UO Distance Runners Flock to Stanford Invitational
Meet Rundown
The Ducks will enter approximately nine men and seven women in events ranging from the 800 meters to the 10,000 meters. The two-day meet that runs from approximately 8:30
The meet is known in collegiate circles as one of the nation’s top early season meets for distance runners, and the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in particular have often been the nation’s fastest and deepest of the season.
Many other of the nation’s top schools will be on hand and include Air Force, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Bronco State, Brown, Butler, California, Cal Poly, Colorado, Columbia, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgetown, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, N.C. State, Northern Arizona, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Portland, Providence, Tennessee, Virginia, UCLA, Utah, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Weber State, William and Mary and Wisconsin.
Final entries and results, a revised meet schedule and additional meet information are posted at the www.GoStanford.com website (and check a note on the website about *revised parking procedures due to football stadium construction at adjacent Stanford Stadium).
Looking Ahead
After this weekend’s meet, a majority of the Duck track and field teams will return home to compete at Hayward Field the following weekend in the Pepsi Team Invitational, Saturday, April 8. The 19th annual meet will renew UO’s dual-scored tradition against
Click here for a Pepsi Team Invitational tentative time schedule and coach/athlete meet information packet.
http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4367&SPID=243&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=263478
* This Week’s Tentative
800m: Rebekah Noble, Sara Schaaf
1,500m: Dana Buchanan, Amanda Fitz-Gustafson, Amber McGown, Rebekah Noble
3,000m Steeplechase: Dana Buchanan
5,000m: Zoe Nelson, Sarah Pearson
10,000m: Zoe Nelson
* This Week’s Tentative
800m: Michael McGrath, Andrew Perri
1,500m: Blake Flanders, Michael McGrath
3,000m Steeplechase: Christopher Winter
5,000m: Carlos Trujillo, Esteban Trujillo, Patrick Werhane, James Withers
10,000m: Donald Wasteney, Patrick Werhane
The Duck men will tentatively send nine entries to
Redshirt sophomore Michael McGrath is entered in the 800 and/or the 1,500 meters. Indoors in March, he became UO’s second-ever sub-4:00 indoor miler (3:59.25) and first since legendary great Steve Prefontaine clocked 3:59.2 in 1973. Two weeks ago, the
Entered in the 3,000-meter steeplechase or 5,000 meters, redshirt freshman Christopher Winter is a two-time Junior World Championships qualifier in the steeple and took third in the 2,000-meter steeple in 2004. The
Redshirt freshman James Withers is also entered in the 5,000 meters which would mark his track debut at the distance. The
Other Duck men tentatively entered include senior Blake Flanders (1,500), and redshirt sophomores Carlos and Esteban Trujillo (5,000), and freshmen Andrew Perri (800, 1,500) and Donald Wasteney (1,500).
All five members of UO’s All-America middle distance corps from the recent NCAA Indoor Championships are entered in events from the 800 meters through the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
First-year Duck and graduate student Amber McGown is entered in the 1,500 meters, and was a regional qualifier in the event for Cornell last year with her personal best of 4:23.81. In March in the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships prelims, she climbed to second all-time for UO in the indoor mile (4:41.48) and took 10th the following day in the collegiate final.
Another first-year Duck and junior Dana Buchanan could compete in the 1,500 meters or steeplechase. She was a regional finalist in the 1,500 meters for the
Entered in either the 800 or 1,500 meters, freshman Rebekah Noble became UO’s first indoor All-American in the 800 with her runner-up NCAA Indoor Championships finish in early March. She ran 2:04.72 in her collegiate indoor debut for UO in January. The
Also slated for the 800 meters, redshirt senior Sara Schaaf already owns a spot on the UO all-time 800 meters list outdoors ? 10th to be exact - with her personal best from the 2005 Pac-10 Championships (2:06.91). She has finished fifth in the Pac-10 800 final the past two seasons. In her first race outdoors in 2006, she ran an almost six-second personal best in the 1,500 meters in the Oregon Preview (4:31.39) two weeks ago.
In the longer distance races, freshman Zoe Nelson could run either the 5,000 or 10,000 meters, and sophomore Sarah Pearson will make her outdoor collegiate debut in the 5,000. Nelson ran 17:31.84 in the 5K after her senior season last June in
Last Week’s Trojan Invitational Recap
LOS ANGELES (3/25/06) ? Last weekend, junior Emily Enders paced the Duck women in the Trojan Invitational at USC, and upped her pole vault personal best by 2 1/2 inches with her winning mark (13-5 3/4). The 2004 NCAA outdoor veteran still ranks fourth all-time for UO behind a trio of All-Americans or NCAA qualifiers.
