Ducks' Skipper Clears 19 1/4 in First Day of NCAA West Regional
EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon senior Tommy Skipper cleared the best pole vault mark by a collegiate athlete this season at 19 feet, ?-inch Friday during the NCAA West Regional Championships at Hayward Field.
Skipper broke the Pac-10 Conference outdoor record as well as his own school record in his final collegiate appearance before his home crowd.
The top-five finishers in each event automatically qualify for the NCAA championship meet being held June 6-9 in Sacramento.
Skipper wasn't the only performer taking over the NCAA lead on Friday.
In the long jump, Washington's Norris Frederick recorded the top jump in the nation at 26-? to win the event. His winning mark followed a 26-? put up by Pac-10 champion Matt Turner of Arizona State, which, at the time, was also the best jump by a collegian.
In other men's finals, Oregon junior Galen Rupp, the NCAA record holder in the 10,000, won the 5,000 in 14:08.03, while fellow Duck Brian Richotte earned his second trip to nationals with a win in the hammer throw at 221-6. Richotte, who is in his one and only season as a Duck, represented Radford University at the NCAA meet in the 2005 season, finishing 10th.
The discus title went to Niklas Arrhenius from BYU with a throw of 206-3, beating a field that included the top five performers in the NCAA.
On the women's side, UCLA's Rhonda Wadkins tied the second-best long jump mark in the world this season with a winning effort of 22-4 ?, also breaking Gail Devers 19-year-old Pac-10 record.
Former national champion Sharon Day, continued her comeback from injury with a win in the high jump.
Day, a Cal Poly junior, and California sophomore Inika McPherson, each cleared 6-feet, ? inch, but Day got the win because she had fewer misses.
Day, the Big West champion and the Mustangs first national champion in 12 years when she won the title in 2005, broke her foot while jogging after that season and had to redshirt in 2006.
Oregon sophomore Rachel Yurkovich, a two-time Pac-10 champion, won the javelin with a throw of 178-9 on her only attempt of the competition.
Yurkovich, the NCAA leader this season, has been nursing a sore throwing shoulder in recent weeks. She hit the winning mark on her first throw and then passed on her final five attempts.
In other women's finals, Stanford's Teresa McWalters won the 5,000 in 16:04.92, and Arizona State's Jessica Pressley won the shot put with a mark of 58-6 ?.
