Duck Women 2ND at NCAA's

DES MOINES, Iowa - Bolstered by a scintillating victory in the 4x400 meter relay, the Women of Oregon scored the most points ever in an NCAA meet by a Duck squad. Unfortunately in the end, Louisiana State came up with more Saturday at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

The top-ranked Tigers had a nearly flawless meet to win the 2012 national title with 76 points. Oregon was the runner-up for the fourth straight year, scoring 62 points. That was the most the Ducks have ever totaled under the current scoring format that dates to the mid-1980's. Their previous best was 57 in 2010.

"We came out and competed hard, (LSU) came out and competed hard," said Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "LSU just came out and had a great meet.

"You always think you could have done a little better here or done something a little differently there, but in the end, 62 points - the women really had a pretty good meet. LSU just had a better one."

Oregon's total would have won the NCAA title five of the last seven years. Three-time defending champ Texas A&M was third with 38 points and Clemson and Kansas tied for fourth with 28.

The Ducks arrived at their final score thanks to a command performance in the 4x400 meter relay.

The team of English Gardner, Chizoba Okodogbe, Laura Roesler and Phyllis Francis won in a meet-record 3:24.54. Gardner, who became the Ducks' first NCAA 100 meter champion on Friday, led off and brought the Ducks around the oval in the lead in 50.81. Okodogbe took the next leg in 51.53 and the Ducks were second behind LSU at the halfway point.

Roesler took the third leg in 51.86, closing up on the Tigers. That left Francis to bring home the win. She reeled in LSU's Jonique Day on the backstretch and caught her coming off the turn. Francis closed in 50.15, as the Ducks clipped the Tigers by .05.

"We knew it was going to be really close," said Francis. "We really wanted it this year."

The Ducks' time was not only a meet record, but also a Pac-12 record and the second-fastest time in collegiate history. Only Texas' 3:23.75 from 2004 is faster than what the Ducks ran on Saturday.

"We are a team that fights all the way to the end," said Gardner. "We put a lot of faith in Phyllis. That was a really big win."

Jordan Hasay was a key part of a women's 1,500 meters that lived up to its billing as one of the most exciting finals. The field remained tightly bunch through the bell lap before Florida State's Amanda Winslow broke away early on the final lap.

That set in motion a wild 200 meters that saw Hasay, Katie Flood of Washington and Emily Infeld of Georgetown run down Winslow, and the three runners came off the final turn three across. Flood, the hometown favorite from Des Moines, had just enough in the tank to win in 4:13.79, with Infeld next in 4:14.02 and Hasay third in 4:14.03. The Ducks' Becca Friday was ninth in 4:16.38.

"It was an exciting race," said Hasay. "It certainly lived up to expectations.

"My main mistake was running a lot in lane 2. I was trying to get Katie down the stretch, but she was holding strong. It was a good lesson for me. I was trying to be patient and worried about getting an opening."

The Ducks also claimed five points in the 4x100 relay with a fourth-place finish. Francis, Gardner, Lauryn Newson and Amber Purvis ran 43.58.

Alex Kosinski fought for a point in the 5,000 meters on a hot day in Des Moines. The senior from El Dorado Hills, Calif., took eighth in 16:24.42. Freshman Allie Woodward finished 13th in 16:43.92.

In the triple jump, Newson had a best leap of 42-9.75/13.05m and finished 11th.

The Duck men, who did not have any entries on Saturday, finished tied for ninth with Texas with 22 points.

"Not a bad team finish considering how many freshmen and sophomores we had here," said Lananna.

Florida won the men's team title with 50 points, followed by LSU with 48, Texas A&M with 40 and Florida State with 38.

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Theisen win #3

DES MOINES, Iowa - Brianne Theisen leapt her way into heptathlon history, while English Gardner became the first women's 100 meter champion ever at Oregon as the Ducks waged a back-and-forth battle with Louisiana State Friday at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Oregon also got points from Laura Roesler and Anne Kesselring in the 800 meters, Lanie Thompson in the steeplechase and Phyllis Francis in the 400 meters.

