Rupp & Jordan Score All-America Honors in NCAA Indoor Track Day 1
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Redshirt senior Lauryn Jordan and sophomore Galen Rupp paced first-day action for the University of Oregon track and field teams with All-America honors Friday in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas.
Rupp finished third in the 5,000 meters for the UO men’s highest-ever NCAA indoor distance event finish (third, 13:40.38), and contended for the lead for most of the way before Wisconsin senior Chris Solinsky pulled away in the final 800 meters en route to the win (13:38.61).
“I was really happy with the way I ran my race,” Rupp said. “I competed well, and wouldn’t have done much different. I didn’t feel super great at the start but I didn’t panic, while in the past I might have worried about it. After that, I wasn’t focused on what others were doing, just on myself.”
Rupp kicked hard in the final lap and tried to pass Arkansas senior Peter Kosgei, but ultimately finished behind the Razorback (second, 13:39.88) who ran nearly nine seconds faster than his previous season best.
“He had maybe 10 yards on me the last lap but I gave everything," Rupp said, "and almost got around him once. He closed really well, and the crowd was really pulling him along. Afterwards he told me how he remembered how I had passed him in cross country last fall, and he said now the score was tied at 1-1. Maybe tomorrow’s (5,000m will be) the tiebreaker.”
The race went out with a tepid early pace with a 2:52 first kilometer, after which Liberty’s Josh McDougal surged to the lead near the mile mark and led most of the next two kilometers. Rupp ran in second and third place close behind McDougal’s wake. On the homestretch in the final kilometer, Solinsky and Kosgei surged ahead to the front, and Solinsky progressively pulled away.
“Coming in, I expected McDougal to take it from the gun or in the middle if it was too slow,” Rupp said. “I knew Solinsky was the guy to beat, and he would prefer to try to put an extended push from 1,200m or 800m like he did. I give Josh credit - he took a big chance taking it out, and his move broke it up initially. I felt pretty good afterwards , so I’m looking forward to racing again tomorrow. We really haven’t done any speed work yet, so this is a good weekend to help me continue to build into the outdoor season.”
The Portland, Ore., native Rupp entered the race seeded third overall thanks to his school record and NCAA automatic qualifying mark from early February’s Husky Classic in Seattle (13:38.62). He almost ran another NCAA automatic qualifying mark with his 3,000m school record in his Mountain Pacific Championships win (7:54.19) two weeks ago in Seattle, and was only .19 seconds off the NCAA automatic standard.
Rupp will return Saturday evening to run the seven-lap 3,000m event on the banked Razorback track and is seeded fifth in that event. Solinsky is again the top seed with his season best of 7:52.42.
Rupp began his second NCAA Indoor Championships appearance Friday after he became the first Duck to score in a pair of individual indoor All-America honors in the same meet last year (3,000m, sixth, 8:07.85; 5,000m fifth, 13:56.41).
Altogether in his short Duck career that began in March 2005, he has added All-America honors outdoors in the 10,000m (second, 28:23.75, 2005) and in cross country in ’06 (sixth).
Also in distances, freshman A.J. Acosta made his NCAA debut in the mile and ranked 13th overall in the combined standings from the two preliminary races (4:08.78). The lanky runner ran near the back of the seven-man opening section for the opening half of the race. He moved up into third place with 400m to go, then lost momentum just after the bell that indicated the final 200 meters.
The Stanford pair of Russell Brown and Garrett Heath led the event’s preliminary section results with their wins in the first and second heats of 4:00.19 and 4:03.13, respectively.
The Oceanside, Calif., native Acosta earned his NCAA invitation – UO’s second-ever in the event – thanks to a 3.49-second personal best in the UW Last Chance Qualifier (4:00.37) last weekend in Seattle – a mark that also ranked him eighth nationally and tops among underclassmen. All-time for UO, he ranks third in the mile behind Steve Prefontaine (first, 3:59.2) and Duck redshirt junior Michael McGrath (second, 3:59.25). The latter Duck also ran his personal best in a last chance meet in Seattle last season.
Earlier this year, Acosta claimed NCAA provisional marks in the 3,000m (8:02.80) and distance medley relay (1,600m anchor leg, overall time 9:37.95).
In field event action earlier Friday, senior Brian Richotte made his second NCAA appearance in the weight throw and first for the Ducks (11th overall, 67-8 3/4). The Berkeley, Mich., native finished one place better than his pre-meet seed (12th) that was based on his season best and school record (69-0 1/4).
“I was disappointed with the result,” Richotte said, “but it’s an evolution since I’m in an entirely different program with a new coach. I have to remember that it’s a move that will help me with the hammer outdoors. It’s been a big transition – going from a power technique to one based on speed. Ultimately it’s one that’s good to make, but they’re totally different, and you can’t do a little bit of each method - it's either one or the other - which is what I was having problems with today.”