On the men’s side at USC, four-time All-American and senior Eric Mitchum claimed a .13-second season best in the 110-meter hurdles en route to the win (13.65, w:0.9). In the same event, freshman Walter Thurmond III ran a .43-second personal best (seventh, 14.29, w:0.9). That time was also .01 seconds under the regional mark (14.30), and pulled within .22 seconds of UO’s top-10 list (10th is 14.07). Other Duck men that scored runner-up finishers included redshirt senior Jonathan Derby (pole vault, 16-6 3/4) and redshirt junior Colin Veldman (shot put, 55-9 1/4; discus, season best 180-8), the UO men’s other regional qualifier came from senior Matt Scherer (800, third, 1:50.25.
Complete Trojan Invitational results are available at the UO athletic department www.GoDucks.com website in the track and field schedule link.
More High-Caliber Meets On Tap at
Looking ahead to other home meets in ’06, a revamped Oregon Invitational on Friday-Saturday, April 21-22 features a Friday evening distance carnival with many of the nation’s top distance runners, and a Saturday afternoon elite section for the remaining events.
The Oregon Twilight concludes the regular season Friday, May 5, immediately followed by the Pacific-10 Conference Championships Heptathlon and Decathlon, Saturday-Sunday, May 6-7.
The following weekend, the Pac-10 Championships return to
More meet information for several home meets is already posted or will be added soon to the SCHEDULE link on the www.GoDucks.com website.
Home Meet Ticket Info
Oregon single-day regular season home meet ticket prices for 2006 follow: $ 7 for reserved seats, $ 5 for adult general admission (GA), $ 3 for kids (ages 2-17) and senior citizen GA (ages 62 and older), and $ 2 individually for group rates of 10 or more. Call the Duck ticket office at 1-800-WEB-FOOT or (541) 346-4461 for more information.
In the Record Books
Redshirt junior Britney Henry broke the UO hammer throw record on her second throw for the Ducks this season in the Oregon Preview (208-7), and now stands seventh all-time in Pac-10 history. Current Ducks on the Pac-10 all-time lists included the All-America javelin duo of redshirt seniors Elisa (Crumley) Reynoso (fourth, 169-7, 2002) and Roslyn Lundeen (eighth, 166-11, 2002).
On the outdoor scene for the men, four Ducks own current school records ? Mitchum (110 hurdles, 13.38, 2004), Skipper (pole vault, 19-0, 2006), the 4x100 relay of senior Richard Del Rincon, Kedar Inico, senior Matt Scherer and redshirt junior Jordan Kent (39.20), and the 4x400 relay of Kent, Inico, senior Akobundu Ikwuakor and Scherer (3:00.81, 2005). Skipper’s mark from the 2006 Oregon Preview was also a Pac-10 record, and Mitchum and the 4x400 both stand fifth in league history. Current Pac-10 record holders in those events are UCLA alumni Greg Foster (13.22, 1978) and the Bruin quartet of Lewis, Young, Everett and Thomas (2:59.91, 1988), respectively.
2006 Indoor Recap
The UO track and field teams enjoyed a strong showing in early March in the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Arkansas, Fri.-Sat., March 10-11. The ?Men of Oregon’ took sixth in the team race with 23 points to match their all-time best team finish from ’05, and also notched their third top-10 placing in five years after they also took ninth in 2002. The Duck women claimed their third-highest ever indoor finish (23rd-tie, 10 points), and both teams placed top-25 in the same season for the first time ever.
In the indoor collegiate finale’s seventh straight trip in the Randal Tyson Track Center, the Duck men featured All-America efforts from four of their five entries - junior Tommy Skipper (pole vault, first), senior Eric Mitchum (60 hurdles, third) and freshman Galen Rupp (3,000, sixth; 5,000, fifth). All five of the women’s qualifiers claimed All-America honors and included freshman Rebekah Noble (800, second), and the distance medley relay (seventh) of graduate student Amber McGown, redshirt senior Sara Schaaf, junior Dana Buchanan and redshirt sophomore Irie Searcy.