That left the Ducks with 40 points and tied for first with LSU, well ahead of the field, headed into Saturday's final day.

"I think it's a little early to start counting points," said Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "It's going to come down to the last day and probably the last event and every point is going to make a difference."

Theisen completed the second-best heptathlon in NCAA history, winning her third NCAA heptathlon title, and seventh overall, with 6,440 points on Friday.

She opened the second day by setting a personal best in the long jump - her fourth PR of the competition - on her only attempt. Her mark of 20-7.25/6.28m was not only good for 937 points, but it also ranked as the No. 6 long jump in school history.

She then hit her biggest PR yet in the javelin with a first attempt throw of 152-2/46.38m. That was a four-foot personal best that was worth 790 points and was the ninth-best throw in school history.

The senior from Humboldt, Sask., native finished with a relatively easy 800 meters in 2:13.81 to become just the second person in NCAA history to score 6,400 points in a heptathlon competition.

"I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish my career in my last meet as a Duck," said Theisen. "It's just been amazing being here with my teammates competing for a national championship. When I was being recruited, I looked at the scores from the NCAA meet and thought it would be great to finish in the top 13.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would win three NCAA titles."

Not only did she attain the triple crown, Theisen became just the third woman in NCAA history to win three heptathlon titles. Jacquelyn Johnson won four for Arizona State (2004, 2006-08) and Jolanda Jones won three for Houston (1986-87, 1989).

Friday, Theisen passed UCLA legend Jackie Joyner-Kersey, who scored 6,390 points at the 1983 NCAA meet, for the No. 2 score in collegiate history. Theisen's mark stands second to NCAA record-holder Diane Guthrie-Gresham of George Mason, who tallied 6,527 points at the 1995 national championships.

Theisen's score also was the second-highest in Canadian history, standing behind only Jessica Zelinka's 6,490 from the 2008 Olympics.

"I'm very glad Brianne came back and won the Pac-12s, won the NCAA indoors, won the NCAA outdoors and is now ready to make the Canadian Olympic team and maybe create some excitement in London," said Lananna.

Gardner was just as impressive in becoming the first-ever NCAA women's 100 meter champion from Oregon. The sophomore from Voorhees, N.J., was quick out of the blocks and clear of the pack at the 50 meter mark. She then powered home to hold off charges from LSU's Kimberlyn Duncan and Semoy Hackett.

Gardner won in 11.10, with Duncan second in 11.16 and Hackett third in 11.33.

"I definitely came out there with a lot of fire and intensity," said Gardner. "My start was a little bit better than yesterday. I wanted to stay calm and just trust my training."

The Ducks picked up nine points in the 800 meters with a 4-5 finish from Roesler and Kesselring. Roesler, a sophomore from Fargo, N.D., finished in 2:02.96, while Kesselring, a junior from Nurnberg, Germany, crossed in 2:03.41.

"That was a hard race," said Roesler. "It was my first NCAA final and hopefully I can learn and improve from here."

The women then picked up three unexpected points from Thompson in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Lurking near the back of the lead pack for much of the race, the sophomore from High Bridge, N.J., moved from 10th to seventh on the final lap, and then, with Theisen shouting her on while awaiting the start of the heptathlon 800, clipped Clemson's Alyssa Kulik at the line to finish sixth in 10:07.18. That was the best-ever finish in the steeplechase by a Duck woman at the NCAA meet.

Senior Kimber Mattox nearly scored in the steeple as well. The Bend, Ore., native ran ninth in 10:15.16.

The last points of the day came from Francis' fifth place finish in the 400 meters in 51.79.

In the women's high jump, Lauryn Crockett had first attempt clearances at 5-7/1.70m and 5-8.75/1.75m before bowing out of the NCAA HJ a 5-10.5/1.79m. The freshman from Ogden, Utah, tied for 17th in her first NCAA appearance.

