Alexander Named Pac-10 Men's Track Athlete of Week
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – In Monday’s first edition of the Pacific-10 Conference Athlete of the Week honor, University of Oregon junior Phil Alexander was honored for the men’s track category in an announcement by conference commissioner Tom Hansen.
In the Pepsi Team Invitational last Saturday at Hayward Field in Eugene, the first-year Duck played a part on two wins and two more runner-up finishes.
Early in the meet, the Keizer, Ore., native ran the third leg on the 4x100m relay (first, 40.47) that scored a season best and regional qualifying mark, then won the 100m (10.40W, w:4.7). His 100m mark also met a regional standard but the wind reading (4.7) was slightly above the allowable limit (4.0).
He came back with a regional mark in the 200m (second, 21.07, w:1.2) that moved him to ninth all-time for UO and was just off his personal best (21.00), and also ran on the runner-up 4x400m relay (3:11.91).
Alexander’s points helped the Duck men win their 11th team title with 211 points over Washington (second, 164), Kansas State (third, 133) and USC (fourth, 118). The Duck women also scored a comfortable win with 183 1/2 points for their 13th victory in the 18th edition of the meet, and outdistanced Kansas State (second, 165), Washington (third, 151 1/2) and USC (fourth, 121).
So far this season, Alexander leads the team in the 100m (10.40W, w:4.7) and 200m (21.07, w:1.2) and ranks third in the 400m (47.93). Prior to his work with the Ducks, he was a four-time NWAACC conference champion for nearby Lane Community College and was a former prep state champion in the 200m and 400m for McNary High School.
Other conference athletes honored Monday included a pair of men’s throwers - Arizona senior Adam Kuehl (Texas Relays discus champion, 204-4) and USC senior Noah Bryant (Pepsi Team Invitational shot put champion, 66-2 1/4) - Washington State senior Diana Pickler (Texas Relays heptathlon champion, 6,205 points) and UCLA sophomore Rhonda Watkins (Texas Relays long jump champion, 22-0 1/4w, w:3.0).
Oregon scored three similar honors last year courtesy of current redshirt senior Britney Henry and then-seniors Eric Mitchum and Matt Scherer. Henry was tabbed last April for her 13-foot hammer school record in the Mt. SAC Relays (second, 221-7). Scherer was honored for his wins the following week in the Oregon Invitational 400m (personal best 45.90), 4x100m (41.81) and 4x400m (3:13.23). Mitchum was spotlighted in early April 2006 for three wins (110m hurdles, 13.68W, w:4.1; 400m, 52.09; 4x100m, 40.33) and another runner-up finish (4x400m, 3:11.31) in the Pepsi Team Invitational.
Another current Duck - redshirt senior Tommy Skipper – received similar honors as a freshman in 2003 after he won the Pac-10 Championships decathlon (7,589) with a mark that still ranks him eighth all-time for UO.
Looking ahead to this weekend, a pair of Duck multi-event athletes – redshirt sophomore Kalindra McFadden and freshman Marshall Ackley – will compete in the Azusa Pacific heptathlon and decathlon on Wednesday-Thursday, April 11-12.
On Sunday, April 15, All-America redshirt senior hammer throwers Britney Henry and Brian Richotte and a trio of javelin throwers, senior Ryan Brandel and Ashley McCrea and Rachel Yurkovich are tentatively entered in the Mt. SAC Relays.
Yurkovich was the national collegiate leader last week with her Pac-10 record from late March (189-11), and McCrea (166-8) and Brandel both moved to sixth all-time for UO, respectively, with 10-foot and 11-foot personal bests. Richotte also joined the UO all-time list last weekend in the Pepsi Team Invitational with his runner-up mark (#8, 212-10).
More Azusa Pacific and Mt. SAC Relays meet information is located at the http://www.apu.edu/athletics/trackandfield and www.mtsacrelays.com websites, respectively.
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