Track Squads Announce Team Awards
EUGENE ? The University of Oregon men’s track and field teams held their annual award banquet Monday afternoon, and handed out the following awards to various team members.
Oregon Track and Field Women’s Awards
Tom Heinonen Cross Country Award - Amber McGown
The first-year Duck was a key performer for UO in the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field in 2005-06. In the fall, she ranked top five for the Ducks in all five cross country races and was an All-West Regional honoree for her 24th-place finish. In the winter indoor track season, the Melfort, Sask., native and Cornell transfer ran 4:41.48 in the NCAA prelims to move to second all-time for UO, and the next day was part of the Ducks’ first indoor All-American distance medley relay (seventh, school record 11:18.89). Outdoors in ’06, she ran a 1,500m personal best in the Pac-10 Championships 1,500m (third, 4:19.00) to move to ninth all-time for UO, and she was also a regional qualifier during the season in the 800m (2:07.80).
Mary Officer High Point (Greatest Contribution to Teeam) ? Lauryn Jordan
Jordan was a scoring dynamo for the Ducks and led the team outdoors in 2006 in the 100m (11.7-h, w:1.4), 200m (24.59w, w:2.9), 100m hurdles (14.05, w:0.5), high jump (5-8 3/4), long jump (UO #2 all-time, 20-11 1/4, w:1.1) and triple jump (43-2.5W, UO #2 all-time 41-4.5, w:0.2), and ranked second on the team in the heptathon (NCAA provisional, UO #6 all-time 5,426). At the Pac-10 Championships two weeks ago, the second-year Duck senior from Stockton, Calif., scored in four events for the second straight season - the heptathlon (third, 5,378), long jump (fourth, 20-4 1/4, w:1.5), high jump (fifth, 5-8 3/4) and triple jump (sixth, 41-2 1/2; w:0.8). Indoors, she also led the team in ’06 in the 60m hurdles (school record 8.73), long jump (19-5 1/4), triple jump (39-10 1/2), shot put (41-11 1/2) and pentathlon (school record 3,929), and ranked second in the high jump (5-5 1/4)
Lynne Winbigler Most Outstanding Performance ? Rebekah Noble
The Spokane, Wash., native led the NCAA outdoor list in the 800 meters much of the 2006 outdoor season (UO #4 all-time 2:02.85), then scored wins in the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional Championships (2:05.81 / 2:06.45). Indoors, the freshman led the collegiate rankings much of the season (UO #2 all-time 2:04.72), and took second in her NCAA indoor debut (2:05.72). In the 2005 fall cross country campaign, she raced twice for UO and ranked top seven for the Ducks in both the NCAA West Regional (63rd) and Pac-10 Championships (59th) as UO finished top four in both (third/fourth) for the first time since 1997.
Harry Ritchie Most Inspirational Award - Britney Henry / Rachel Yurkovich
In her first year for the Ducks, Henry has ranked top-three all season and the top American collegian in the NCAA hammer rankings with her school record (221-7) from the Mt. SAC Relays. The past two weekends, she added fourth in the nation’s toughest conference/region meets (210-3 / 209-3) as she returned from an ankle injury. During the year in her eight hammer appearances, the redshirt junior from Spokane, Wash., had topped 220 feet in two meets, enjoyed another above 215 feet, another above 210 feet, and two more above 205 feet. Indoors, she broke the school weight throw record twice 2006 - in the UW Invitational (60-10 3/4) and the Mountain Pacific Championships (third, 61-1 1/4).
The Newberg, Ore., native Yurkovich has led UO in all eight of her outdoor javelin appearances this season with +160-foot throws in each. In those contests, she has won seven of them and was the top collegian in the other. In the championship season the past two weeks, the Duck freshman has won Pac-10 and West Regional titles (166-3 / 165-7). In her collegiate debut, she moved to second all-time for UO in the Oregon Preview (179-10) with UO’s second-farthest throw ever, and ranks fifth nationally among collegians in ’06 and first among freshmen. In
Most Improved Award ? Brittany Hinchcliffe
The second-year Duck has enjoyed a strong second half of her senior campaign as one of the nation’s top hammer throwers. Last weekend in the NCAA West Regional, the redshirt senior from Olympia, Wash., native notched her fourth personal best in six meets (third, 210-4) - a mark that ranks her eighth nationally on the 2006 collegiate list and second all-time for Oregon. In the recent Pac-10 Championships, she added sixth (206-1), and also scored in the discus (eighth, 146-2).