During the indoor regular season, four men’s indoor school records were broken or tied by Rupp (5,000, 13:48.51), Mitchum (60 hurdles, 7.67), Skipper (pole vault, 18-8.75-tied) and redshirt junior Colin Veldman (shot put, 58-8 3/4), while the women scored five school records - senior Lauryn Jordan (60 hurdles, 8.73), the distance medley relay (11:16.05), redshirt senior Britney Hinchcliffe and redshirt junior Britney Henry (weight throw, 61-1 1/4) and redshirt freshman Kalindra McFadden (pentathlon, 3,929)
2005 NCAA Outdoor Rewind
Last year in
Entering 2006, the Duck women boast the top returning collegiate hammer thrower based on ’05 season bests ? junior newcomer Britney Henry (223-8) ? among their six NCAA outdoor veterans. NCAA heptathlon returnee and senior Lauryn Jordan scored the most top-eight individual finishes of any athlete in the Pac-10 finale last year with her points in the high jump (second), heptathlon (fourth), triple jump (fifth) and long jump (eighth). Other key women to watch include two-time All-Americans Reynoso and Lundeen and three fellow NCAA veterans ? junior Emily Enders (pole vault) and redshirt seniors Hannah Moore (pole vault) and Brittany Hinchcliffe (hammer). At the Pac-10 level, Lundeen and Jordan are former Pac-10 runners-up in the javelin and high jump, and are among six Duck veterans that have scored previous top-eight Pac-10 placings.
Women’s Newcomers to Watch
A host of talented new faces will add ammunition in UO’s championship runs in ?06. The Duck women’s newcomer class was ranked best in the nation by Track and Field News and featured a pair of national prep leaders and
Men’s Newcomers to Watch
The men’s newcomer list welcomes back redshirt sophomore Michael McGrath who was an NCAA qualifier indoors in ’06 thanks to his first career sub-4:00 mile in early March (3:59.25). Also in the distances, redshirt freshman Christopher Winter is a two-time World Junior Championships qualifier in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and in cross country. Freshmen Matthew Maloney and Alex Wolff ranked first and fourth nationally in the prep javelin in ’05 and placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 2005 USA Junior Championships. Freshman Jared Huske ranked second among preps in the 110 hurdles in ’05 (13.71), while freshman cornerback Walter Thurmond III stood third on the squad indoors in the 60-meter hurdles (8.15) in ’06 behind a pair of NCAA outdoor high hurdles veterans. Redshirt junior Colin Veldman was an NCAA provisional qualifier in the shot put in ?06 with his indoor school record (58-8 3/4). Freshman Alexey Shkuratov will contend for Pac-10 duty in the decathlon, 110 hurdles and long jump and owns bests of 14.53, 6,708 points and 23-6, respectively.
Staff Profile
Associate Athletic Director and Director of Track and Field Vin Lananna is in his first season with the Ducks, and is very familiar with the
Other members of the 2005-06 track and field staff include assistant athletic director Michael Reilly, assistant coaches Kelly Blair LaBounty (women’s hurdles, heptathlon, first year), Lance Deal (throws, fourth year), Robert Johnson (jumps, women’s sprints, first year), Andy Powell (men’s distances, first year), Dan Steele (men’s sprints, hurdles, decathlon, fourth year), and volunteer coaches Piotr Buciarski (pole vault, first year), Kayla Mellott (men’s sprints, first year), Maurica Powell (women’s distances, first year) and Mark Vanderville (pole vault, seventh year).
Hayward Field Profile
At the heart of the recent buzz around
Regional Qualifying Formula
Over the course of the 2006 outdoor campaign, Duck individuals will try to meet regional qualifying event standards as they vie for bids to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Regional event standards are based on the 100th best performance nationally in event from 2005, while all conference champions are also automatically invited to their regional. Qualifiers then compete head-to-head in their respective regional among four national sites that host two-day meets on Fri.-Sat., May 26-27, as the Ducks travel to Provo, Utah for the West Regional.
Except for the 10,000 meters and heptathlon/decathlon (which still operate on an automatic/provisional standard system similar to the indoor season), the top-five finishers from each individual regional event and top three relay placers automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, nearly two weeks later (June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.).
Besides the automatic advancers from each regional, an additional 6-8 athletes nationally per individual event are invited by the NCAA Championships selection committee based on a season performance list (in case of injury, illness, etc.) as long as that athlete finished top eight in the regional event.
A list of various regional and national qualifying standards is available in the STATISTICS dropdown link at the top of the www.GoDucks.com track and field page.
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