For the men, Mike Berry ran a thrilling 400 meters and was the runner-up to Florida's talented Tony McQuay. Berry bided his time and made a charge around the last turn, briefly taking the lead heading in to the straight, but McQuay had just enough to edge ahead and win in 44.58.

Berry was second in 44.75, which broke his own school record for the second time this season and was tied for the seventh-fastest time in Pac-12 history.

"Mike Berry ran brilliantly," said Lananna. "I can't remember ever seeing a 400 field as good as that one."

In the 800 meters, Elijah Greer was second at the bell lap and made a bold move down the backstretch, but UC Irvine's Charles Jock countered and won in 1:45.59. Greer, a junior from Lake Oswego, Ore., was third in 1:46.05.

The men wrapped up their NCAA appearance with Trevor Dunbar's sixth-place finish in the 5,000 meters. The sophomore from Kodiak, Alaska, finished in a personal-best 13:44.16. Sophomore Parker Stinson was 10th in a personal-best 13:58.28, while senior Chris Kwiatkowski was 15th in 14:05.38 in his first NCAA appearance.

The men will finish the meet with 22 points, which was good for fifth on Friday. Florida led with 36.

2010 NCAA's

Scene stealers

In another Hayward Field classic, Wheating, Acosta and Centrowitz give Ducks electric sweep of 1,500

BY RON BELLAMY

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Sunday, Jun 13, 2010

The Ducks didn’t win the track meet, but they won its defining moment.

Before a standing-room crowd of 12,812 screaming fans, Oregon runners Andrew Wheating, A.J. Acosta and Matthew Centrowitz took the first three places of the men’s 1,500 meters Saturday in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.

In a venue that was hosting its 10th NCAA championships, and that has hosted four Olympic Trials and numerous national meets, the accomplishment became another indelible piece of a proud history.

It was the first time three runners from the same school finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 1,500 in the NCAA championships, and combined with his victory in the 800 meters on Friday night, it made Wheating just the fifth runner to win the middle-distance double in the NCAA meet and the first since Joaquim Cruz did so in 1984.

Then, Cruz led the Oregon men to the NCAA outdoor title on their home track, the last time the Ducks have won it. Saturday, the Ducks had to settle for the third-place trophy as Texas A&M won both the men’s and women’s titles for the second straight year.

In the men’s competition, the Aggies won with 55 points, edging Florida by a point and the Ducks by 10 points. In the women’s competition, Texas A&M scored 72 points with the Oregon women second with 57.

Saturday’s crowd swelled the four-day attendance to 45,847, breaking the NCAA meet record of 41,187 set two years ago at Drake Stadium. In a meet in which the Ducks served some dramatic moments and suffered some pivotal disappointments, the finish in the 1,500 was reminiscent of the Oregon sweep in the Pac-10 meet last year and the hometown sweep in the 800 meters in the Olympic Trials two years ago.

Wheating has been part of all three signature moments, second in the Trials 800 meters as an Oregon sophomore, third in the Pac-10 1,500 last year behind Centrowitz and Galen Rupp.

After his final race for the Ducks, the Oregon senior marveled at the noise that engulfed the runners on the homestretch.

“At the Olympic Trials, I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to it, because it was such a focus getting to the finish,” he said. “Here, I came to the turn and it was ‘get to the finish’ and the vibration of the crowd noise shook me sideways.

“It was so loud, I got so excited, and it pushed me the full 100 meters. My legs were dying, they were totally rubber. If that race is two meters longer I would have gone from first to fifth. I have to thank the crowd a million times.”

Vin Lananna, Oregon’s director of track and field, said he and distance coach Andy Powell had been envisioning a UO sweep for months, though it wasn’t always a given that Wheating would double, or that Acosta, who also ran the 5,000 and steeplechase this season, would wind up back in the 1,500.

