100 - senior Alexandria Anderson of Texas has had a spectacular career with 20 all-American awards culminating with a 100 meter title (first individual) and a 4x400 meter relay victory where she ran the fastest leg of the entire field (50.9) to open the race up and give breathing room to her 17-year old sophomore teammate from the Virgin Islands, Chantel Malone.  This was her 2nd and 3rd titles to go with the 4x100 meter title from 2006.  In the heats she moved to #5 all-time among collegians with her 11.02 time.  She is now #3 on the world list and #2 on the US list.  She ran a pr 22.60 in the semis of the 200 and finished third in the final at 22.88.  Everyone had expected these results as a freshman when she was considered to be the top incoming freshman.  In 2006 she won the US junior meet in 11.12.  She has the frame to be an incredible runner and maybe the 200 is a better race for her in the long run. 

At the interview she seemed more relaxed and relieved than excited that she won her first NCAA individual title.

Texas A&M junior Porscha Lucas and sophomore Gabby Mayo were fourth and fifth respectively and were talking about 8 races down and just two more to go.  But they were confident that they had the strength to keep going and would perform well the next day.  They were both still excited about the collegiate record 4x100 meter relay that broke the record by running 42.36 as Texas A&M won for the third straight year.  Last year they had run on the team that had become third all-time at 42.59 in winning the NCAA title.  Lucas had a similar schedule indoors when she ran the 60, 200, and 4x400 relay.

200 - Porscha Lucas was happy to get her first title after finishing second last year and second indoors this year.  In the first two rounds the '08 OT semifinalist ran prs 22.52 and 22.38 (#4 all-time collegian) to dominate by time but in the final the heavy schedule slowed her to 22.81, just ahead of Charonda Williams of ASU in 22.84.  She now had her 15th all-American award with a year to go.  She is ranked 2nd in the world and US, .04 behind Lauryn Williams.  If Lucas can save some energy in the heats and not double she has a good chance to make the US team.

Charonda Williams of Arizona State did not want to talk.  She seemed to be under the strain of running so many races to triple and help the Arizona State team possibly win.  She had been great at the Pac-10 meet.  But seem to have trouble with so many races.  She looked like she was slow to recover under the eight race toll. Indoors she helped the ASU 4x400 relay team to a runner-up finish at the NCAA indoor but didn't run outdoors.  Outdoors she finished a below expected sixth in the 100 at 11.37 and was second in the 200 at 22.84 after running a pr 22.71 in the semis.  Both finals were run into head-winds.  If she limits her race schedule she will probably be more successful at the US championships. 

400- Joanna Atkins of Auburn surprised herself with her win.  She did not expect to win, she just focused on her own race out in lane 8 where she could see no one.  The sophomore was fourth indoors.  She ran 50.39 (#2 US and world this year) to move to fifth all-time among collegians.  She beat pre-race favorites Jessica Beard of Texas A&M (50.56) (#4 US and World this year) who moved to sixth all-time among collegians and NCAA indoor champion Francina McCrory of Hampton in 50.58 (#5 US, #6 world this year) who moved to eighth all-time.  Those were the fastest times ever for 2nd and 3rd at an NCAA championships. 

Duck Keshia Baker finished fifth in a school record 51.29 and she praised god and her coach, Robert Johnson for guiding her. She said she will use this experience to help the younger sprinters on Oregon's team, Amber Purvis and Mandy White for next year's NCAA championship to be held in Eugene. 

800 - Geena Gall of Michigan came into college the top 800 runner and ended her career as the top.  She had gained strength from the 1500 training and this year was a doing a lot more speed. Early in the bad part of the year in Michigan she had run a 55 second quarter-mile.  She ran 2:00.80 for a 1.5 second pr (OT in '08) and feels that could have been faster if she had not run wire-to-wire. 

Laura Hermanson of North Dakota State ran 2:06 in 2007 and then ran 2:03.37 in LA last year and had some good performances.  She has had great training this year and ran a pr 2:03.19 in the semis and 2:01.37 in the final.  She was very excited with her quick development and looks forward to racing some more. 

Phoebe Wright of Tennessee won the indoor 800, was part of the DMR win and looked great until the final.  She won her heat in  2:04.86 and semi in 2:02.56 but couldn't answer in the final as she had all year long.  She ran 2:03.57 for fifth.  I expect she will run very well at the US championships if she is healthy. 

1,500 - Susan Kuiken of Florida State really wanted her first outdoor title.  In 2008 she had won the NCAA indoor 3k title but to get an outdoor title meant a lot to her.  She had battled against the top runners but was confident she could get the win.  She pulled away from everyone, not like last year when she couldn't follow her teammate's (HAnnah England) move. She won in 4:13.05.

Brenda Martinez of Cal Riverside had outkicked everyone and had recently taken down all of the list leaders with a great kick in this, her senior year.  Indoors she was just 7th (pr 4:39) but her speed and a great training season indicated she could have a great track season.  At conference she ran a 2:03.05 800 to indicate her great condition and speed and she ran 2:02.34 last year.  She had raced 1,500s all season to gain race experience.  Kuiken still finished faster and MArtinez was second in 4:13.97.  Her coach said she will run the 800 meters at the US championship because it is a change and they would like to see what she would do since they only ran one 800 meters and that was at the conference meet where she doubled. 

Steeple -  Colorado's Jenny Barringer has looked tremendous all year.  She hasn't lost to an American of collegian all year long.  At Prefontaine she surprised her whole team by announcing at a team meeting before the race that she would run the 1,500.  She ran 3:59.90 collegiate record after winning the indoor 3k in a collegiate record and beating multiple NCAA champion in the mile indoors at the Big 12 championship, then set a 5k outdoors.  At the NCAA championship she broke the in-season collegiate record in the steeplechase at 9:25.54.  She seemed disappointed and it seemed she was heavy-legged.  The heavy schedule may have slowed her.  She mentioned how she had a list of all of the collegiate distance records on the wall and crossed them off as she broke the records and said her records are also meant to be crossed off

Freshman Mel Lawrence Washington - she seemed a little overwhelmed by the attention.  She was happy with the performance to get third.  She had been given confidence by her coach that she would do well.

