Acosta Heads Effort in 1st Day of NCAA Indoor Track Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? University of Oregon sophomore A.J. Acosta ran the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the men’s mile run to advance to Saturday’s finals of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center Friday.

Acosta, who had posted the nation’s second-fastest collegiate mark this year while setting a school record of 3-minutes, 58.52 seconds, finished second in his heat with a qualifying time of 4:05.45. Leonel Manzano of Texas won the heat in 4:05.42.

Stanford’s Garrett Heath posted the event’s fastest mark in the second heat of 4:05.22, with all 10 qualifiers for the finals finishing within less than a second of the leader.

The Ducks’ Michael McGrath turned out to be the fastest competitor not to make the finals as he finished sixth in his heat with a time of 4:06.61.

McGrath attempted to push the pace early, grabbing the lead of his heat on the second lap of the 200-meter banked track and maintaining it through the first three laps. The Portland senior dropped into second place behind Manzano prior to the halfway mark and remained there for one more lap before falling back..

Meanwhile Acosta was no better than fifth following the opening 200 meters before moving up to third before the completion of his second of eight times around the oval. The Oceanside, Calif., sophomore trailed Manzano and McGrath through five laps and remained in third place with 200 meters remaining in the race. But he relied on a final kick to finish the race with an unofficial split of 28.31 seconds to earn the second of three automatic advancements from his heat.

“A.J. ran a smart and tough race,” Oregon Associate Head Coach Dan Steele said. “He really looked good and I feel good about this chances to do well Saturday. He fought his way from the back (of the pack).”

Other than the men’s mile, the Ducks’ men and women struggled through some tough times and repeatedly were unable to get over the hump.

“We don’t want to make any excuses,” said. “We made decisions to put ourselves in the best scoring position possible but continually came up short. We felt the kids were ready but maybe they need a little bit more seasoning.”

Among the day’s 10 competitors, only five of the Ducks came into the meet with any NCAA championship experience under their belts, and only one of them (McGrath) is a senior.

“I feel bad for the kids, but they stuck their noses right in there, they ran aggressive and made the right moves,” Steele added. “For the most part, the results just didn’t come out in their favor. We have to use this as an opportunity to learn and get ready for the outdoor season.”

Ashton Eaton stumbled in his attempt to secure a medal in the heptathlon after the first four events in the competition

Ashton Eaton, who entered the field of 16 sporting the second-best mark in the country with a school-record 5,859 points, encountered disappointments in the final two of four events of the first day to stand 12^th heading into Saturday’s final three events with 2,987 points.

The Bend sophomore kicked off the day in good shape, posting the competition’s second-best mark in the 60 meters of 6.93 seconds, followed by a season heptathlon long jump best of 23-10.75. But after that the former Mountain View standout began to struggle. Eaton fouled on his first two attempts in the shot put and was forced to play it safe on his final try in order to post a legal mark, finishing the event with an effort of 35-8.

He concluded the day more than eight inches under his personal best in the high jump, clearing 6-0.5.

“Ashton certainly isn’t out of it and can fight his way back into a scoring position,” Steele said. “He was clearly disappointed but is not going to quit. I’m confident he will scratch and claw his way tomorrow.”

The Ducks’ men’s distance relay team just missed breaking into the scoring column, with its ninth-place finish of 9:36.80 falling just 38-hundredths of a second behind eighth-place Villanova (9:36.42) for the final scoring slot, and just over one second behind seventh-place UCLA (9:35.74).

On the women’s side, Oregon sophomore Keshia Baker finished second in her preliminary heat but failed to advance to Saturday’s finals of the 400 meters with a time of 53.79.

Freshman Alexandria Kosinski also was unable to advance to the finals of the women’s mile, finishing sixth in her heat and two places shy of the top-10 finalists with a time of 4:44.21. Kosinski ran strong early and was unofficially clocked in 2:23.08 at the halfway point of the race. She remained in second place in her heat 200 meters later (2:59.43) and only three-one hundredths of a second off the leader, Arkansas’ Dacia Barr, but was unable to keep up with the pace.

Not unlike their male counterparts, the women’s distance medley relay quartet also fell one place shy of scoring points for the Ducks as they finished ninth with a time of 11:22.06. Baylor claimed the final scoring position with a time of 11:20.56 in the event won by Tennessee, which was clocked in 11:01.97.

In addition to the conclusion of the men’s heptathlon, the Ducks will compete in the women’s pole vault and 3,000 meters, as well as the men’s mile and 4x400 relay Saturday.

Friday Results

MEN

Heptathlon 1^st-Day Scores

1. Gonzalo Barroilhet, Florida State, 3265; 2. Jangy Addy, Tennessee, 3223; 3. Nick Adcock, Missouri, 3195; 4. Justin Johnson, CS Northridge, 3157; 5. Mike Morrison, Florida, 3131; 6. Rok Derzanic, Kansas State, 3126; 12. Ashton Eaton, Oregon, 2987.

Heptathlon 60 Meters

1.Jangy Addy, Tenn., 6.84 (940); 2. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 6.93 (907); 3. Krzysztof Slupkowski, Wich. St., 7.05 (865); 4. Rok Derzanic, Kan.St., 7.06 (861); 5. Chris Dickman, Wich. St., 7.07 (858); 6. Raven Cepeda, No. Iowa, 7.09 (851).