“He wasn’t very convincing, but Vin was like, ‘We’ve got a 33 percent chance we could do this,’ ” Wheating said of the sweep. “I was like, ‘Well, that’s not very good odds.’ But I pulled the guys aside and said, ‘Hey guys, it’s our race, it’s our home town, you’ve got 11,000 people here, they’re all here for us, let’s give them a show. I’m not losing to anyone but a Duck, all right.’

“We all got pumped up off that and went out and performed.”

In Lananna’s view, the odds of the Oregon sweep went up exponentially when the race went out at a sluggish 66 seconds for the first lap, and even more when the 800-meter split was 2:12.

“They’re all ferocious competitors, and I think they were hung up in the 1-2-3 thing and not worried so much about who necessarily would win, but trying to go the 1-2-3,” he said.

So slow was the early pace that Acosta found himself a reluctant leader — “I didn’t want to be the sitting duck,” he said — before New Mexico’s Luke Emanuel took it.

With less than 200 meters left, Centrowitz was in front and led the pack of runners into the homestretch, but then Wheating surged past him in a stadium gone beyond delirious.

“I think I made my move with 150 to go,” Centrowitz said. “I didn’t feel the greatest, so I kept pumping my arms. With about 100 to go I looked at the (video) board and saw I had a little lead on the field and they were coming up. I was fortunate it was my teammates.”

Meanwhile, Acosta was able to “slingshot” off the curve and he ran very wide and heard the crowd.

“I could feel it with 50 meters to go, that lifted me up a little bit,” Acosta said. “I always thought it was just like something you talk about, something you say, but there are probably 12,000 people here today and I definitely felt it today.”

Wheating, in the lead with about 30 meters left, would run the last 800 in 1:50.6 and the last 400 in 53.5.

“When we finished, I didn’t know if I’d won, or Centro won or we swept,” he said. “Then I looked up and saw ‘Oregon, Oregon, Oregon,’ and it was all pure emotion. It was the best way to go out.”

With 10 meters left, Acosta said, he knew Oregon had the sweep; he didn’t give up on reeling in Wheating until he ran out of track. Crossing the finish line, Acosta raised his arms, then turned back and jumped into Wheating’s embrace.

Wheating had clocked 3:47.94 to win his first NCAA 1,500 title to go with two 800 crowns. Acosta’s time was 3;48.01, Centrowitz 3:48.08. The 24 points gave Oregon the lead; at that moment, after Jordan Hasay’s third-place finish in the women’s 1,500, the Ducks were also leading the women’s team race.

They couldn’t hold either lead. Ashton Eaton, who won the decathlon in a school and NCAA meet record on Friday, took one attempt in the long jump before the Oregon coaches pulled him, not wanting to risk injury to his tight calves. Jordan McNamara got an eighth-place finish in the 5,000 for Oregon’s only other point in the men’s competition Saturday.

In the end, the Oregon men would look back on their inability to score in the javelin and to qualify a 4x400 team at regionals as the difference between a third-place trophy and a possible team title.

“We were really in it right to the end,” Lananna said. “Sure, of course, you always want to win both. By any stretch of imagination, it was always going to be tough on the men’s side. ...

“Any kid who didn’t do quite what they hoped is going to feel badly about it, but it’s a whole team thing. I think in the end there were some great things that took place. Yeah, we would like to have won it, but I think the men and women will be proud of their accomplishments today.”

And proud of creating another classic moment for Hayward Field.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Andrew Wheating and teammates A.J. Acosta and Matthew Centrowitz gave the Hayward Field faithful one final lasting magical moment in the men’s 1,500 meters, while the women’s 4x400 meter relay team won a national title for the ages, leading the Duck women to their second straight team runner-up finish Saturday on the final day of the 2010 NCAA Track & Field Championships.

Wheating, Centrowitz and Acosta became the first teammates in NCAA history to run 1-2-3 in the men’s 1,500 in a finish that electrified the sold-out crowd of 12,812 on hand to help Track Town, USA, set the all-time record for attendance at the four-day NCAA Championships at 45,847 fans.