5,000 meters - Angela Bizzari of Illinois did not to seem to have confidence that she would do well even though she was the top returner.  She said she was not aware of who was around her and was just racing. 

Nicole Blood of Oregon - was happy to get eight points for the team.  She thought she was still in the race to win with 200 to go.   When she heard the crowd noise she responded to run as fast as she could to hold off Koons and Sanakiewich who were chasing her. 

10,000 meters - Danette Doetzel fo Providence said this year's entire plan was to run the 10,000 even though she had the top 5,000 meter time.  Her coach had given her confidence to have success here. 

Mattie Bridgmon of Oregon was seventh.  She knew she had to score so she pushed the pace.  She was very happy to contribute two points to the team effort.  She had missed two weeks after Pepsi due to soreness in her foot that had been bugging her a little after her Stanford 10k. 

100 hurdles - Tiffany Ofili of Michigan was relieved to win after losing the semifinal and had no idea of the rarity of winning three NCAA 100 hurdles titles.  She admitted her strength was due to cross training in the heptathlon.  Long jump and 200 training has halped her with her development

Texas A&M's Gabby Mayo was 4th after winning her semifinal.  She seemed tired and seemed to have strained something (or just tired) after the race.  Teammate Vashti Thomas did not finish and the Aggies did not get the advantage of having an extra competitor to help with the team race.

400 hurdles - Nicole Leach of UCLA had been hurt early in the year and her coach, Janette Bolden, admitted to starting her season slowly.  At the west region meet Bolden was hopeful of her success at the NCAA meet.

4x100 meter relay - Texas A&M was not called for a pass out of zone in the final during their collegiate record 42.36.  The first exchange was passed out of zone but because the official had not raised a flag, the NCAA could not disqualify them although four teams protested. 

4x400 meter relay - Texas used Alexandria Anderson on the third leg and she was the only person in the final to break 51 seconds.  That allowed their 17 year-old sophomore Chantel Malone to finish off the relay to get them the win.  Anderson earned her 20th all-American award.  Very few competitors have gotten 20 a-a awards. 

HJ - Destinee Hooker of Texas won her third title to get into rare company.  She will compete at the US championships but if she makes the world championship team she will train for volleyball at the same time and try to squeeze in high jump workouts.  She mentioned she would like to high jump and play volleyball at the Olympics.  If their is a schedule conflict she would drop high jump.  She said the technique she has most improved at Texas is her in air/over-the-bar technique. 

Runner-up Liz Patterson was frustrated at not winning.  She is happy she has an Arizona teammate, Jasmin Day, that is in her corner and that they push each other in practice. 

Long Jump - Kim Williams of Florida State said this was just an extra event.  She praise her coach, Dennis Nobles, and mentioned how good he was and his previous history of coaching world record holder Jonathon Edwards.     

Jameesha Youngblood of Oregon was disappointed she couldn't get first place points because she had tied for the top jump but was third due to her second best jump.  She admits her improved speed is good but bad at the same time because it is hard to handle.  She says she does not look at her mark unless it is her third jump and she needs a good jump.  She also said she is inconsistent on the runway because she is inconsistent with her speed.  She said she was done even though she still had the triple jump.

Triple Jump - Kim Williams of Florida State is just a sophomore and won the triple jump with the best jump ever at 47-2 1/4 but was wind-aided by a 2.1 m/s wind.  The jump would have been the collegiate record if it was only 2.0 m/s wind-aided. 

Shot Put - Mariam Kekhhishvili of Florida was disappointed with her prelim performance because she said she wasn't fired up.  For the final she was but in warm-ups she pulled her hamstring.  She won though

Sarah Stevens of Arizona State was not happy about losing but happy about scoring points for the team.  She said she will put shot at US championships and not throwing Discus will help because that "throws off her technique in the shot put."

Discus - D'Andra Carter joined her sister Michelle and father Michael winning NCAA championships.  She was happy to be rid of the pressure and is happy to chear on her sister at the US championships. 

Hammer Throw - Sarah Stevens is happy with her progress in the event and the seconds in the shot and discus and third place finish here scored 22 for the team.  The most for any field athlete.  She will throw the hammer at the US championships

Javelin Throw - Rachel Yurkovich of Oregon was mad going into the last three throws.  After prelims she wanted to get things going.  She ended up beating her goal of 59 meters and she did it three times with her best throw of 59.62, 195-7, a school record.  All three throws over 195 are now the 7th, 8th, and 9th best collegiate throws ever (still #6 collegian) . Patterson of Purdue couldn't respnd but did have her best throw with her fourth throw, 57.96m, 190-2. 

Heptathlon - Oregon's Brianne Thiesen seemed a little worn after the first day with the tough competition.  On the second day she improved by 16 feet on her third throw of the javelin throw to take the lead.  She was then in range of 6100 points to make the World championship A standard and she needed to run 2:13.7 to get that.  The first thing she told Dan Steele at the end of the race was, "I'm so disappointed. Just 14 points off."  Steele had to tell her, "be happy, you're an NCAA champion as a sophomore."  Under Steele's training she has lost 2  pounds but has gotten stronger.  Her improved speed is a big reason for her improved performance this year.

 

100 - winner Trindon Holliday of LSU ran 10.00 wind legal twice =#4 in the world.  =#2 US.  A man of few words who also seems to be running technically very well and has a good shot at the US team, if anything as the opening leg of the 4x100 meter relay. 
 
