric Mitchum
3 p.m. 400 meters (M) ? Akobundu Ikwuakor
4:15 p.m. 60m Hurdles Final ? Jared Huske, Akobundu Ikwuakor, Eric Mitchum
Friday Evening Session*
8:15 p.m. Pole Vault (M) ? Tommy Skipper
Saturday Day Session*
10 a.m. High Jump (W) - Lauryn Jordan
10 a.m. Triple Jump (W) - Lauryn Jordan
10 a.m. High Jump (M) ? Jeffrey Lindsey
*Note: All Times Central Time (2 hours ahead of Pacific Time)
(Multiple Duck entries in an event are listed alphabetically)
Husky Classic *Tentative* Oregon Entries
*Note Oregon entries are tentative and subject to change (several Ducks are entered in multiple events and may not compete in every event)
9 a.m. 20-lb. Weight Throw (W) ? Britney Henry, Brittany Hinchcliffe, Megan Maloney
9:30 a.m. Long Jump (W)
10 a.m. Pole Vault (W) ? Emily Enders, Hannah Moore, Tara Rhein
10:30 a.m. 35-lb. Weight Throw (M) ? Michael Hill, Matthew Maloney, Colin Veldman
10:30 a.m. High Jump (M) ? Andrew Young
10:45 a.m. 60m Hurdles Prelims (W) ? Roslyn Lundeen, Kalindra McFadden
11 a.m. Long Jump (M) ? Andrew Young
11:10 a.m. 60m Hurdles Prelims (M)
11:30 a.m. 60m Dash Prelims (W) ? Elisa Reynoso
11:50 a.m. 60m Dash Prelims (M)
12:10 a.m. Mile Run (W) ? Dana Buchanan, Amber McGown, Rebekah Noble, Amanda Fitz-Gustafson
12:20 p.m. Mile Run (M) ? Jeffrey DeWolf, Blake Flanders, Michael McGrath, Galen Rupp, Joel Sauvain, Donald Wasteney, Christopher Winter
12:30 p.m. Shot Put (W) ? Roslyn Lundeen
12:30 p.m. Triple Jump (W)
12:35 p.m. 60m Hurdles Final (W) ? Roslyn Lundeen, Kalindra McFadden
12:45 p.m. 60m Hurdles Final (M) ? Walter Thurmond III
1 p.m. 5000m Run (W)*
1 p.m. High Jump (W) ? Roslyn Lundeen, Kalindra McFadden
1 p.m. Pole Vault (M) ?Keegan Burnett, David Moore, Andrew Young
1:25 p.m. 5000m Run (M)*
1:45 p.m. 400m Dash (W) ? Kasey Harwood, Amanda Santana
2 p.m. 400m Dash (M) ? Travis Anderson, Andrew Young
2 p.m. Shot Put (M) ? Cody Fleming, Mark Lewis, Colin Veldman
2 p.m. Triple Jump (M)
2:15 p.m. 60m Dash Final (W) ? Elisa Reynoso
2:20 p.m. 60m Dash Final (M)
2:30 p.m. 800m Run (W) ? Sara Schaaf
2:40 p.m. 800m Run (M) ? Jeffrey Erb, Andrew Perri, Matthew Scherer
2:50 p.m. 200m Dash (W) ? Kasey Harwood, Kalindra McFadden, Amanda Santana
3:10 p.m. 200m Dash (M)
3:30 p.m. 3000m Run (W) ? Amanda Fitz-Gustafson, Amber McGown, Zoe Nelson
3:45 p.m. 3000m Run (M) ? Galen Rupp, Jonathan Thomas, Carlos Trujillo, Esteban Trujillo, Scott Wall
3:55 p.m. DMR (W) ? Oregon
4:10 p.m. DMR (M) - Oregon
4:25 p.m. 4 x 400m (W)
4:35 p.m. 4 x 400m (M)
- Schedule courtesy of www.GoHuskies.com and subject to change
(Multiple Duck entries in an event are listed alphabetically)
- www.GoDucks.com -