Coaches Award (Recognizes athletic achievement, dedication, and determination) ? Kalindra McFadden / Sara Schaaf
A redshirt freshman from Bozeman, Mont., McFadden has enjoyed a strong debut season for the Ducks, and ranks ninth nationally and fifth all-time for UO in the heptathlon with her collegiate debut in April in the 2006 Mt. SAC Relays (top collegian/third overall, 5,438). She added sixth in the Pac-10 heptathlon (5,036), and overcame a fall in the first event, the 100 hurdles, thanks to hep personal bests in the high jump (5-6 1/2), long jump (18-3) and 800m (2:14.22). Indoors, she claimed a school record in the pentathlon (3,929).
Schaaf has stepped up in the biggest races this season, and will make her NCAA outdoor 800 meters debut in two weeks after best-ever top-four place finishes in the Pac-10 (third, 2:07.88) and NCAA West Regional (fourth, 2:09.23). Indoors, the redshirt senior from the Klamath Falls, Ore., native earned an All-America honor with her 800m leg in the distance medley relay (seventh, 11:18.89). Last fall in cross country, she took fifth on the team in the West Regional (43rd overall) and was top six on the team in her other four meets.
Oregon Track and Field Men’s Awards
Harry Ritchie Award (Great Contribution on Team)? Eric Mitchum / Matt Scherer
Mitchum won his third straight West Regional and Pac-10 Championships titles in the 110m hurdles the past two weeks (13.52/13.56). In 11 races this year, he has won eight of them, and has lost to a collegian only once, and he ranks fourth nationally among collegians with his windy best (13.48w, w:2.8). All-time for UO, the senior from Calumet City, Ill., is the school record holder indoors (7.67, 2006) and outdoors (13.38, 2004), and a five-time All-American in the 60m hurdles (sixth-’04; fourth-’05; third-?06) and 110m hurdles (second-?04, fourth-’05).
Scherer won UO’s second straight and third-ever Pac-10 400m title two weeks ago with a personal best (45.19) that moved him to second among collegians in ’06, and also all-time for UO behind former world record holder Otis Davis (44.9, 45.07c). Scherer also scored for the Ducks in three other Pac-10 events, including the school’s first-ever relay victory (4x100m, first, 39.74; 4x400m, second, 3:06.75; 200m, fourth, 20.93, w:1.7). All-time for UO he is a two-time All-American in the 400 meters indoors and outdoors in ’05 (ninth, 47.15; 11th, 45.70), and three more times in the indoor 4x400m relay (fifth, ’05) and outdoor 4x400m relay (fifth, ’04; third, ’05). This past weekend, the senior from Sumner, Ill., native took second in the West Regional 400m (45.64) after her finished fourth in ’03, ’04 and ’05, and ran on NCAA qualifying 4x100m (third, 40.10) and 4x400m (third, 3:06.32) relays.
George Scharpf Outstanding Athlete ? Tommy Skipper
Indoors in ’06, Skipper claimed his second NCAA indoor crown (18-6 1/2) and his third top-two NCAA indoor finish (first, ’04; second, ’04), to go along with another NCAA outdoor title as a freshman in ’04 (18-8 1/4). In the past two weeks, the junior from Sandy, Ore., won his second Pac-10 title (18-0 1/2), and added second place in the West Regional (18-1) behind the returning NCAA champion. All-time for UO he is the school indoor record holder (18’8 3/4, 2005), and the Pac-10 outdoor record holder with his first-attempt clearance at 19-0 in the Oregon Preview two months ago ? a mark that also ranks him first nationally among collegians.
Dow Wilson Most Inspirational Akobundu Ikwuakor / Jordan Kent
Ikwuakor helped Oregon to its fifth-straight top-two Pac-10 Championships team finish with his top-four individual finishes in the Pac-10 Championships 110m hurdles (third, 14.00, w:1.7), 400m hurdles (fifth, 52.08) and 4x400m relay (second, 3:06.75). In the recent West Regional, the senior from Arvada, Colo., native advanced to the finals in the 110m hurdles (sixth, 14.06) and 400m hurdles (eighth, 52.55), and also ran on the Ducks’ NCAA qualifying 4x400m relay (third, 3:06.32). Last year he was an All-American for UO in the 4x400m relay outdoors (third) and indoors (fifth), and was also an NCAA qualifier outdoors in the 110m and 400m hurdles. All-time for UO, he ranks top-10 in the 110m hurdles (fifth, 13.83) and 400m hurdles (eighth, 50.61), and has run on five 4x400m relays that rank top-10 in school history, including last year’s school record quartet from the NCAA final (third, 3:00.81).
