Track & Field Teams Look Ahead to USA Championships
EUGENE? In their final stop of the outdoor track and field season, the University of Oregon track and field teams have 10 current athletes (6M, 4W) entered in the upcoming AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while six other Duck freshmen (3M, 3W) will compete simultaneously in the Finish Line USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Both events will be held Wed.-Sun., June 21-25 at the IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis, Ind.
The top finishers from each senior event are eligible to compete in the 2006 IAAF World Cup, Sept. 16-17 in Athens, Greece, while top junior championships finishers will earn invites to the 2006 World Junior Championships, August 15-20 in Beijing, China.
MEET INFORMATION
Meet: USA Outdoor Championships, Wednesday-Sunday, June 21-25
Meet: USA Junior Outdoor Championships, Wednesday-Sunday, June 21-25
Location: IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ.-Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Ind.
Results: www.USATF.org / www.FlashResults.com
Wed. First/Last Duck Event: 12:30 pm ET ? M Javelin (Jr.) / 6:30 pm ? ET W Hammer (Jr.)
Thu. First/Last Duck Event: 9:45 am ET ? W Javelin (Jr.) / 7:20 pm ET ? M 10,000m
Fri. First/Last Duck Event: 10:00 am ET ? M Hammer (Jr.) / 8:45 pm ET ? M 5,000m
Sat. First/Last Duck Event: 4:05 pm ET ? M 110m Hurdles Prelims / 7:28 pm ? M 400m Final
Sun. First/Last Duck Event: 2:40 pm ET ? M 110m Hurdles Semi / 4:50 pm ? M 110m Hurdles Final
Women’s Pronunciation Key: Brittany Hinchcliffe (HINCH-clif), Rachel Yurkovich (YER-coe-vitch). Men’s Pronunciation Key: Richard Del Rincon (DELL RIHN-con), Akobundu Ikwuakor (ih-KWALK-or), Galen Rupp (GAY-lun, RUH-p), Tommy Skipper (SKIP-per)
Head Coach: Vin Lananna, First Year, Associate Athletic Director/Director of Track and Field.
USA Junior Outdoor Championships Qualifiers ? Qualifying Mark (UO All-Time Rank)
Jared Huske, Fr., Topeka, Kan. - 110m Hurdles, 14.43w, w:2.9, 5/13/06
Steven Johnson, Fr., Medford, Ore. - Hammer, 54.09m, 177-5, 5/5/06
Matthew Maloney, Fr., Barrington, R.I. - Javelin, 68.56m, 224-11, 4/21/06 (UO #7)
Megan Maloney, Fr., Barrington, R.I. - Hammer, 1st, 55.23m, 181-2, 4/28/06 (UO #7)
Ashley McCrea, Fr., North Bend, Ore. - Javelin, 2nd, 47.76m, 156-8, 5/26/06 (UO #7)
Rebekah Noble, Fr., Spokane, Wash. - 800m, 1st, 2:02.07, 6/10/06 (UO #4)
USA Outdoor Championships Qualifiers ? Qualifying Mark (UO All-Time Rank)
*Richard Del Rincon, Sr., LaMesa, Calif. - 100m, 37th, 10.34, w:1.2, 5/13/06 (UO #7)
*Michael McGrath, RSo., Portland, Ore. ? 1,500m, 24th, 3:59.25 mile-indoors, 3/5/06 (UO #2-indoors)
Eric Mitchum, Sr., Calumet City, Ill. - 110m Hurdles, 14th, 13.48w, w:2.8, 4/22/06 (PR 13.38, 2004, UO #1)
Galen Rupp, So., Portland, Ore. - 5,000m, 24th, 13:44.72, 7/23/05; 10,000m, 3rd, 28:15.52, 5/7/05 (UO #3)
Matt Scherer, Sr., Sumner, Ill. - 400m, 9th, 45.19, 5/14/06 (UO #2)
Tommy Skipper, Jr., Sandy, Ore. - Pole Vault, 4th, 5.79m, 19-0, 3/18/06 (UO #1)
Britney Henry, RJr., Bellevue, Wash. - Hammer, 68.17m, 221-7, 4/15/06 (UO #1)
Brittany Hinchcliffe, Sr., Olympia, Wash. - Hammer, 64.69m, 210-5, 5/27/06 (UO #2)
*Lauryn Jordan, Sr., Stockton, Calif. - Long Jump, 15th, 6.38m, 20-11 1/4, w:1.1, 4/13/06 (UO #2); Triple Jump, 13.17m, 43-2.5w, w:4.0, 4/22/06 (PR 41-4 1/2, UO #2)
Rachel Yurkovich, Fr., Newberg, Ore. - Javelin, 4th, 54.82m, 179-10, 3/18/06 (UO #2)
* Indicates provisional Duck qualifiers awaiting confirmation of entries
Three current Duck women are slated to throw in the USA Championships, including recent hammer throw All-Americans Brittany Hinchcliffe and Britney Henry who took third and sixth last week in the NCAA Championships with marks of 212-3 and 208-7, respectively. Fellow All-American Rachel Yurkovich is also entered in the javelin after she took seventh in her recent NCAA debut (165-2).
