Ducks Spring for Sunny Weather in the Southland
Just in time to escape snowy Eugene, the Ducks set off for spring training in Southern California, highlighted by the USC Trojan Invitational Friday and Saturday at Loker Stadium-Cromwell Field. Both the men and women last appeared in the Trojan Invitational in 2006. For the Men of Oregon, this will be the second straight year with a meet in L.A.; the Ducks dueled UCLA to an 81.5-8.15 tie last season in Westwood. Friday's competition begins at 2 p.m. and features the hammer and 5,000 meters. Saturday's action resumes at 9:30 a.m. with the jumps, more throws, sprints and middle distances, and the relays.
TELEVISION/WEB CAST
USC will provide a webcast of Saturday's action on www.usctrojans.com beginning at 9:30 a.m. USC will also post a highlight package from Friday's competition.
RESULTS
For results, schedules and accepted entry lists, check www.usctrojans.com. Final results will also be posted on www.GoDucks.com.
OREGON ENTRIES
Ramping up their early season training, the USC Trojan Invitational will mark the outdoor debut for a number of Ducks.
Reigning NCAA 800 meter champion Anne Kesselring and All-American Becca Friday will open up at USC. Both runners are entered in the 800 and 1,500 meters. For the men, All-American Mike Berry opens in the 200 meters and All-American Elijah Greer debuts in the 800 meters.
In the field, redshirt freshman Sam Crouser dons the Oregon singlet for the first time in the javelin, while senior Brian Schaudt opens up in both the long and triple jumps.
Many other Ducks who began their season last week at the Oregon Preview will also be in action at USC. Freshman Jenna Prandini will make her season debut in the long jump, while fellow freshmen Claudia Francis is listed in the 800 and Molly Grabill runs her first outdoor 5,000.
The Ducks have three All-Americans entered in the women's 400 meters, senior Amber Purvis and sophomores English Gardner and Laura Roesler. Senior Lauryn Newson, who quietly cracked the UO top 10 in the 100 meters a week ago (11.82), will run that again at USC.
Freshman Johnathan Cabral will follow up his impressive debut in the 110 hurdles (13.93) with another turn in the high hurdles, plus a circuit in the 400 meter hurdles. Fellow freshman Arthur Delaney will run the 200 meters along with Berry and senior Bryan Harper.
Seniors Lyndsay Pearson and Becca Rhodes compete in the 100 meter hurdles for the first time this season; Pearson will also come back in the 400 meter hurdles, while Rhodes will go in the long jump
Senior Travis Thompson and freshman Russell Hornsby have lanes in both the 800 and 400 meters.
In the field events, look for freshman Greg Skipper in the men's hammer, sophomore Ethan Powell in the men's javelin and 2011 Pac-10 runner-up Austin Ouderkirk in the men's pole vault.
CABRAL IMPRESSIVE IN DEBUT
Freshman Johnathan Cabral opened some eyes in his outdoor debut. He won the 110 hurdles in 13.93 seconds. That was tied for the ninth-fastest time in school history. More impressively, Cabral ran the second-fastest freshman 110 hurdle time in school history. Only Eric Mitchum went faster as a frosh, going 13.73 at the 1989 Pac-10 meet.