Jacoby Ford of Clemson looked like he would be right in their for a title but pulled up during the race.  If he can recover he is running very well and is #8 in the world and #5 in the US. 

Ahmad Rashad of USC has in his coaches words "worked his butt off," to get back to this point.  He seems like a great kid and the 10.10 for second in the final is just the beginning for him.

The revelation of the meet was D'Angelo Cherry of Mississippi State who ran 10.03 in the heats to become #3 on the world junior list.  He ran sixth in the final.  If he runs at the world junior meet he could break Jeff Demps' record of 10.01 from the Olympic Trials in Eugene last year.  Location for this year's US junior meet.

200- Charles Clark of Florida State won in 20.55 but this is a long way from 2005 when Spearmon ran 19.91, Gay ran 19.93/20.16 final, Carter ran 20.08, Dix 20.18 semi, Martin 20.34 semi, Amoo 20.36 semi, or Dix the last three years in the second half of a double in 20.30, 20.32, and 20.40.  On a fast track it was the slowest time since 1976.

400- Jonathon Borlee turned the tables on his twin Kevin and won the 400 meters.  The two ran on Belgium's Olympic 4x400 meter relay.  Kevin ran in the semifinals of the Olympics and set the Belgian national record.  Here Jonathon broke Kevin's national record (44.88) to win the NCAA championship in 44.78 (#5 in the world) and Kevin was fourth. 

Michael Bingham was the NCAA indoor champ was a disappointed 2nd in 45.09.  Calvin Smith (#2 seed at 44.96), the only American in the top six was third at 45.29. 

Jordan Boase of Washington has not put it together all year and couldn't make it out of the semifinals.  He looked injured at the Pac-10 200 and his coaches have been cautious with him since. 

Pre-NCAA favorite (44.86 to win Big 12) sophomore Gil Roberts had the third fastest heat winning time but did not finish his heat in the semifinals. 

800 - Andrew Wheating ran 1:46.21 in the semifinals and final for the top collegiate time but probably would have run faster in the final if a cramp/injury had not hit him with 300 meters to go. He ran 51.84 for the first 400, just behind Tevan Everett at 51.26.  It looked like he would follow his promise of beating the meet record of 1:44.70 but was slowed by the pain. 

1500 - German Fernandez looked good at 3:39.00 (#4 a-t US junior) and would likely make the US junior team but will pass that up and take a few weeks to visit with family in California.  He expects a big reception at home from family and friends and then will prepare for the cross country season.  He admits to missing a lot of time due to little injuries or bad days. 

Stanford's Garrett Heath was fourth at Pac-10 and third at the west regional meet but ends up second at the NCAA meet in 3:39.51 after Centrowitz (hurt), Rupp (other events), and Wheating (other event) did not run. 

3000 steeplechase - Kyle Perry of BYU ran in his sixth career steeplechase and won the NCAA championship in 8:29.24, a 10+ second pr.  He was fourth at the west regional mostly due to hayfever.  He chose to run the steeplechase because he felt it was unlikely he could beat Rupp in the 5,000.  He has the right build and good speed and likely has a huge future in the steeplechase.

5k/10k - Rupp was spectacular over the last 1000 meters of the 5k by running 2:25.  He has no idea how well he is running.  His focus was strictly on the team and he has no goals that he is working towards.  He said the secret to his success is uninterupted health the last year.  He used to occassionally miss workouts due to minor injuries but not this year as he runs 100 miles with more speed work than ever.  He also finished in 2:30 at the end of the 10k and jogged in the last 50 meters in both.  Until these sprints he looked like he was jogging most of both races while running 70 second laps with the other runners.

Personally, I think he will run under 13:10 (63.2 second laps) for the 5k and will break 27:00 (64.8 second laps) for the 10k.  He said he hasn't run that pace but I said the way he runs long stretches at a fast pace indicate it is possible.  I hope he believes it and goes after it.

Chris Derrick of Stanford will hopefully run US juniors.  The US junior record holder at 5k showed a good kick in the 5k (1:57.87 the last 800 meters) which he didn't show at Pac-10 or west regional meets.  It might have been due to the slow pace but it was a great sign for him.

Sam Chelanga finished third in the 10,000 but will be the top returner, 35 seconds faster than the next returning finisher, Girma Mecheso of Auburn.  He will work on speed for next year.  It is likely he will three or more NCAA titles each of the next two years.  He and Rupp were far ahead of everyone else at the NCAA cross country championships and ran the second fastest collegiate 5k ever indoors at 13:19.  He will be fun to watch the next two years and he is a really nice guy. 

110 hurdles - Sophomore Ronnie Ash of Bethune-Cookman made a breakthrough with his 13.27 win into a 2.0 m/s headwind.  This title goes with his indoor 60m hurdle title.  Before his senior year of high school he moved from New Jersey and he wanted to make friends at his new school.  So, for the first time ever he competed in any athletic endeavor and ran track.  His coach recommended him to Bethune-Cookman's coaches and now he is ranked 7th in the US but 8th in the world.  He has a huge amount of potential and he is a really nice kid. 

Senior Jason Richardson was the top seed from his time at the SEC meet (13.29, #9 US).  His times were off that but he also ran into the head wind and ran 13.49 for second.   

Two junior competitors, William Wynne of Florida was third (13.68) and Booker Nunley from South Carolina was sixth at the NCAA meet (13.84) and could run some great times at the US junior meet.

400 hurdles - Sophomores Jeshua Anderson (48.47) of Washington State and Johnny Dutch (48.62) of South Carolina renewed their rivalry and repeated their 1-2 finish from last year's world Junior championships.  Anderson said he will run at the US championships.  He is ranked third in the US and fifth in the world.  Dutch, plans unknown for US, is ranked fourth in the US and sixth in the world.  Anderson, in spite of his antics at the PAc-10 meet, is a nice respectful kid.  