"It was a fantastic meet," said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "Athletes did really well. A great crowd - really supportive. Track Town, USA, is really awesome especially with the record crowd."

Wheating led the charged Ducks in 3:47.94, with Acosta second in 3:48.01 and Centrowitz third in 3:48.08.

Acosta set a modest pace for much of the race before the final 400 meters turned into an all-out sprint. Wheating covered moves by New Mexico’s Lee Emanual and Ohio State’s Jeff See heading into the final turn and then thundered off the Bowerman Curve for the final time as a Duck to win his last collegiate race at Hayward Field by .07. Centrowitz went with Wheating and nearly caught Acosta at the tape, who also hit a higher gear when Wheating charged.

"If it was three to four meters longer, I probably would have gone from first to fifth," said Wheating, who became the first man to win the 800 and 1,500 in the same NCAA Championships since Oregon’s Joaquim Cruz in 1984. "To cross the finish line 1-2-3 blows everything away.

"I saw Centro take off," said the senior from Norwich, Vt. "I knew he was going to finish strong. Down the last 100 meters, I just had to grit my teeth and finish strong. I could see Centro and I felt a presence over my shoulder, I didn’t know it was A.J. though. I got the results and I was so happy.

"I felt my legs moving faster and faster at the finish line. It was like I hit the tape and all these flashbacks and my college career was over and I didn’t want to believe it."

Centrowitz said the 1-2-3 finish was on their minds going into the race.

"The coaches were telling us before that we had a chance," said the sophomore from Arnold, Md., "We all knew it was realistic to finish 1-2-3. We all had different strategies but it all worked out down the stretch."

The men added their final point of the championships on senior Jordan McNamara’s eighth-place finish in the 5,000 meters in 13:54.30. Fellow senior Michael Maag was 16th in 14:07.98.

Also Saturday, junior Vernell Warren finished 18th in the men’s long jump in 24-01.75, while senior Ashton Eaton, the three time NCAA decathlon champion, attempted only one jump and took 22nd at 23-08.75

The 1,500 runners led the Ducks to a third place finish in the team standings. Texas A&M won its second straight team title with 55 points, a point better than Florida’s 54. The Ducks had 45, with Arizona State fourth at 37 and USC fifth with 35.5.

As exciting as the men’s 1,500 was, the women’s 4x400 meter relay victory was as historic.

Heptathlete Brianne Theisen led off in place of Jamesha Youngblood, who was competing in the long jump, and she handed off to sophomore Amber Purvis who drew Oregon even with the leaders. Junior Michelle Williams then took advantage of a great final exchange to put the Ducks in front, before handing off to Keshia Baker.

Baker ran 50.59 to hold off Texas A&M’s Jessica Beard to give the Ducks their first-ever NCAA title in the 4x400 relay, and second overall national relay crown, joining the 1980 AIAW mile relay squad.

"We were in a great position to attack today and I was happy to be able to contribute to what my teammates did," said Baker. "The last hundred meters, the crowd just carried me through the finish line.

"I’ve been blessed this whole season," said Baker. "It’s been a really amazing year. My freshman year no one even thought we could do that. I am so thankful for my team."

Baker led the charge on Saturday as Oregon fought its way to a second place national finish for the second straight year.

In addition to her anchor leg on the 4x400 relay, she also ran the third leg on the Ducks 4x100 relay team that took third. The team of Mandy White, Purvis, Baker and Youngblood ran 43.74.

"We had a great run and we are so happy that we came in third," said White, a junior from Lake Oswego, Ore. "We knew the weather wouldn’t be too hot in the morning, but unlike other teams we are used to it here. We all had good hand-offs. In every race, we try to edge other teams out."

Youngblood and Jordan Hasay rounded out the point scorers for the women.

Hasay was a surprise third-place finisher in the 1,500 meters as she stayed with eventual winner Charlotte Browning of Florida for much of the distance. Browning, a senior from Florida, took the race in 4;15.84, with Minnesota senior Gabriele Anderson second in 4:16.25.

