Wall-to-Wall Track and Field: Ducks Host Oregon Relays, presented by OCCU
Nearly 2,000 competitors will converge on Historic Hayward Field this Thursday through Saturday as the Ducks host the annual Oregon Relays, presented by Oregon Community Credit Union. More than two dozen four-year institutions have entries for the 2009 Oregon Relays, including Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, Western Oregon, Southern Oregon, Concordia and Oregon Tech from within Oregon, as well as Washington, Washington State, Colorado, Auburn, Oklahoma, Colorado State, UC Santa Barbara, Wichita State and Butler from out of state. That’s on top of countless junior college, high school and club entrants from around the country, including Lane Community College, Rend Lake College, Oregon Track Club Elite and New York Athletic Club.
Thursday’s action will exclusively be the decathlon and heptathlon beginning at noon. Admission is free on Thursday ONLY. Friday’s competition begins at 10 a.m., with the featured events getting underway at 4 p.m. Saturday’s action starts at 10 a.m. with the featured events going off at 4 p.m.
RESULTS
Live results for the Oregon Relays, presented by OCCU, will be available on www.goducks.com. Final results will also be posted on www.goducks.com.
LIVE TELEVISION
The Oregon Sports Network will broadcast a live two hour window of the Oregon Relays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday night on Comcast Sports Net Northwest (Channel 37). Announcers are Joe Giansante and Prefontaine Classic meet director Tom Jordan. The meet will also be televised live on the O-Zone on www.goducks.com. CSN will replay the Oregon Relays Friday at 10 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., Sunday at 6 p.m., April 29 at 9 a.m. and April 30 at 7 p.m.
Team to Challenge Four-Mile Relay Records at Twilight Meet
Oregon will attempt to break the collegiate and American records in the four-mile relay at the Twilight Meet on May 9. The Ducks will be joined by a team from Oregon Track Club Elite, among others, in an effort to break Michigan’s 2005 collegiate mark of 16:04.54 (Andrew Ellerton, Mike Woods, Nick Willis, Nate Brannen), and the American record of 16:08.54, set by Athletics West (Dan Aldridge, Doug Padilla, Tom Smith, Chuck Aragon) at Hayward Field in 1984. Oregon’s pool of milers includes Galen Rupp, Matthew Centrowitz, Andrew Wheating, Shadrack Biwott, Scott Wall and James Withers. The world four-mile record, 15:49.08, was set by Ireland in 1985.
TUESDAYS IN TRACK TOWN
Tuesday, May 5 will mark the next date in the popular series of "Tuesdays in Track Town" town hall meetings. The 60-minute session runs from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be held at the Bowerman Building. The final town hall will be June 2.
WHAT TO WATCH
With nearly 2,000 competitors coming and going, the carnival atmosphere of the Oregon Relays is a spectacle to behold in itself. On top of that, the 2009 Relays offers some very intriguing competitions. Here’s a look at some of the college and invitational sections:
Thursday, April 23
Multi-Events
Defending NCAA champion in both the decathlon and the indoor heptathlon Ashton Eaton will compete in his first decathlon of the spring in hopes of reaching the NCAA automatic standard of 7,500 points. Marshall Ackley and Aaron McVein of Oregon will look to close in on the NCAA provisional mark of 6,900 points, while Wichita State’s Chris Dickman and Justin Taylor are also in search of NCAA marks. In the heptathlon, UO All-Americans Brianne Theisen and Kalindra McFadden will be in action, with McFadden looking to improve upon her NCAA provisional mark of 5,343 points.
Friday, April 23
Women’s Hammer
2008 U.S. Olympian Loree Smith of New York Athletic Club leads the field. Oregon’s Megan Maloney is tops among collegians.
Men’s Javelin
In what might be the best men’s javelin competition of the regular season, five of the NCAA’s top 10 are entered in the Oregon Relays. That group is led by Oregon’s Cyrus Hostetler, the world leader at 272-10. Also in the meet are fifth-ranked Kyle Nielsen of Washington (239.2), seventh-ranked Alex Wolff of Oregon (234-4), eighth-ranked Brett Trudo of Wichita State (233-3) and fellow Shocker Trent Mazanec (229-6) at No. 10.
Men’s 3,000 Meter Steeplechase
Stephen Lisgo of Butler is ranked third nationally in the event with a season-best time of 8:45.18. Oregon’s Chris Winter, coming off a hard-fought win in the UCLA dual, is tied for 10th at 8:52.44.
Women’s 1,500 Meters
The entrants in this featured event include three-time NCAA champion Jenny Barringer of Colorado (3,000 meter steeplechase, twice, 2009 indoor 3,000 meters), U.S. Olympic Trials participant Nicole Blood of Oregon and 2008 Pac-10 cross country champion Kendra Schaaf of Washington.
Men’s 1,500 Meters
Another top-notch field with three of the nation’s top six collegians: No. 2 Austin Abbott of Washington (3:41.62), No. 4 Kris Gauson of Butler (3:42.13) and No. 6 Felix Kiboiywo of Auburn (3:42.30). Oregon’s Andrew Wheating, Matthew Centrowitz and Shadrack Biwott are also on the entry list.