High Jump -  Scott Sellers of Kansas State won his third NCAA title.  He knows competition in the US has increased with Manson at 7-8 1/2 (#1 world) and Williams at 7-8 (#2 world).  Sellers started his season late due to injury but said his form and timing are coming together.  His coach works with him on athleticism and he has several quality training partners, including Williams, Keith Moffatt, and  occassionally. 

Pole Vault - Jason Colwick of Rice won as he nearly pr'd (5.72) with a best clearance of 5.70m, 18-8 1/4.  He admits to have cleared 19 feet in practice and with Brad Walker and Tommy Skipper staying low key this year Colwick definitely has a shot of winning the US championship or making the team.  He is #5 in the world and #1 in the US.  He picked his school based on academics and then weather they had a track team even though he was the Texas 5A state champion.  He has steadily improved from his high school pr of 5.18m but last year's 18 foot vault at the Texas Relays changed the opinion of this 2x NCAA champion (indoor this year also) and now he is putting more focus into vaulting.  

Long Jump - Ngoni Makusha of Florida State won the outdoor title last year and indoors was sprinting and jumping very well but pulled a hamstring.  He finally recovered after the ACC meet and has improved under the watchful eye of Jonathon Edwards' coach (wr over 60 feet in the triple jump- only one over 60') Dennis Nobles.  He finished 12th at the west regional and had the sixth best jump of non-automatic qualifiers.  The NCAA took only 25 jumpers and head coach Bob Braman protested.  The NCAA added him June 4th.  Makusha was thankful to God for his good fortune and ability.  That ability put him only 2 centimeters from the bronze medal at last year's Olympics.  

2008 NCAA indoor champion Reindell Cole of Cal State Northridge had the top jump of the weekend by jumping 8.21, 26-10 w2.1 m/s in qualifying but fouled three times in the final.  His health injuries of the past year pluys seem to be over but he fouled out.  He should be in the final of the US championship if he can get consistency on the runway. 

Triple Jump - Will Claye came over after the triple jump with a straw hat on.  The freshman, who left high school early to join Oklahoma, set the American junior record of 56-4 3/4 to move to =#9 a-t WJ, #9 collegian, and #6 NCAA all time.  He is ranked 9th in the world and 1st among Americans but will jump in the junior meet.  He jumped 56-6 3/4 with a 2.5 m/s aiding wind.  He was so quiet it was hard to hear him, not a big ego kid.

Texas A&M's triple jumpers made a huge mark at the NCAA meet and scored 18 points. Jamaican Julian Reid jumped a wind legal school record 16.98m, 55-8 1/2 and 2.5m/s wind aided 17.10m, 56-1 1/4 (better than any winning mark since 2004).  Zuheir Sharif was fourth with a wind-aided 55-0 jump (#2 all-time Texas A&M all conditions). 

Florida freshman Christian Taylor won the NCAA indoor meet with the and set the American junior record (55-8 1/2).  He finished third at the outdoor meet with a wind-aided jump of 55-5 3/4 and wind legal jump of 54-7 1/2.  He could face Claye at the US juniors for the grudge match if both choose to compete.  He is ranked fourth among Americans.

Shot Put - Ryan Whiting won his third NCAA shot put title (first outdoors).  Because Reese Hoffa won the 2007 world championship the US will be taking four shot putters.  When he threw 71 feet indoors in 2008 it had been his longest stretch of healthy training.  His shoulder is bugging him now and all he can do is throw six times a day.  He won with a best throw of 20.11m, 65-11 3/4, the second worst winning throw since 1999.  He is ranked seventh in the world and fourth among Americans (best throw at west regional 20.99m, 68-10 1/2).  He will focus on the Shot Put and not throw the Discus.

Discus Throw  - Martin Maric of Cal threw the javelin early in the year but a shoulder injury convinced him to focus on the Discus since the Pac-10 meet.  He felt more comfortable with the Discus and threw a pr 61.53m, 201-10 in the prelims for fourth all-time among Bears.  Five of the top six competitors were from the PAc-10 meet and Maric commented that the final was just like the Pac-10 meet.  He is the top ranked Croatian and hopes to compete at the world championships.  To win he needed his last throw to nip Whiting by two centimeters, 59.82m 196-3, for the shortest winning throw since 1997.   

Daniel Scharer of Stanford threw a big pr 63.55m, 208-5 to win the Pac-10 meet and was only 48 centimeters short of the Swiss national record.  He will also hopefully compete at the World championship after finishing third at the NCAA meet.

Hammer Throw - Marcel Lomnicky of Virginia Tech was the favorite even though he was only the third seed.  He proved prognosticators correct. His four major championship experiences, including the third place finish at the 2007 European U-23 championships and 2006 world junior championships, gave him an advantage and Coach Jack at Virginia Tech has been highly successful and lured him to the states.  He expects to compete in Europe and is the second ranked Slovakian thrower. 

Walter Henning of LSU will likely participate in his first US national championship after finishing second at the NCAA meet.  Last year he won the world junior championship is the sixth ranked American this year.  Senior Chris Rohr of Missouri was the top ranked thrower at the NCAA meet and ranked fifth in the US but finished fourth at the NCAA meet.    Junior Jason Lewis of Arizona State finished sixth at the NCAA meet but made a 20 foot improvement in the hammer throw (#2 all-time ASU) after making a seven foot improvement in the indoor weight throw to win the NCAA indoor championship.  Coach Dumble was bouncing around because of how proud he was of his developing thrower. 

Javelin throw - Chris Hill of Georgia won his second straight NCAA title and is a threat to make the world championship team.  He is the third ranked American this year (81.80m, 268-4)  but is throwing better than the two ranked ahead of him.  He was fourth at the Olympic Trials last year after throwing 24 feet short of where he is at this time of year.  He is probably the favorite if Breaux Greer has not returned to the health that had him throw the American Record (299) at the US championships in 2007. 