Hasay, from Arroyo Grande, Calif., then became the highest-placing freshman runner at the 2010 NCAA Championships by taking third in 4:16.25. Junior Alexandra Kosinski, who finished third in the 5,000 meters the night before, was 11th in 4:20.93.

"I was trying to do my best to win points for my team," said Hasay. "I didn’t even think I’d get into the finals and I got here so this was great."

Youngblood, junior from San Pablo, Calif., rounded out the Ducks’ scoring with a fourth-place finish in the women’s long jump with a mark of 21-3.25.

Texas A&M used an impressive 1-2-5 finish in the 200 meters to win the women’s title for the second straight year. The Aggies totalled 72 points, with Oregon next at 57 points. Florida was third with 40, followed by Penn State with 34.

"I’m glad we got second, I’m proud of them because second is not bad," said Lananna. "Jordan Hasay and Jamesha and the 4x400 relay girls did a great job today."

Wheating “Kicks” His Way to National Male Track Athlete of the Year Honors - USTFCCCA.org

Posted by ross on Jun 17 2010, 12:03 AM

Courtesy: Tom Lewis, USTFCCCA

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Wednesday that Oregon senior Andrew Wheating has been named the 2010 National Male Track Athlete of the Year for Outdoor Track & Field in Division I as voted by the nation’s coaches.

At last weekend’s finale to the NCAA Championships, Wheating ran four races in four days to capture national crowns in the 800 and 1500 meters, an accomplishment only matched four other times in the 89-year history of the NCAA Championships. Oregon’s Joaquim Cruiz was the last to pull off the double in 1984 and matched Wheating in winning a second-straight 800-meter title in pursuit of the feat.

Wheating’s 800-meter run on Friday was highly anticipated as he and Virginia freshman Robby Andrews – the NCAA indoor champion – would once again go head-to-head in what was built to be another classic rematch. Wheating (1:45.69) decided to use his “kick” earlier in the competition than usual, covering the final 200 meters in 26.20 seconds, to hold off the surging Andrews (1:46.83) who would place second despite entering the final curve in last place. With the victory, Wheating became the first American since 1994 to defend an NCAA 800-meter crown.

The 1500-meter final on Saturday was much more wide open, with many in the mix who had a legitimate shot at the title. Covering the first half in around 2:12, the pack kept the pace slow and ripe for the picking. Wheating would lead a final Duck charge to the finish line as Oregon claimed the first 1-2-3 NCAA sweep in the history of the event with A.J. Acosta and Matthew Centrowitz rallying behind. Wheating’s winning time of 3:47.94 was the slowest by a 1500-meter champ since 1957 (including mile conversions as compiled by Track & Field News).

Wheating would finish the season with the second-fastest collegiate time in the 800 (1:45.69, NCAA final) and the best collegiate time of 2010 in the 1500 – 3:37.52 recorded in being the first qualifier from the West portion of the NCAA’s quarterfinals.

Earlier in the season, Wheating won his third straight Pac-10 title at 800 meters in 1:47.77, becoming the first to win three-straight conference titles in the event since Oregon’s David Mack (1980-82). Wheating also ran a leg of the Ducks’ 4×400 that finished fourth at the conference meet; all in helping Oregon win their fourth-straight league crown. Wheating opened season at the Penn Relays, where he anchored Oregon to a win in the distance medley relay (9:30.69) and a second-place finish in the 4×800 meter relay (7:15.55).

Wheating, a native of Norwich, Vt., has now won five NCAA titles, including two as member of Oregon’s distance medley relay

Oregon has been well represented in this category as Galen Rupp was the winner of the National Track Athlete of the Year honor a year ago.

Wheating has also been on The Bowerman Watch List for most of the season, with the one exception being update number four on April 7. The list of the 10 final candidates for The Bowerman will be announced Monday while the three male and three female finalists for the award will be announced the week of July 12.

The USTFCCCA’s National Female Track Athlete of the Year and the National Male Field Athlete of the Year will be announced Thursday, followed by more national awards spread through the next several days.

