Henry Tabbed Pac-10 Women's Field Athlete of Week
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - In the second edition of the Pacific-10 Conference Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week award, University of Oregon redshirt junior Britney Henry claimed the women’s field event honor for her Pac-10 and school hammer throw record in the Mt. SAC Relays.
In the women's invitational event section held last Saturday in Walnut, Calif., Henry unleashed a 13-foot season best (second, 221-7) and was the top collegiate finisher in the event. She bettered her previous school record from earlier in 2005 (208-7) and improved upon the previous Pac-10 record (219-5) set by former UCLA thrower Jessica Cosby in 2004.
Henry moved to second nationally on the 2006 collegiate list, and heading into last weekend, only 20 competitors in the world had thrown farther than Henry this season.
The first-year Duck competitor was also only 2 feet and 1 inch off her personal best (223-8) when she competed unattached last season - her first in Eugene.
Entering 2006, only two collegians had ever thrown farther than Henry’s personal best – recent NCAA champions Loree Smith (Colorado State, 2005, 229-9) and Candice Scott (Florida, 2004, 229-5) - and Henry also ranked ninth on the all-time U.S. list.
Other winners honored by the Pac-10 this week included Washington 400-meter hurdler Shane Charles, Arizona discus thrower Adam Kuehl and USC 100-meter hurdler Virginia Powell.
In recent seasons, the Oregon women have scored similar honors courtesy of former Ducks Sofie Abildtrup (4/12/04, Pepsi Team Invitational wins in 200 (23.94), 400 (54.49) and 4x400 (3:46.92)) and Sarah Malone (5/14/01, Oregon Twilight javelin win and school record, 174-0).
Last week, Duck senior Eric Mitchum claimed similar honors in the men’s track cateogry for his part in three wins and another runner-up finish in the Pepsi Team Invitational, Saturday, April 8 at Hayward Field. The Calumet City, Ill., native won his fourth Pepsi Team Invitational crown in the 110-meter hurdles (13.68W, w:4.1), and also won the 400-meter hurdles with a regional qualifier (52.09). He also ran on UO’s 4x100-meter relay (first, regional qualifier 40.33) and 4x400-meter relay (second, 3:11.31).
Mitchum is the third Duck on the current men's roster to be honored by the conference in recent years, and joins redshirt senior Andrew Young (4/25/05, Oregon Invitational decathlon win, 7,329 points) and junior Tommy Skipper (5/10/03, Pac-10 Championships decathlon win, 7,589).
Looking ahead to later this week, the Ducks compete at home in a revamped Oregon Invitational that kicks off with a decathlon at approximately noon on both Thu.-Fri., April 20-21. A Friday evening elite distance carnival will welcome many of the nation’s top collegians and post-collegians, followed by a high performance session Saturday afternoon that runs from approximately 2:00-5:30 pm.
Tentative Oregon Invitational entries are available on the www.GoDucks.com website, and a meet schedule is linked to the SCHEDULES dropdown menu at the top of the page.
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