Corey White of USC has not broken 250 feet since the UCLA dual.  He threw 248 at the NCAA championships for second and says he does not like to throw at Hayward Field. 

Cyrus Hostetler of Oregon has said his timing has been off since the Pepsi meet.  His run-up is longer and he doesn't hold his block at all.  His throws have been low because he is not getting the lift in his throws that a block would provide.  The javelin is flying extemely fast at a low trajectory and still he threw 72.71, 238-6.  If he can get back to the Pepsi form where he threw 272-10 but possibly slowing his run-up he has a good shot of winning the US championship. 

Decathlon - Junior Ashton Eaton of Oregon scored 8241 but it was a wind-aided 100 meters, 10.35 with 4.1 m/s aiding wind.  He was so fast down the long jump runway they pulled him back 2' then a foot foul and they moved him 6".  Another foul and they moved him back 1'6" and he was 3" behind the board on a 24-10 jump (25-7 easy).  His coach and he felt that he would break 26', not far-fetched at all.  He nearly set a pr in the shot put, 41-3, a bad high jump at 6-6 1/4 (four inches short of indoor best), but a 46.85 400 was a collegiate Decathlon record and he bettered the 1st day meet record although this was not official since it was wind-aided.  He tied the wind-aided meet record in the 110 hurdles, then threw a pr in the Discus throw at 137-1.  A 14-5 1/4 pole vault was due to bad communication with his coach and a change in the pole vault direction.  He had wormed up with clearances at 5.00m, worth 179 points more.  He threw a near pr 175-11 in the javelin and then answered his closest competitior in the competition, Matteo Sossah of North Carolina, with a near pr 1,500 meters in 4:20.75. His score of 8241 fell within his goal of 8200 to 8400 and he would have scored 8420 if he had cleared 16-4 3/4.  Last year he finished fifth in the Olympic Trials behind Brian Clay at 8832 points, Trey Hardee 8534, Tom Pappas 8511, and Jake Arnold 8130.  All are returning.

Tom Pappas - he advised me he is competing at the US championships because he was upset at how the Olympics went.  He said he is in great shape and ready to put up a great score. 

Matteo Sossah - North Carolina is a fast developing athlete.  He took this winter and last spring off.  He finished fourth at the 2007 European junior championships.  He had decathlon prs in 8 of the 10 events to score 8044 points.  He is close to Eaton because he is a much better thrower but Eaton is much faster in every event except for the 1,500 meters where they are practically equal. 

  

Oregon has a very good shot of winning its third Pac-10 title in a row, fourth in the past five years and fifth in the last seven years. 

100 - Marcus Duncan of Arizona State is the top returner and Ahmad Rashad of USC was the 2007 Pac-10 champion so this could be a great battle if Rashad is back to form.  Senior Justin Woods of Washington State is a consistently high performer at this level and has plenty of experience at the NCAA level.  This event is wide open

200 - This year senior Jordan Boase of Washington is doubling along with his specialty, the 400 meters.  He will be challenged by double 2007 Pac-10 champion Ahmad Rashad of USC but is likely to get a double of his own.

400 - Senior Jordan Boase should get his first two individual titles after dealing with '07 World Championship competitor Lionel Larry of USC year.  2008 World junior and NCAA 400 hurdle champion Joshua Anderson of Washington State will attempt to defeat the Washington school record holder.  Duck juniors Chad Barlow and Ashton Eaton will likely lead the rest of the competitors on their home turf. 

800 - Olympian Andrew Wheating of Oregon will likely hold off top collegiate freshman Mason McHenry of Arizona State and NCAA veterans Cory Primm of UCLA and Nectaly Barbosa of Arizona State.

1500 - This could be an incredible race if the competitors push the pace.  Five of the top nine NCAA outdoor marks are represented by the top seeds in this competition.  19 year old top seed Matthew Centrowitz jr will attempt to follow his NCAA leading win from the Payton Jordan Invite with a PAc-10 championship.  Teammate and Olympian Andrew Wheating and NCAA veterans Garret Heath of Stanford, Michael Coe of Cal, Austin Abbott of Washington, and Brandon Bethke of Arizona State will challenge for what should be spectacular.  10,000 meter Olympian and Oregon indoor school record holder in the mile Galen Rupp is entered but he is likely to run the 5k and 10k. 

Steeplechase - Oregon senior Chris Winter is a strong favorite to get his first Pac-10 championship after finishing behind ASU NCAA champions Aaron Aguayo and Kyle Alcorn.  Last year he made his first NCAA championships and reached the final.  Now is his chance to get a win.  Stanford's Chris Mocko and John Sullivan are closest on the list. 

5,000 - Senior Olympian Galen Rupp will attempt to repeat his 2007 double with tougher competition.  Good thing his speed has improved and he has four NCAA titles already from this year.  Transfer Brandon Bethke of Arizona State crushed the old school record by 10 seconds and freshman Chris Derrick of Stanford broke Rupp's American junior record.   All three runners are at least expected to double.  Depending on how tired Rupp and his competitors are this could be a great race. 

10,000 - To end the first night Oregon will attempt to accrue a large number of points in this race.  This mass of points have led to two consecutive Pac-10 team championships.  Five of the top six seeds are Ducks and led by Rupp.  To derail the Ducks chances teams will have to try to break this up but Rupp, senior Shadrack Biwott, and Luke Puskedra are the only NCAA automatic qualifiers, so it will be difficult.

100 hurdles - Stanford senior and 2008 NCAA semifinalist Myles Bradley is almost a lock but anything can happen when barriers are in front of you.  Sophomore Oscar Spurlock of USC has made a big step up this year but will have to take another one to beat Bradley.