Past Winners:

2010: Andrew Wheating, Oregon

2009: Galen Rupp, Oregon

2008: Richard Thompson, LSU

2007: Walter Dix, Florida State

2006: Xavier Carter, LSU

USTFCCCA 2010 National Award Winners, Division I, Outdoor Track & Field

MEN

National Track Athlete of the Year: Andrew Wheating, Oregon 

National Field Athlete of the Year: Thursday, June 17

National Assistant Coach of the Year: Wednesday, June 23

National Coach of the Year: Friday, June 25

WOMEN

National Track Athlete of the Year: Thursday, June 17

National Field Athlete of the Year: Friday, June 18

National Assistant Coach of the Year: Tuesday, June 22

National Coach of the Year: Thursday, June 24

Read more: RunnerSpace.com | News | Wheating “Kicks” His Way to National Male Track Athlete of the Year Honors - USTFCCCA.org http://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?do=view&news_id=11231#ixzz0rH2uGzij

DUCKS Sweep PAC10 Track Titles

• • Click for Full Article

    • BERKELEY, Calif. -- Oregon’s track and field teams unleashed an unprecedented performance in defending their Pacific-10 Conference track and field titles Sunday at Edwards Stadium.

    • The women rolled to titles in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters, as well as the 4x100 meter relay, to shatter the meet record with 215 points. That was 106 points better than second-place Arizona’s 109. Arizona State was third with 89.5, followed by USC with 89, Stanford with 88, UCLA with 71.5, California with 55.5, Washington State with 52 and Washington with 47.5.

    • Oregon’s point total surpassed the previous Pac-10 record of 189.5 established by UCLA in 1997.

    • The men (168.5 pts) watched USC eat into their 31-point lead in the field events early in the day, but Oregon countered with wins in the 800 and 1,500 meters and the 110 hurdles, plus a depth of scorers across the board, to win their fourth straight Pac-10 title for the first time in school history. The Ducks became the first school to win four in a row since UCLA won five straight in 1992-96.

  • Meet Results (includes Prelims)

  • Meet Results (Finals only. Select by event.)

Pac-10 Championships: Oregon's fleeting use of Matthew Centrowitz, Andrew Wheating indicates Oregon's NCAA ambitions

By Ken Goe, The Oregonian

May 17, 2010, 6:04PM

Perhaps nothing underscores how seriously UO coach Vin Lananna is taking the Ducks' push for a sweep of the men's and women's titles at the NCAA Championships -- June 9-12 at Hayward Field -- than the way he used Matthew Centrowitz and Andrew Wheating in the Pac-10 meet.  Centrowitz won the 1,500, finishing just a step or two ahead of UO workhorse A.J. Acosta, and Wheating blitzed the field in the 800.  But that was it. Talk of Wheating doing an 800/1,500 double evaporated when the Pac-10 entries came out. Centrowitz dropped out of the 5,000 rather than pushing hard and risking injury.  USC, meanwhile, seriously threatened Oregon's bid for a fourth straight Pac-10 men's title. And while the Trojans came up short, Lananna apparently was willing to sacrifice the Pac-10 meet in order to position his guys to win the NCAA team title at home. 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Women of Oregon won their first NCAA Indoor Track and Field national title, while Ashton Eaton set the world record in the heptathlon, Saturday at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Brianne Theisen ignited the women’s victory by winning the pentathlon in the day’s first event and then women’s 4x400 meter relay team put the cherry on top by winning the last event in 3:32.97. In between, a bevy of Ducks contributed as Oregon accumulated 61 points and won by 25 over Tennessee. The Lady Vols had 36 with Louisiana State third at 35 and Florida fourth with 33.

“We got things started off with a win in the pentathlon which was huge for us and it just kept rolling from there and closed it out with style by winning the relay,” said assistant coach Robert Johnson of the women’s victory.