Overall in the event, Egor Agafonov, a junior from Kansas, won by 1 foot, 1 inch (77-5 1/4) over Auburn senior Cory Martin (second, 76-4 1/4). North Carolina senior Nick Owens followed in third place (71-2 3/4).
Richotte competed in the same NCAA indoor event last year for Radford University and claimed All-America honors for his eighth-place finish (69-3 1/2) – a mark that was only 3/4 inches off his personal best (69-4 1/4).
He joined the Ducks this winter term and competed in four other indoor meets – all with marks of 67-4 or better, including wins in the Mountain Pacific Championships (68-0 1/4) and UW Indoor Invitational (67-4 1/4). For comparison’s sake, UO’s previous school record (67-7) was held by former NCAA qualifier Adam Kriz (second, 67-7, 2003).
On the women’s side, redshirt senior Lauryn Jordan added UO’s first-ever indoor women’s All-America honor in a horizontal jump thanks to her ninth-place long jump finish (20-1 1/2, 6.13m).
The Stockton, Calif., native posted her best mark on her third and final try of the prelims – a mark that barely moved her into the eighth and final spot in the final and was only one and two centimeters, respectively, better than the 10th- and 11th- place finishers Yvette Lewis (20-1) and Portia Nash (20-0 1/2).
“My warm-ups were pretty good, and a couple were really on, but I wasn’t totally consistent with my approach,” Jordan said. “I had to keep adjusting my starting point, and I couldn’t quite get it figured out. During the meet, I had a big jump on my second attempt, but I fouled it by a couple inches. My last jump felt pretty good, but I trailed my hand and that effected my landing.”
Her other marks Friday included 19-8 1/4, 19-6 1/2, 19-7 1/2 and 19-6 1/2 on her first, fourth, fifth and sixth attempts, respectively, while her second try was a foul.
Jordan made her NCAA indoor debut Friday after she was a two-time NCAA qualifier outdoors in the heptathlon (seventh in ’06, 14th in ’05) and was an All-American in the most recent appearance. So far in ’07, she upped her indoor school long jump record in three different meets (20-1, 20-4.5, 20-6.5) from her preseason mark of 19-11 1/2.
She also broke the school indoor pentathlon record two weeks ago in Seattle with her score of 3,957 points two weeks ago in the Mountain Pacific Championships. That score ended the year ranked 18th nationally – only two places and 39 points shy of the final invitation on this year’s NCAA qualifying list.
“I was hoping to qualify for NCAA’s in the pentathlon, too, but it wasn't meant to be,” Jordan said. ‘Regardless, it was nice to be able to focus solely on one event - especially since I don't have to worry about the 800m at the end.”
Friday’s appearance marked the final in a Duck uniform for Jordan who also left quite a legacy on the UO outdoor lists with the following top-10 rankings and personal bests – high jump (fifth, 5-10), long jump (second, 20-11 1/4), triple jump (second, 41-4 1/2, 43-2 1/2w) and heptathlon (third, 5,499). Indoors, she also stands top-five for Oregon in the 60m hurdles (first, 8.73), high jump (third-tie, 5-8) and triple jump (third, 39-10 1/2).
Overall in the event, UCLA sophomore and event winner Rhonda Watkins also was in jeopardy of missing the final with a best of 19-3 1/2 after her first two jumps. But the Trinidad native nailed her third try – and ultimately the day’s best mark of 21-6 3/4 (6.57m). Miami senior Brenda Faluade followed in second place (21-3 1/2) and Ole Miss sophomore Brittney Reese also topped 21 feet (third, 21-0 1/2).
On the track in the women’s 800m prelims, sophomore Rebekah Noble easily advanced to Saturday’s event final. The returning NCAA runner-up ranked second in the first of three heats (2:07.22) and finished at the side of Minnesota’s Heather Dorniden (first, 2:06.92) - last year's NCAA indoor champion. The Gopher sophomore led much of the way in their heat with Noble running just behind her most of the second half of the race.
Other 800m heat winners included Michigan senior Katie Erdman (second heat, 2:04.54) – the fastest runner of the day – and Cornell senior Morgan Uceny (2:06.16).
Noble entered the meet seeded fifth nationally with her season best of 2:04.92 that won the Mountain Pacific Championships and just shy of her all-time best that ranks second for UO (2:04.72).
Noble returns for second and final day action Saturday, and other Ducks scheduled to compete include Rupp (3,000m), and seniors Emily Enders (pole vault) and Britney Henry (hammer).
Complete first day results and second day heat sheets are available at the http://www.uark.edu/depts/wathinfo/track/livestat/070309F029.htm?DB_OEM_ID=2300 URL address. More NCAA Indoor Championships information is available at the www.NCAAsports.com , www.HogWired.com and www.LadyBacks.com websites.
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