400 hurdles - Sophomore world junior and NCAA champ Jeshua Anderson of Washington State is back and everyone will be fighting for second.  Teammate Barry Leavitt and  Cal's Jake Hanson have NCAA experience and will face super-frosh Amaechi Morton of Stanford and finally healthy sophomore super-prep David Klech of Oregon in the fight for second.

4x100 relay - USC has a number of very good runners, UCLA has some good runners and ASU is trying to pass well enough to win here.  We will see after the stick makes it around the track. 

4x400 relay - Every year teams come into the conference meet and obliterate their season bests.  USC and Arizona State always have great runners.  ASU and USC have won the last ten Pac-10 championships and ASU won last year.  It is likely not to change.

HJ - Ed Wright of Cal had won two in-a-row but now that he has graduated he will likely be succeeded by the emergence of Trent Arrivey of Washington State who is the collegiate leader.  Manjula Wijesekara of USC and Taylor Hobson of UCLA are a step ahead of the rest of the competition for second.

Pole Vault - Sophomore Scott Roth redshirted last year and recovered his freshman form by almost (short .02m) equaling his 2007 pr that he set indoors.  In the difficult wind conditions of Hayward Field there is never a solid favorite and he will be joined by fellow Huskies Ryan Vu and Jared O'Conner.  Nick Mossberg of Arizona and any one of the five quality UCLA vaulters could also win this. 

Long Jump - Two NCAA scoring seniors left and it has left a void at the top of the conference.  Junior Ashton Eaton jumped into it during the dual with UCLA and beat Taylor Hobson's personal best in the process.  Senior Luis Rivera-Morales of Arizona was third at this meet last year behind those two aforementioned seniors and consistently jumps well so this should be a great competition. 

Triple Jump - If Rivera-Morales doesn't get his first PAc-10 title in Saturday's long jump he will likely get it here and possibly get a school record in the process but he will be strongly challenged by the rapidly developing senior Aven Wright of USC and NCAA competitor Jonathan Clark of UCLA.

Shot Put - Junior Ryan Whiting and Senior Zach Lloyd are former high school leaders and have prs over 69 feet.  Lloyd won the Pac-10 last year but Whiting finished 2nd ahead of Lloyd's fourth at the NCAA championships.  Indoors Whiting won his second straight title and Whiting was third.  They are two of the top talents at the meet and may be future Olympians. 

Discus Throw - Before the season five of the top nine returning collegians were from the Pac-10.  Due to injuries that has been reduced to four of the top seven throwers this year but it should still be great competition.  Daniel Shaerer of Stanford (199-3) leads the group and is second nationally, just 3/4 of an inch further than Whiting and nine inches ahead of Cal senior Martin Maric.  Junior Jason Lewis of Arizona State has joined this elite group this year and is less than 7 feet behind.  It should be a tough competition.

Hammer Throw - Junior Jason Lewis of Arizona State has improved 27 feet this year (223-7) and is now one of the top collegiate hammer throwers.  He will have to beat 2008 NCAA fourth place finisher Boldizsar Kocsor of UCLA.  Junior Zack Midles has improved significantly this year and will have to some more to contend for a title.

Javelin Throw - Former world leader but still collegiate and US leader Cyrus Hostetler of Oregon (272-10) will have a tough competition with NCAA runner-up and defending champ Corey White of USC who has also pr'd this year (272-2)

There will be many interesting battles among top level competition including the 400, 1500, 5,000, 10,000, pole vault, shot put, hammer throw and javelin throw.  Competitors in each of these events are among just a few NCAA favorites. 

Predictions - Oregon 153, USC 104, ASU 103, Stanford 100

 

100 and 200 - ASU and USC will dominate the sprints with '08 NCAA comp and double pac-10 champ Charonda Williams going against last year's 2nd place finisher in the 100 and 200, Cherelle Garrett of Cal and the typically strong USC sprint squad with freshman sensation Aareon Payne of USC.  Amber Purvis of ORegon will challenge in the 100 meters.

400 - Nicole Leach of UCLA will move from the 400 hurdles for this meet to go against defending champion Keshia Baker of Oregon.  Olear of USC, Lacy of UCLA and Benjamin of ASU have NCAA relay experience and are close challengers.

800 - Zoe Buckman of Oregon was fourth at last year's NCAA meet but has not shown the form yet that she exhibited last year although she does lead the conference this year.  Anna Layman of Washington State was eighth in that race last year but also has not shown the form.  Curry of UCLA and Pierce of Cal are consistent challengers and may get their shot to win the title this year. 

1500 - Lauren Centrowitz of Stanford has looked very good this year and after two year's of being runner-up has her best shot to win in her senior year.  Defending champ Follett of Washington and teammate Campbell will challenge along with Ducks Blood and Kosinski

Steeple - Freshman Husky sensation Marie Lawrence will try to get her first conference title against '08 NCAA 9th place finisher and USC sophomore Zsofia Erdelyi, Stanford's Emilie Amaro and two-time defending champ Sara Trane of WSU

5,000 - Nicole Blood of Oregon will try to defend her title against freshman sensation Laurynne Chatelat of Stanford as both times are so close and done in different races that who knows who can go how much faster. Three Huskies Follett, Campbell and Lawrence are close behind with senior transfer Scherf of the Ducks in there but with an up-and-down season.   Of major note is the fact that Chetelat is the only one not expected to double 

10,000 - Junior MAttie Bridgmon of Oregon has had an incredible season and has had prs throughout the season, indoors and outdoors.  She has shown a great amount of fight and competitiveness and maybe will get credit for the first time with a Pac-10 title.  She faces tough, veteran competitors in Anita Campbell of Washington and Ali Kielty of ASU.  She also faces 2008 NCAA third place finisher Alex Gits of Stanford who just ran her first race since last year by running a 5k at the PAyton Jordan Invite so she is a dangerous wild card. 