Kent will compete in three NCAA events next week after his top-three finishes last weekend in the West Regional (200m, second, 20.75w, w:3.9; 4x100m (third, 40.10); 4x400m, third, 3:06.32). In the recent Pac-10 Championships, he anchored UO to its first-ever league relay victory in the 4x100m relay (39.74), and also finished top-eight in the 200m (seventh, 21.15) and 4x400m (second, 3:06.75). All-time for UO, the redshirt junior from Eugene, Ore., ranks top-10 in the 100m (eighth, 10.41) and 200m (fifth, 20.82).
Perry Holloman Most Improved ? Richard Del Rincon
The senior from LaMesa, Calif., enjoyed a breakout Pac-10 meet with top-three finishes in the 100m (second, 10.41, w:1.4), 200m (third, 20.86, w:1.7) and 4x100m relay (first, 39.74). All-time for UO, he ranks seventh in the 100m (10.34) and sixth in the 200m (20.86), and has run lead-off on eight of the 10 fastest UO 4x100m relays the past two years including the school record quartet from the 2006 NCAA Championships (sixth, 39.20). Indoors, the second-year Duck stands top-three all-time for UO in the 60m (second, 6.73) and 200m (third, 21.40).
Coaches Award (Recognizes athletic achievement, dedication, and determination) ? Galen Rupp / Michael McGrath;
Last weekend, Rupp claimed his second top-five finish in the NCAA West Regional 5,000 meters (third, 14:28.83), two weeks after he took top-five in the Pac-10 Championships 5,000m (third, 14:00.94) and 10,000m (second, 30:42.10). In March ’06, the sophomore from Portland became the first UO athlete to score two individual All-America honors in the same NCAA Indoor Championships with his top-five finishes in the 3,000m (sixth, 8:07.85) and 5,000m (fifth, 13:56.41) and helped UO finish sixth as a team. In the fall, he led UO in both of his cross country appearances in the Willamette and Pre-NCAA Invitational (sixth/12th). Last year, he was the NCAA 10,000m runner-up and a top-four finisher in the Pac-10 5,000m and 10,000m (fourth/second), and closed the regular season with a U.S. junior record in the Oregon Twilight 10,000m (28:15.52) ? a mark that ranks him third all-time for UO. On the school indoor all-time lists, he stands first in the 5,000m (13:48.51) and third in the 3,000m (7:54.90).
A redshirt sophomore from Portland, Ore., McGrath became UO’s second-ever sub-4:00 miler indoors in March 2006 (3:59.25), and also made his NCAA debut (14th-prelims). Outdoors in ’06, he was a fifth-place Pac-10 Championships finisher in the 800m (1:51.28) and 1,500m (3:44.70), and owns season bests of 1:50.28 and 3:44.70, respectively. In cross country last fall, he ranked top-seven for the Ducks in the Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional Championships (35th/71st).
Bill Dellinger Cross Country Award ? Patrick Werhane
The redshirt sophomore from Beaverton, Ore., native emerged as one of the West Coast’s most improved runners last fall and led the cross country team in all three of its key late season meets ? the NCAA Championships (119th), NCAA West Regional (13th) and Pac-10 Championships (13th). He was tabbed a Pac-10 All-Second Team selection for his latter finish. In the early season, he ranked third on the squad in the Pier Park Preview (third) and Pre-NCAA Invitational (91st).
Other Award
Hayward Award (Outstanding service and loyalty to the UO track and field program) ? Bill Dellinger
In honor of one of the esteemed architects of the UO men’s track and field program, the Grants Pass, Ore., native and Springfield High School product initially claimed fame as one of Oregon’s greatest distance runners. From 1953-56, he was a two-time NCAA winner, three-time All-American and three-time conference champion. After college, he balanced a stint in the Air Force with post-collegiate training. At the end of his running career, he had added two world indoor records, six American records and three Olympic appearances (including a bronze in the 5,000m in 1964). He became an UO assistant coach position in 1968 and quickly established a reputation as one of America’s finest distance coaches and coached such greats as Rudy Chapa, Matt Centrowitz, Bill McChesney Jr., Steve Prefontaine and Alberto Salazar, and his distance pupils broke 18 American records, made 17 Olympic appearances and won 12 NCAA individual track titles. In his 32 years as cross country head coach, the Duck men claimed four NCAA team titles, five runner-up honors and four third-place finishes, to go along with four individual titles and another runner-up finish. At the conference level, his squads claimed four team titles and nine runner-up finishes. Individually, 23 Oregon runners combined for 41 cross country All-America honors, and 58 track athletes accounted for 105 track and field honors.
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