Rupp Honored Again as Pac-10 Athlete of Week
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. ? In Tuesday’s fourth edition of the Pacific-10 Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week, University of Oregon junior Galen Rupp was honored for the second straight week in the men’s track category in an announcement by conference commissioner Tom Hansen.
The six-time All-American won the Cardinal Invitational 10,000m (27:33.48) Sunday night and rewrote the American collegiate and UO school records (27:38.50 / 27:50.82). The Portland, Ore., native’s time also moved him to seventh all-time in U.S history and improved on his former best of 28:15.52 from the 2005 Oregon Twilight that broke the U.S. junior record.
Rupp’s time also met the ?A’ qualifying standards for the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympic Games (27:49.00 / 27:50.00). He would now need only top-three finishes in the respective U.S. championship that season to automatically earn bids for each world finale.
Also honored Tuesday in other track and field event categories were USC senior Noah Bryant (shot put, 67-5 1/2 - school record and NCAA leader), UCLA sophomore Nicole Leach (400m, personal best 51.97 ? USA #5 in ?07; 400m hurdles, 55.60 - #2 in world in ?07; 4x400m, 3:36.55) and Washington State junior McKenzie Garberg (three-event winner ? shot put, 48-11; discus, 169-3 ? WSU #5 all-time; hammer, 193-6).
The previous week, Rupp and sophomore Rebekah Noble were honored for the men’s and women’s track event categories for their performances Friday-Saturday, April 20-21 in the Oregon Invitational at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Noble logged a 1.52-second 800m season best (first, 2:03.22) ? a time that only one other collegian had bettered, albeit slightly, prior in '07 (Katie Erdman, Michigan, 2:02.99). Rupp ignited the home crowd with his final lap charge to win the 5,000m by .05 seconds (13:30.49) over Wisconsin senior and four-time NCAA champion Chris Solinsky (second, 13:30.54). Rupp’s 7.42-second personal best moved him to sixth all-time for UO ? his first appearance on the UO top-10 list in the 5,000m ? and the fastest by a Duck since 1982 when Bill McChesney Jr. (13:14.80) and Jim Hill (13:30.52) ran times that still rank them first and seventh in school history.
The Ducks scored similar honors the first two weeks of the honor in ’07 courtesy of senior javelin thrower Ryan Brandel and junior sprinter Phil Alexander. Brandel was honored Monday, April 16 for his 12-foot, five-inch personal best in the Mt. SAC Relays invitational javelin section (238-0, 72.54m) that moved him to third all-time for Oregon behind former Duck NCAA champions John Stiegeler (252-10, 2001) and Art Skipper (251-8, 1992). Alexander was honored the week before on Monday, April 9 after the first-year Duck played a part on two wins (100m, 4x100m) and another runner-up finish (200m) in the Pepsi Team Invitational in Eugene.
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 2004 after he won the Pac-10 Championships decathlon (7,589) with a mark that still ranks him eighth all-time for UO.
Looking ahead, the Duck remain at home for the Oregon Twilight, Saturday, May 5 at Hayward Field in Eugene. Also this weekend, UO will send several multi-event athletes to the Pac-10 Championships heptathlon and decathlon, Saturday-Sunday, May 5-6. Oregon’s postseason kicks into full speed the following week with the remaining 20 events in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, Saturday-Sunday, May 12-13 at Stanford University. More meet information is available at the www.GoStanford.com and www.Pac-10.org websites.
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