100 hur - Kimyon Broom of Cal is the defending champion and top seed but did not make the NCAA meet last year but USC teammates Shalina Clarke (8th) and Nia Ali (semis) did.  This shoud be fun to watch as fortunes always change rapidly during a 100 meter hurdles race.     

400 hurdles - 2007 NCAA champ and '08 runner-up Nicole Leach of UCLA must have thought she needed more competition in the 400 after only one Pac-10 competitor even made it into the NCAA heats last year.  Freshman sensation Dalilah Muhammad of USC should make a run at the NCAA meet and is far ahead of the competition. 

HJ - Defending NCAA and Pac-10 champion Elizabeth Patterson of Arizona had had a 3 1/2" pr and should dominate here.  NCAA veterans and teammate Jasmin Day and California's Inika McPherson will head the rest unless talented Rhonda Watkins of UCLA overcomes her regular injuries. 

PV - No one of this highly successful group has dominated or regularly succeeded.  This is the most unpredictable of any of the events anyway and more so with the changing and sometimes heavy winds of Hayward Field who knows.  Katie Morgan of Cal won the NCAA champ with the lowest height since 2002, Gabriela Duclos of Arizona was the 2007 Pac-10 champ, and they along with Melissa Gergel of Oregon, Katy Viuf, Tori Pena and Tori Anthony of UCLA have been NCAA all-Americans or competitors.  Gergel does have more experience with these conditions and that will help. 

LJ - 2x 2007 NCAA champ Rhonda Watkins of UCLA is hoping to get back to that form.  Anything close and she is a cinch to win this meet.  Stanford's Arantxa King and Oregon's Jameesha Youngblood should lead the rest. 

TJ - Arantxa King of Stanford will take of the mantle given to her by former teammate and four-time PAc-10 champion Erica McClain.   She is joined by teammates Jordan Merback and Whitney Liehr who will challenge her as will Cal's Artensia Young and former high school sensation Ke'Nyia Richardson of UCLA. 

SP and Discus - Sarah Stevens of ASU has been one of the top collegian and American shot putters since her freshman year and will attempt to win her third title.  She will be a heavy favoritein both throws

Hammer Throw - Defending NCAA champion senior Eva Orban has not finished lower than third at the NCAA meet but will be looking for just her second NCAA title.  Sarah Stevens of Arizona State upset her last year and will attempt to again in a tough women's team overall race. 

Javelin Throw - Senior Rachel Yurkovich will try to be the second javelin thrower to win four consecutive Pac-10 titles (joining Inga Stasiulionyte of USC '01-'04) but more interestingly will try to be one of four in any event joining legendary athletes Amy Acuff of UCLA in the high jump ('94-'97) and Sheena Johnson of UCLA in the 400 hurdles ('01-'04).  Young star sophomore Marissa Tschida and freshman Courtney Kirkwood of Washington State will try to derail Yurkovich's plans.

Oregon 137, USC 126, ASU 115, Stanford 114

 

 

In news I put my form chart.  I separated the events out.  The jumps will be heavily questioned for Oregon.  The long jump especially.  Warren beat Hobson indoors at MPSF and is used to the weather up here.  I gave Ducks the benefit of the doubt for weather considerations.  I am also assuming Eaton can handle the workload and be able to run fast after his injury otherwise the Ducks are in for a long day.  Getting LJ out of the way will go a long way and could help Eaton get going.   Feel free to comment.

This may sound like homer-ism but every meet on the Duck schedule is starting to be a spectacle.  The Oregon Preview has been given more attention by the coaches and athletes.  7/19 regularly completed men's events have had new records in the last 5 years.  The same is true about the women's events but in just the last 3 years. 

The Pepsi Team Invitational always seems to come to the last event.  In two of the previous four years the final women's team winner was decided within 1 point. 

The men's team has had some spectacular talent recently.  On the men's side Skipper had five NCAA pole vault championships, Rupp has four and counting, and Eaton has two and counting.  The only other multiple titlists among the men include Prefontaine with 7, Joaquim Cruz, Jerry Tarr, Dyrol Burleson, and Dean Crouser with three, and Brian Crouser, Bill Dellinger, Harry Jerome and George Rasmussen with 2. 

The Oregon Relays will have teams going for a world record in the 4xmile in addition to Rupp, Eaton, Hostetler, Purvis and other Ducks probably giving us some spectacular performances.  All we miss from the old days is the dual meet and we should get a doozy in the UCLA dual next week.

Oregon is trying for the ninth ever triple crown in track and field (XC, indoor, and outdoor).  Arkansas has done it 5 times and UTEP has done it 3 times.  ORegon has a good shot to do it this year. 

Stay tuned to this track season because we may never see something this special again.     

It is about time we had a "fairly complete" list of rankings of current Duck athletes.  This is the most accurate set of lists that I can make without any help.  Please advise me of any errors. 

All are located in the News section

Thank you

 

PS - Nothing to update from last weekend

There was only one title on the second day but there were points all over the board and in bunches. 

In the 60 meters new school record holder and freshman Amber Purvis was third at 7.38 and sophomore Mandy White was seventh seventh at 7.58.  Junior Keshia Baker ran 24.44 for fourth and Mandy White was fifth in 24.62 as both ran indoor prs.  Defending mile champion Alexandra Kosinski met with stiff competition and was outkicked with a lap to go and finished fourth in 4:42.16.  Kosinski came back an 1:55 later to finish third in the 3k in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 9:11.24 and Nicole Blood was fourth in 9:17.28.  Mattie Bridgmon was eighth in 9:30.71. 

Bridgmon has had a great fall and winter in her junior year.  She has prd by 31 seconds in the 3k (9:17) and 24 seconds in the 5k (16:09) and may qualify for the NCAA meet in both events after becoming a first time all-american in cross country. 