FRESHMEN PUT ON PREVIEW SHOW
Freshmen Johnathan Cabral and Jenna Prandini impressed in their Oregon debuts and the women's 4x100 meter relay team broke the meet record March 18 at the Oregon Preview in front of 5,044 at Historic Hayward Field. Cabral jumped out to a quick start in the men's 110 meter hurdles and powered through the last half of the race to win in 13.93. That was tied for the ninth-fastest time in school history. Prandini played a key role in a pair of relay victories. She took the third leg on the meet record-setting 4x100 meter relay team and anchored the winning 4x400 meter relay squad. The 4x100 bettered the old mark by .01, winning in 44.29 seconds. Lauryn Newson led off and then Amber Purvis blazed down the backstretch on the second leg. The senior then handed off to Prandini, making her Oregon debut on the turn, before yielding to English Gardner, the 2012 NCAA 60 meter champion who blazed down the home stretch to break the meet record in the fifth-fastest time in school history. Prandini finished the afternoon by anchoring the 4x400 meter relay team. Devin Gosberry, Chizoba Okodogbe and Alexandria Davidson joined Prandini in winning in 3:48.37. Football's Dior Mathis helped lead a solid day in the sprints. The sophomore from Detroit, Mich., won the 100 meters in 10.73, his fastest time as a Duck. Fellow footballer B.J. Kelley won his heat and was second overall in 10.84. Those two came back to run the first two legs of the winning 4x100 meter relay. Mathis, Kelley, Arthur Delaney and Joeal Hotchkins crossed the line in 40.68. Delaney, a freshman from Gresham, Ore., came back to win the 400 meters in 47.63. Former Duck Britney Henry broke a meet record in the women's hammer by throwing 232-1/70.73m. Duck freshman Daphne Chambers from Springfield, Ore., was second at 152-3/46.41m. Portland State's Geronne Black set a meet record in winning the women's 100 meters in 11.72. Newson was second in 11.82 - the 10th fastest time in school history - and she also won the 200 in 24.24. Other Duck women who collected victories at the Preview meet included senior Alex Kosinski, who won the women's 1,500 meters in 4:30.61 and senior Amber Purvis, who captured the 400 in 54.64. Sophomore Laura Bobek swept the shot put and the discus. The Astoria, Ore., native threw 43-4.25/13.21m in the shot and 138-0/42.26m in the discus. For the men, the 4x400 meter relay team of Bruce Burbank, Russell Hornsby, Travis Thompson and Bryan Harper was victorious in 3:13.58. Junior Austin Ouderkirk took the pole vault at 16-0.75/4.90m and junior Tyler Pinkney won the triple jump in 47-6.25/14.48m. In the men's hammer freshman Greg Skipper finished third at 204-0/62.17m in his Oregon home debut.
OREGON WINS THIRD STRAIGHT NCAA INDOOR TITLE
The Women of Oregon won their third consecutive NCAA Indoor Track Field title March 9-10 in Nampa, Idaho. The Ducks were led by wins from Brianne Theisen in the pentathlon and English Gardner in the 60 meters, and also counted a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay (Becca Friday, Chizoba Okodogbe, Laura Roesler, Anne Kesselring). Oregon also scored in the 400 meters (Phyllis Francis), mile (Jordan Hasay, Friday) and the 3,000 meters (Hasay) for its 49 point total.
Pentathlon
Theisen set the tone early with her third national title in the pentathlon. She won with 4,536 points, just 19 off her NCAA and Canadian record. Dorcas Akinniyi of Wisconsin was second with 4,299 points. The pentathlon wasn't a runaway, as Theisen actually trailed in a robust competition three events into her day. She looked extremely smooth in the 60 meters hurdles, the pentathlon's opening event. She won in 8.25 seconds, which was a personal best and broke her own school record for the second time this season. The time was worth 1,073 points. She then tied her own NCAA Championships meet record by clearing 1.84m/6-0.5 in the high jump. That clearance was tied for first with Akinniyi and was good for 1,029 points.
In the third event, the shot put, Theisen had a best throw of 12.46m/40-14.75 for 692 points. All three of Theisen's throws were within three inches of each other. But Akinniyi had a three-foot PR in the shot of 45-9.25 to take a four point lead on Theisen, 2,798-2,794, at that point in the competition. In the long jump, Theisen responded by going 19-6.25/5.95m on her second attempt to finish second in the event. Her 834 points put her back in the lead for good. She then locked up her sixth NCAA title overall by winning the 800 meters in 2:13.95 for 908 points.
Theisen became just the second three-time pentathlon champion in NCAA history, joining Arizona State's Jacquelyn Johnson (2006-08). After the meet, she was named the USTFCCCA national indoor field athlete of the year for the second straight season.
60 Meters
Getting off to a perfect start out of the blocks, the freshman from Voorhees, N.J., never trailed and scorched the tape in 7.12 seconds. That was not only a stadium record, but also the fourth-fastest 60 ever run by a collegian. It trailed only 7.09 run by both Lakya Brookings of South Carolina in 2011 and Angela Williams of USC in 2001, and a 7.10 timed by Williams in 2001.
Distance Medley Relay
In the final running event of the first night, the Ducks earned eight critical points in their chase to win a third straight NCAA title. Oregon's time of 11:05.85 was just good enough for second, behind Washington's 11:05.20, but ahead of Dartmouth's 11:06.29.
