Track and Field
- Title:
- Volunteer Coach
One of the Pacific-10 Conference's greatest hammer throwers, Cari Soong returns for her second season as a volunteer coach in 2007-08 and will work with UO's nationally respected men's and women's throws units.
Soong worked with respected throws coach Lance Deal to smashing success in 2006-07 as UO men's and women's throwers collaborated on four All-America honors, seven NCAA invitations, four Pac-10 titles, five school records, and five top-20 U.S. rankings.
On the women's side, Britney Henry won Oregon's first Pac-10 hammer title (217-10), then scored its top regional event placing (third, 215-3) and second-highest NCAA event finish (fifth, 214-9). During the regular season, she tied her hammer school record (221-7) and indoors twice raised her weight throw record (65-6, 68-4 1/2), and ended the year ranked 10th and 14th, respectively, among Americans.
Rachel Yurkovich reset the Oregon and Pac-10 javelin school records early in the season (189-11 (57.90m)) with a mark that ranked her fourth all-time among collegians and fifth all-time in the U.S. She later successfully defended her Pac-10 and West Regional titles - the first Duck to accomplish the feat - and placed top six in the NCAA Championships (fifth) and USA Championships (sixth). She was joined in the postseason by fellow NCAA javelin qualifier Asley McCrea who finished top-five in the Pac-10 and West Regional (third / fifth) and moved to sixth all-time for UO with a mark (166-8) and stood 14th in the U.S. Freshman javelin thrower Kara Meeuwsen added fifth place in the Pac-10 Championships - the second straight year that the Ducks have put three in the top five overall - and her personal best (148-8) moved her to ninth all-time for UO.
On the men's side in '07, transfer hammer thrower Brian Richotte became the first Duck to win Pac-10 and West Regional event titles in the same season, and was an NCAA qualifier both indoors and outdoors. His hammer season best of 222-11 moved him to fifth on UO's prestigious all-time list and ranked 17th in the U.S. in 2007, and his weight throw school record (68-2) ranked 22nd in the U.S. in '07. Duck fans also witnessed javelin thrower Ryan Brandel quickly transform into one of the nation's top throwers after he entered the season with a personal best of 214-3. The second-year Duck moved to third all-time for UO and 17th in the U.S. in 2007 with a personal best of 238-0 - one of seven meets in which he topped 225 feet. In the postseason, he won Oregon's eighth Pac-10 javelin title and its 24th All-America award with his seventh-place NCAA finish.
Still an active post-collegian, Soong entered the 2007 campaign ranked 21st all-time on the U.S. list in the hammer with her personal best (216-3) from 2005, and has ranked top-10 in the U.S. in 2005 (sixth), 2003 (ninth, 216-3) and 2001 (ninth, 210-9).
As a collegian, the Riverside, Calif., native competed for UCLA from 2000-04 and was a four-time outdoor All-American thanks to top-eight finishes in 2000 (eighth), '02 (fourth), '03 (fifth) and '04 (fifth), to go along with All-America efforts in the indoor weight throw in 2001 (10th), 2002 (10th), '03 (third) and '04 (eighth). At the Pac-10 level, she set a Pac-10 Championships meet record in 2003 (215-11), and also placed top-four in 2000 (fourth, 197-2) and '04 (second, 203-1). On the conference all-time rankings, she ranks fifth in the event.
She has competed in five straight USA Championships and posted top-10 finishes in 2003 (10th) and '05 (sixth). As a Bruin freshman in 2000, she won the U.S. junior title in 2000 and placed 11th in the World Junior Championships.
Besides her busy schedule as an athlete for Team XO and Duck volunteer coach, Soong also works for Joe's sporting goods sotre in Eugene as an auditor.