Last year, Yurkovich took fifth in the USA finale (170-3) on the first day of the meet, then won the U.S. junior title (166-1) three days later. All-time for UO, Henry leads the Duck hammer list with her season best (221-7), while Hinchcliffe and Yurkovich rank second in the hammer (212-3) and javelin (179-10), respectively.
On the men’s side at the senior level, the six Duck qualifiers combine for seven invites in seven different events (100m, 400m, 1,500m, 5K, 10K, 110H, PV) and three of them will make their USA Championships debuts (Del Rincon, McGrath and Rupp).
Junior pole vaulter Tommy Skipper won his second NCAA outdoor title last weekend in Sacramento (18-8 3/4) and broke the Oregon and Pac-10 school record in his outdoor season debut in mid-March’s Oregon Preview (19-0). The Sandy, Ore., native Skipper is a two-time USA veteran (ninth-’05; 14th-prelims-’04), and also won U.S. junior titles in 2003 (meet record 18-0 1/2) and ’02 (17-6 1/2).
Ranked second all-time for UO in the 400 meters, senior Matt Scherer returns to the oval after a busy showing in the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, including All-America honors in the 400m (fifth, 45.41), 4x100m (seventh, 39.48) and 4x400m (sixth, 3:04.85). The Sumner, Ill., native made his USA Championships debut in 2005 in the 400m (16th-semi, 46.65; 46.25-p).
Sprint teammate and senior Richard Del Rincon also added an All-America effort in the 4x100m, and joined Scherer on UO’s school record 4x100m in the 2005 NCAA finale (39.20), and ranks top-10 himself all-time for UO in the 100m (seventh, 10.34) and 200m (sixth, 20.86).
Senior Eric Mitchum comes off his fourth NCAA appearance and third All-America honor in the 110-meter hurdles last weekend (fifth, 13.58, w:0.3). The Calumet City, Ill., native make his second straight appearance in the 2005 U.S. finale and has advanced to the semifinals both meets (2005-16th, 2004-14th), and was third in the U.S. Junior Championships as a freshman in 2003.
In the distances, Rupp took second in the 2005 U.S. junior 1,500 meters, while McGrath also competed in the U.S. junior meet in the 800 meters as a freshman in ’04. In 2006, McGrath was a Pac-10 scorer in the 1,500m (fifth, 3:44.70), and owns a best of 3:42.44 from the Peyton Jordan Open from May 2005. Rupp was an NCAA qualifier in the 5,000m outdoors last week, and a Pac-10 scorer in the 5,000m and 10,000m (third/second).
Several former Ducks are also slated to compete in the U.S. senior finale, including four women ? Eri Macdonald of the Nike Farm Team (800m, 2:04.29), Becky Holliday of New Balance (pole vault, 14-1 1/4), Niki McEwen of Team XO (pole vault, 14-5 1/4) and Grace Upshaw of Nike (long jump, 22-1 3/4), and four men ? Jason Hartmann of Boulder Performance (5,000m, 13:36.33; 10,000m, 28:35.63), Eric Logsdon of Team XO (5,000m, 13:40.21), Leonidas Watson of Team XO (long jump, 26-0 3/4; triple jump, 53-8 1/2) and Adam Kriz of Team XO (hammer, 220-9).
On the junior circuit, six Ducks (3M, 3W) will compete in their respective U.S. finales ? freshmen Jared Huske (110m hurdles, 14.43w), Steven Johnson (hammer, 177-5) and Matthew Maloney (javelin, 224-11 ? UO #7 all-time) and Rebekah Noble (800m, 2:02.07 UO#4 all-time), Megan Maloney (hammer, 181-2, UO #7) and Ashley McCrea (javelin, 156-8, UO #7 all-time).
Two of those Duck freshmen competed last weekend in the collegiate finale in Sacramento. Noble won UO’s third national title in the 800m win a personal best (2:02.07, UO #4 all-time), while Matthew Maloney also made his NCAA javelin debut (18th-prelims, 207-6) and bettered his pre-meet seed by two positions.
Besides current Duck entries, several other preps that have committed are also entered, including Oregon prep distance runners and seniors Kenny Klotz and Isaac Stoutenburgh.
More info on both events is available at the www.USATF.org website.
Last week, the Duck squads enjoyed a successful showing in the NCAA Championships, Wed.-Sat., June 7-10 at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium. In the team races, the Duck women and men finished 11th and 12th, respectively, for their first pair of same season top-15 finishes since 1991 (M-3rd; W-15th).
The UO women claimed All-America honors and top-eight finishes from freshman Rebekah Noble (800m, first, 2:02.85), redshirt senior Brittany Hinchcliffe (hammer, third, 212-3), redshirt junior Britney Henry (hammer, sixth, 208-7), senior Lauryn Jordan (sixth, 5,499) and freshman Rachel Yurkovich (javelin, seventh, 165-2)
Men’s All-America honorees last week included junior Tommy Skipper (first, 18-8 1/4), senior Matt Scherer (400m, fifth, 45.41), senior Eric Mitchum (110m hurdles, fifth, 13.58, w:0.3), the 4x100m relay (seventh, 39.48) and the 4x400m relay (3:04.85).
* Go to the next page for a meet schedule and Duck entries.