Women’s 5,000 Meters
Schaaf and Blood are also in this field in addition to the 1,500 and will be joined by Oregon indoor 5,000 record holder Lindsay Scherf. Blood ranks second nationally at this distance (15:42.13).
Men’s 5,000 Meters - Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial 5,000
The traditional big Friday night draw doesn’t disappoint with 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials participant Josh Rohatinsky, as well as Bret Schoolmeester of Bowerman AC and Oregon All-Americans Biwott, Centrowitz and Scott Wall.
Men’s 10,000 Meters
Four-time NCAA champion and 12-time All-American Galen Rupp is entered in his first collegiate 10,000 meters of the season. It will also be the first collegiate 10K for Rupp at Hayward Field since the 2006 Pac-10 Championships. Of course the 2008 Olympian had a memorable 10,000 in Track Town, USA, at the U.S. Olympic Trials last July where he finished second to punch his ticket to Beijing. Rupp will be joined Friday night by UO freshman All-American Luke Puskedra
Saturday, April 24
Mens Pole Vault
Scott Roth of Washington is third in the nation (18-1.25), while teammate Jared O’Connor is 11th (17-4.5).
Men’s 100 & 200 Meters
In the sprints, Ryan Bailey of Rend Lake College is back to defend his 2008 titles in the 100 and 200 meters. He’ll go against Washington speedster Jordan Boase in the 200.
Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles
David Klech of Oregon is coming off a sweep of the 110 and 400 hurdles in the dual meet versus UCLA. He currently ranks 11th nationally in the 400 hurdles (50.75).
Women’s Shot Put
Missy Faubus of Colorado State is 13th nationally at 51-9.25. She’ll go against Hermiston, Ore., native Mykael Bothum (55-0.75 seed), who is competing unattached but holds the University of Idaho indoor and outdoor shot put records.
Women’s Javelin
The Oregon Relays hold a special place for defending NCAA javelin champion Rachel Yurkovich. It was at last year’s relays that she uncorked her school and Pac-10 record throw of 191-1. Yurkovich is ranked second nationally this season. She’s joined in the field by No. 6 Ashley McCrea of Oregon (172-2) and No. 16 Brooke Pighin of Washington (149-3).
Women’s 800 Meters
Zoe Buckman and Alexandra Kosinski of Oregon, Janny Barringer of Colorado and Amanda Mayfield of Oklahoma headline this competitive field.
Women’s Pole Vault
Former University of Washington gymnast Carly Dockendorf is among the top pole vaulters in Canada and comes in with a seed mark of 14-7.25, better than Becky Holiday’s 2004 meet record of 14-5.5. Among collegians, Wichita State’s Brooke Demo is ranked ninth with a clearance of 13-7.75, while Oregon’s Melissa Gergel is just a half inch back at No. 10 after clearing an outdoor personal best 13-7.25 at Mt. SAC last weekend.
Men’s Hammer
Concordia assistant coach Mike Milakovic (223-11.75) and Martin Bingisser (222-1.5) of Switzerland lead a field that also has Idaho’s James Rogan, No. 14 among collegians (211-8), and Oregon’s Jordan Stray (201-1).
Men’s High Jump
Former Duck Kyley Johnson (7-3.25) and Grant Lindsey (7-5.25), competing unattached, could hold an entertaining jump off.
Men’s 800 Meters
One of the featured races on Saturday, Olympian Andrew Wheating leads a talented field with the No. 6 mark in the nation (1:48.78). He’ll be joined by 11th-ranked Scott Cooper of Oklahoma (1:48.91) and 16th-ranked Austin Abbott of Washington (1:49.18). It’s also worth noting that 12-ranked Ryan Friese of Colorado State is entered in the 800 meter B section on Friday night.
Men’s 400 Meters
Oregon’s Chad Barlow, 28th nationally at 46.70, looks to continue his solid spring.
Women’s Discus
Two-time NAIA champion and 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials participant Annie Hess of Concordia (197-7) looks to hold off challenges from Division I competitors Missy Faubus of Colorado State (171-1) and Lucy Cridland of Oregon (164-0).
Men’s Mile
Last year, the Oregon Relays’ mile saw Wheating become the first Vermont native to break 4:00 in the mile (3:58.16). He’s entered again, as are 2008 Olympian Boaz Lalang of Kenya and a host of Oregon Track Club Elite runners -- Billy Nelson, Russell Brown, Tom Brooks, Ben Bruce and Brandon Shaw.
NCAA QUALIFIERS PILE UP
Heading into the last weekend in April, Oregon has already amassed 55 NCAA qualifying marks, 24 for the men and 31 for the women. By comparison, at the same point last season, the Ducks had 47 NCAA marks. Look for the Ducks to attempt to add to their qualifying-mark tally in the men’s 10,000 meters, decathlon, men’s 1,500 meters, both 5,000 meters, men’s 110 hurdles, women’s 400 hurdles, men’s pole vault, men’s triple jump, men’s 4x100 relay and both 4x400 relays.
