Women?s Track Signs Seven
EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon women’s track and field team has signed seven talented high school athletes, who will join Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Jordan Hasay in the Ducks’ 2009 recruiting class, Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna announced Thursday.
The seven are Laura Bobek of Astoria, Ore., Becca Friday of Bellingham, Wash., Alexandra Jones of Lake Oswego, Ore., Sarah Penney of Paradise Valley, Ariz., Chloe Steinbeck of Beaverton, Ore., Melanie Thompson of High Bridge, N.J., and Taylor Wallace of Klamath Falls, Ore.
"A very gifted class of women will be enrolling at the University of Oregon this fall," said Lananna. "They will be infused into a great track and field team that will feature several All-Americans and Pac-10 champions.
"Coaches Maurica Powell and Lance Deal have done an impressive job of working with these student-athletes and their families throughout the recruiting process to bring an impressive group to Track Town, USA," said Lananna.
The 2008 New Jersey state cross country champion for Voorhees High School, Thompson is one of three Oregon signees who ran at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in San Diego last month, joining Hasay, who won the race, and Wallace.
In 2008, Thompson dominated New Jersey. On the track, she won conference, sectional and group titles at both 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters, while she was also the State Meet of Champions winner at 3,200 meters in 10:17.18.
Nationally, Thompson ranked fifth at both 3,000 meters (10:17.18) and two miles (10:20.76) and 15th in the mile (4:50.68) in 2008.
In the fall, she won the 2008 NJSIAA Meet of Champions title in November, finishing in 17:47. During the cross country regular season, her wins included the Bowdoin Park Classic (18:23), Shore Coaches Invitational (18:14) and Manhattan College Invitational Eastern States race (14:12). At the Foot Locker Nationals in December, she placed 17th (18:18). She was named the Express-Times Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year for the second time in three years.
This year on the track, she has already placed second in the mile at the New Balance Games at the Armory in New York City, running 4:56.81, and sixth in the mile at the Millrose Games (5:06.96).
Wallace, one of four Oregon natives headed to the Eugene campus in the fall, was 20th at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals in December (18:24) and ranked third nationally at 1,500 meters (4:28.79) in 2008. She was also among the nation’s best at 3,000 meters, ranking eighth in 9:58.30, and in the mile, ranking 13th at 4:50.30.
Last spring, she repeated as the state 4A champion at both 1,500 meters (4:33.79) and 3,200 meters (9:58.30) as she led Henley High School its second consecutive state championship in 2008. She ran her personal best in the 1,500 meters, 4:28.79, at the 2008 Prefontaine Classic at Historic Hayward Field.
Wallace also won consecutive state 4A cross country titles as a junior in 2007 and as a senior in 2008.
Ranked sixth nationally at 3,000 meters (9:54.39), Jones won the state 6A 800- and 1,500 meter crowns in 2008 to lead St. Mary’s Academy to a third-place tie. She ran 2:14.78 in the 800 meter final and 4:42.32 to win at 1,500 meters.
Jones’ PR in the 3,000 meters came at the 2008 Oregon Relays at Hayward Field.
In cross country, Jones’ second-place finish individually (18:26.9) as a senior in 2008 helped St. Mary’s finish second at the state championships.
Steinbeck is the reigning Oregon 6A 400 meter champion after winning the 2008 title in 56.49 for Southridge High School. She was also on the winning 4x400 meter relay team as Southridge captured second place at the championships, held at Hayward Field. It was the second straight state 4x400 win for Steinbeck and Southridge.
She went on to place second in the 400 meters at the 2008 Washington/Oregon Meet of Champions (58:15).
Bobek ranked first in Oregon among all classifications in the discus (146-6) and second in the shot put (45-10) in 2008.
She dominated at the 4A level for Astoria High School, not only winning both the discus (138-3) and the shot put (42-8) at the state meet for the second consecutive year, but going undefeated during the high school season.
Her performances the past two years, which include a personal-best and school record 147-8 in the discus as a sophomore, have helped the Fishermen capture two straight second place finishes at the state championships.
Bobek was also the runner-up in both the shot put (43-3.5) and the discus (139-8) at the 2008 Washington/Oregon Meet of Champions.
Penney was ranked 20th nationally in the mile in 2008 at 4:52.41.
At the 2008 Arizona 5A Track and Field Championships, she placed second in both the 800 meters (2:14.75) and the 1,600 meters (4:50.72), helping Xavier College Prep to a second place team finish. She also had the fastest time in the state at 800 meters, 2:14.20, which was the winning mark in the Arizona Meet of Champions.
In the fall, she finished second in her division and fourth overall at the 2008 Arizona Cross Country Championships in 18:57.70, helping Xavier College Prep win the 5A Division I title.
Friday is the two-time defending Washington state 2A champion at 800 meters. She won the 2007 race as a sophomore in 2:16.48 and followed that in 2008 by winning in 2:15.94. Her personal best in the 800, 2:13.49, ranked fourth among all Washington classifications in 2008.
Friday won the 1,600 meters at the 2008 Washington/Oregon Meet of Champions in 5:02.99 after taking third in the state meet (5:05.24). She was the runner-up at 1,600 meters as a sophomore in 2007 in a personal-best time of 4:54.51, which ranked eighth nationally.
The eight signees will join at least seven All-Americans on the 2009-10 Oregon roster, including Nicole Blood, Mattie Bridgmon, Zoe Buckman, Melissa Gergel, Alexandra Kosinski, Rebekah Noble and Brianne Theisen, and three Pac-10 Champions: Keshia Baker, Blood and Noble.
They will become part of Oregon’s storied women’s distance program that has produced three combined women’s cross country and track and field NCAA team titles and 22 combined conference titles. The Ducks are coming off their highest finish, eighth, at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in 15 years. The Duck women also scored 100 points to finish third at the Pac-10 meet for the first time since 1996, and also posted back-to-back second place finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
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