Becca Friday led off the 1,200 meter leg in 3:24.74, as the Ducks were second behind Florida. Chizoba Okodogbe took the 400 leg through in 53.90 as the Ducks closed on the Gators. Laura Roesler handled the 800 leg in 2:08.84, as the teams bunched up at the final exchange. Anne Kesselring, the defending NCAA Champion, then went with the Huskies on a late charge as the two Northwest rivals pulled clear of the pack for the 1-2 finish. Kesselring closed in 4:38.39.
Mile & 3,000 Meters
Oregon scored 11 points in the mile to extend its lead. Jordan Hasay ran out front nearly the entire second half of the race before getting passed by Lucy Van Dalen of Stony Brook and Aisha Praught of Illinois State in the last 20 meters. Van Dalen won in 4:39.76, Praught was next in 4:39.85 and Hasay timed 4:40.09. Friday, meanwhile, came from deep in the pack on the last two laps to pass at least four runners down the backstretch. The junior from Bellingham, Wash., took fourth in 4:40.24. Hasay came back to finish fourth in the 3,000 meters in 9:16.42.
400 Meters
The women also saw a terrific performance in the 400 meters from sophomore Phyllis Francis. Seeded 12th coming into the meet, the Queens, N.Y., native had a breakout championships. She finished fourth overall in an indoor personal best 53.01. That was the second-fastest time in school history.
On the men's side, Mike Berry broke the school record in the 400 meters, finishing third overall in a school-record 45.93. The sophomore from Seattle, Wash., broke Sammie Parker's school record of 45.95 set in 2005.
OREGON'S NCAA CHAMPIONS
The 2012 women's indoor track & field title was the 18th NCAA national championship in school history. The others are men's outdoor track & field in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1970 and 1984, men's indoor track & field in 2009, women's outdoor track & field in 1985, women's indoor track & field in 2010 and 2011, men's cross country in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977, 2007 and 2008, women's cross country in 1983 and 1987, and men's basketball in 1939.
DUCK TRIO ON BOWERMAN WATCH LIST
A trio of NCAA champions, English Gardner, Jordan Hasay and Brianne Theisen, are on the 2012 Bowerman Award women's watch list. The award is presented annually to the top men's and women's collegiate student-athlete. Theisen is a five-time NCAA champion (heptathlon twice, pentathlon twice, outdoor 4x400 meter relay) and the NCAA record-holder in the pentathlon. Hasay was a double winner at the 2011 NCAA indoor meet (mile, 3,000 meters), while Gardner was the 2012 NCAA indoor 60 meter champ. Her time of 7.12 was the fourth-fastest ever run by a collegian.
THEISEN SETS NCAA, CANADIAN PENTATHLON RECORD
Brianne Theisen used personal bests in the high jump and shot put to break the 30 year-old Canadian national record in the pentathlon Jan. 27 at the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge. Theisen totaled 4,555 points to eclipse the previous Canadian mark of 4,550 points set by Jill Ross-Giffen in 1982. She also broke her own NCAA record of 4,540 points set at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium at the 2011 NCAA Championships. Theisen, who was competing in her first track meet of any kind in more than 10 months, opened the competition by winning the 60 meter hurdles in 8.38 seconds. That was just .03 of her personal best and school record time of 8.35 seconds from a season ago. She followed that with a remarkable performance in the high jump, culminating in a third-attempt clearance at 6-2/1.88m. That was an all-conditions personal best and also broke the UO indoor record by nearly two inches. She cleared all bars on her first attempt leading up to the jump at 6-2, other than needing a second attempt at 5-10.5/1.79m. Theisen and Laurel Roberts previously shared the mark at 6-0/1.83m. The clearance at 6-2 was good for 1,080 points. Theisen then earned her second PR of the night in the shot put by throwing 42-2.75/12.87m, which scored 719 points. The senior from Humboldt, Sask., followed that by going 19-8/5.99m in the long jump for 846 points, before a relatively easy 800 meters of 2:16.90 and 866 points that just pushed her past Ross-Giffen.
WOMEN SMASH SIX INDOOR RECORDS
In addition to Theisen's marks in the pentathlon and high jump, the Ducks have broken four other school records in 2012. Theisen has one of those from the 8.34 she ran in the 60 meter hurdles at the MPSF Championships. English Gardner claimed the 60 meter record at 7.12, Anne Kesselring snapped the mile mark by running 4:32.61 and Jordan Hasay got the 3,000 meter record in 9:03.95.
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