Heptathlon Long Jump

1. Josh Hustedt, Stan., 24-7 (932); 2. Gonzalo Barroilhet, Fla. St., 24-4.25 (915); 3. Mike Morrison, Fla., 23-11.75 (888); t4. Rok Derzanic, Kan. St., 23-10.75 (881), and Ashton Eaton, Ore., 23-10.75 (881); t6. Mat Clark, No. Iowa, 23-8 (864), and Justin Johnson, CS North., 23-8 (864).

Heptathlon Shot Put

1. Jangy Addy, Tenn., 51-10 (839); 2. Raven Cepeda, No. Iowa, 48-11 (784)l 3. Nick Adcock, Mo., 45-4.25 (717); 4. Gonzalo Barroilhet, Flor. St., 45-1 (712); 5. Mateo Sossah, N. Car., 44-3.50 (698); 6. Krzysztof Slupkowski, Wich. St., 44-0.50 (693); 16. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 35-8 (538).

Heptathlon High Jump

t1. Nick Adcock, Mo., 6-9.75 (878), and Mateo Sossah, N. Car., 6-9.75 (878); 3. Justin Johnson, CS North., 6-8.75 (850); t4. Josh Hustedt, Stan., 6-7.5 (822), and Gonzalo Barroilhet, Fla. St., 6-7.5 (822); t6. Mike Morrison, Fla., 6-6.25 (794), and Duane Hynes, Prince., 6-6.25 (794); t14. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 6-0.5 (661).

Mile Run Prelims (Finals qualifiers plus Oregon finishers)

(Heat 1) ? 1. Leonel Manzano, Tex., 4:05.42q; 2. A.J. Acosta, Ore., 4:05.45q; 3. Jake Watson, Notre Dame, 4:05.73q; 4. Micky Cohbrin, Ark., 4:05.79q; 5. Jake Morse, Tex., 4:06.08q; 6. Michael McGrath, Ore., 4:06.61.

(Heat 2) ? 1. Garrett Heath, Stan., 4:05.22q; 2. Andy McClary, Ark., 4:05.34q; 3. Michael Maag, Princeton, 4:05.38q; 4. Jeff See, Ohio St., 4:06.10q; 5. Peter van der Westhuizen, Neb., 4:06.17q.

Distance Medley Relay Finals

1. Texas (Hernandez, Fortson, Everett, Manzano), 9:32.04; 2. Arizona State (Heller, Kremer, Barbosa, Alcorn), 9:32.49; 3. Wisconsin (Miller, Groce, Jager, Bolas), 9:33.83; 4. Stanford (DeVries, Dargie, Evans, Heath), 9:34.03; 5. Georgetown (Debole, Harris, Banks, Bumbalough), 9:34.22; 6. LSU (Hendry, Hayes, James, Kosgei), 9:35.72; 9. Oregon (McGrath, Barlow, Wheating, Centrowitz), 9:36.80.

WOMEN

400 Meters Prelims (Finals qualifiers plus Oregon finishers)

(Heat 1) ? 1. Krista Simkins, Miami, 51.95q; 2. Keshia Baker, Ore., 53.79.

(Heat 2) ? 1. Jenna Martin, Kent., 53.13q; 2. Kenyata Coleman, Miss., 53.61q.

(Heat 3) ? 1. Kineka Alexander, Iowa, 52.63q; 2. Jessica Beard, Tex. A&M, 52.77q.

(Heat 4) ? 1. Shana Cox, Penn St., 53.37q; 2. Sheryl Morgan, Neb., 52.45q.

(Heat 5) ? 1. Trisha Bartholomew, Ala., 52.32q.

Mile Run Prelims (Finals qualifiers plus Oregon finishers)

(Heat 1) ? 1. Sarah Bowman, Tenn., 4:41.04q; 2. Hannah England, Fla. St., 4:41.32q; 3. Dacia Barr, Ark., 4:41.70q; 4. Michelle Turner, Wash., 4:42.77q; 5. Alicia Follmer, Stan., 4:42.78q; 6. Elizabeth Maloy, Georgetown, 4:43.44q.

(Heat 2) ? 1. Nicole Edwards, Mich., 4:42.33q; 2. Katie Follett, Wash., 4:42.43q; 3. Amanda Miller, Wash., 4:42.98q; 4. Ann Detmer, Wis., 4:43.23q; 6. Alexandria Kosinski, Ore., 4:44.21.

Distance Medley Relay Finals

1. Tennessee (Sheffey, Jones, Wright, Bowman), 11:01.97; 2. Michigan (Tauro, Williams, Gall, Edwards), 11:02.22; 3. Stanford (Centrowitz, Out, Follmar, Lambie), 11:03.87; 4. West Virginia (Asselin, Rotilio, Hamric, Bland), 11:07.64; 5. Brigham Young (Clark-Platt, Slight, Palmer, Wagner), 11:10.96; 6. Illinois (Woods, Ugiagbe, Hernandez, Bizzarri), 11:12.33; 9. Oregon (Kosinski, Baker, Buckman, Blood), 11:22.06.

University of Oregon Athletics

Acosta Heads Effort in 1st Day of NCAA Indoor Track Championships