In the 60 meter hurdles freshman Lyndsay Pearson finished fifth at 8.79, third fastest ever among Ducks indoors.  In the high jump, the new school record holder in the hurdles at 8.65, Brianne Thiesen finished tied for fourth at 5-8 1/2 (earlier in the season she moved to second at 5-11 1/4).  Redshirt junior Rita Santibanez was eighth at 45-0 1/4. 

In the final event the Oregon women were too far out of the competition to pass Stanford but far enough ahead of the rest to finish second.  Sophmore Jamesha Youngblood set the table with a great first leg that put Oregon in the lead.  Senior Leah Worthen ran a strong second leg.  The third leg was by brilliant freshman Amber Purvis.  Her 53.0 put Oregon well into the lead ahead of UCLA.  Defending Pac-10 champion Keshia Baker finished off the competition and ORegon set the Duck indoor school record and moved the team to second on the national list with a time of 3:36.52.  This team is only surpassed by Oregon teams that ran outdoor times in 1995 (3:33.11), 2007 (3:36.07), and 1993 (3:36.49). 

Matt Centrowitz ran a spectacular 41 seconds for the last 300 meters of the 3k championship at the MPSF championships.  His final time of 7:55.90 moved him to fifth on Oregon's all-time list, is a 17+ second pr and moves him to eighth on this year's collegiate list.  He beat stud Stanford XC a-a freshman Chris Derrick of Stanford and teammates Luke Puskedra (7:58.42) and Scott Wall  (7:59.27).  Just like his win in the mile at the UW Invite two weeks ago (3:57.92) older and more experienced runners just could not hold him off. 

Vince D'Onofrio and Kenny Klotz sacrificed themselves to help AJ Acosta get a fast pace for a NCAA qualifying time and win but he came up just short with a 4:01.89, second to defending MPSF 3k champ Michael Coe of Cal in 4:00.29.  The previous night Coe was the anchor leg of Cal's NCAA automatic qualifying DMR run.   

Chad Barlow was seventh in the hotly contested 400 at 47.73.  Galen Rupp ran a near 1.5 second pr in the 800 (1:49.87) for 5th in the 800, Eric Hersey was seventh in the 60m hurdles (8.24),  Oregon was third in the 4x400 relay at 3:10.40.  And...surprise, surprise we saw David Klech for the first time in an Oregon uniform and he ran well.  Ashton Eaton ran a 46.6 opening leg (one of two events he competed in).  In Eaton's other event he tied for sixth in the high jump at 6-8 3/4.   

The last two completed events were the Heptathlon and the pole vault.  6 vaulters cleared 5.17m 16-11 1/2.  UCLA vaulters held the top 4 positions. Stanford's Corey Dysick was tied for fourth and Oregon's Colin Witter-Tilton was sixth.  After five of seven events Oregon's Marshall Ackley was ninth, the place he had occupied after jumping 20-9 in the long jump (the second event of the competition).  Marshall jumped 15-7 in the sixth event, second best of the competition, and moved to fifth at 4344 with one event to go.  He was three points ahead of Lance Gonzales and 149 points behind Andrew Ferleman of Washington. 

As each of the six vaulters took their last attempts at 5.32m, 17-5 1/2 it became clear after the Triple Jump results were added that someone had to knock UCLA out of the top four spots in the pole vault by clearing the height or Ackley had to make a big move in the 1000 meters to change his position and someone else had to severely falter.  Woepse of UCLA (1st) and Quinn of UCLA (=4th) missed and as the runners were coming around Dysick of Stanford (=4th) missed and Witter-Tilton of Oregon (sixth) missed the meet was over no matter what the final two UCLA vaulters did because although Ackley won the 1000 meters, no one had severly faltered and he finished fourth overall with a 207 point pr at 5209.  With 28.5 points in the pole vault, UCLA had moved from eighth to first at 83.5 points, Cal and Washington State tied for second at 78.5 points, Oregon was fourth with 78 points, and Arizona State was fifth with 76.5 points and Washington was sixth with 75 points.   

 

 

I am there having a good time announcing the men's side and Paul Merca is announcing the women.

Oregon update

Too bad Oregon didn't have Holland or James to run in the 60.  No one is running that fast. Oregon was shut out of the 200.  Things looked good in the 5000 as Diego Mercado tried to chase down top seed Jake Schmitt of Washington but couldn't catch him and nearly pr'd, 13:58, in chasing him.  Daniel out-kicked three others and got a big pr in 14:03.  Oregon's #3 DMR team didn't do much.

Eaton didn't run the 60 hurdle but Redshirt freshman Eric Hersey looked really good and will run the final today. 

Vernell Warren had a nice pr of 24-7 1/4 for third in the long jump.  The men's Weight throw was stacked and sophomore Jordan Stray couldn't make the final. 

 

Ashton Purvis and Mandy White looked great in the 60.  Mandy White ran a pr 7.57.  Keshia Baker and Mandy White scored in the 200 and ran well 24.44 for Baker.  Bria Wetsch ran sixth (16:38) in the 5k and it was nice to see her run well.  Lindsay Person made the final of the 60 hurdles. Oregon was fourth in the DMR with their #2 or 3 team. Jamesha Youngblood (6.13) was second and Briane Thiesen was 8th in the Long Jump.  Sophmore Melissa Gergel was third in the pole vault at 13-5 1/4 as only Gabriela Duclos could make 13-9 1/4.  Megan Maloney scoreda fourth in the Weight Throw with a throw over 56 feet (17.13).

Kalindra McFadden had a nice pr of 4044 in the Pentathlon to take the MPSF title.

Try to watch today there will be many good races.  The men may make a run today with Wheating and Rupp in the 800, Kiptoo-Biwott and Acosta in the mile, Puskedra and Cetrowitz in the 3k.  Klech will be in the 4x400,

For the women, no one in the 800, Kosinski in the mile, Scherf and Blood in the 3k, and Baker, Youngblood, Worthen and Purvis in the 4x400