For the first time since 1987, a University of Oregon women's team won a national title. It's only the fourth women's NCAA championship in school history, joining cross country in 1983 and 1987, and outdoor track and field in 1985.

Other point scorers for the women Saturday included Melissa Gergel – second in the pole vault, Keshia Baker – second in the 400 meters, Jordan Hasay – fourth in the mile, Nicole Blood – fifth in the 3,000 meters and Anne Kesselring – sixth in the mile.

Likewise, Eaton set the stage for the men to tie for second with Texas A&M. Florida won the meet with 57 points. Oregon and Texas A&M were tied at 44, Louisiana State was fourth with 42 points and Arkansas was fifth with 38.

The men also saw contributions from Andrew Wheating – second in the 800 meters, Mac Fleet – second in the mile, A.J. Acosta – fourth in the mile, and the 4x400 meter relay team, which ran sixth.

After building a commanding day one lead, Eaton began his assault on Dan O’Brien’s 1993 world and American record of 6,474 points from the get go.

The senior from Bend, Ore., set a meet record in winning the 60 meter hurdles in 7.77 seconds. That mark was a personal best and also ranked No. 2 all-time on the UO indoor list. He then jumped to a heptathlon personal best in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 16-8.75 feet (5.10 meters).

Through six events, Eaton accumulated 5,542 points, and needed to run 2:34.58 in the 1,000 meters – a PR by 3.5 seconds – to break O’Brien’s record. He made that with time to spare, clocking a six-second personal best 1,000 meters of 2:32.67, for a final heptathlon total of 6,499 points.

“Going into the last event, I didn’t think I was going to have what it took to get it,” said Eaton, who won his fourth NCAA individual title (2008 & 2009 decathlon, 2009 & 2010 heptathlon). “Four seconds in the 1,000 is a lot.

“With three laps to go, I felt awesome. I thought, ‘I can do this’.”

Eaton surpassed O’Brien’s mark by 25 points and shattered his own college and school record by 243 points. In all, Eaton set heptathlon personal bests in all seven events, and had lifetime bests in four of the seven – 60 meters, high jump, 60 meter hurdles and 1,000 meters.

Mateo Sossah of North Carolina was second with 5,886 points and Michael Morrison of California was third with 5,826 points.

Just minutes after Eaton’s record, Theisen set the women’s run to a national title in motion with a record-setting win in the heptathlon.

She established heptathlon personal bests in four of the five events in rolling to victory with 4,396 points. The sophomore from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, ran fourth in the 60 meters hurdles in 8.44 and cleared 5-8.5 in the high jump – her only non-PR mark of the day, though she still tied for second in the event.

She then took the lead in the competition with a big PR in the shot put, 41-6 (12.65 meters), which was a foot better than her previous best. She had only one legal mark in the long jump, going 19-11.5 on her second attempt, before bringing home the title with a time of 2:15.58 in the 800 meters.

“I was so excited about that (shot put),” said Theisen, who also won the 2009 NCAA outdoor heptathlon. “As everyone knows, I’m not a really good shot put thrower so having that foot-PR was awesome.

“As soon as it left my hand I thought, 'oh this is going to be huge,' because it felt so good.”

Theisen broke her own school record by 75 points as her score ranked fourth all-time among collegians. Kiani Proft of Maryland was second with 4,242 points, with Sandy Fortner of New Mexico third with 4,156 points.

Theisen became just the second Duck woman to win an NCAA indoor title, joining Melody Fairchild, who captured the 1996 3,000 meter title.

The women backed up Theisen’s win with a pair of strong second place runs.

Baker took second in the 400 meters in a school-record 51.63, and Gergel established a huge PR in the pole vault, taking second at 14-7.25, a school record.

Hasay and Kesselring scored in the mile, with Hasay running fourth in 4:38.29 and Kesselring coming in sixth in 4:40.39. Nicole Blood, who suffered a nasty fall in the 5,000 meters Friday night, capped the individual scoring for the women with a fifth-place showing in the 3,000 meters in a season-best 9:11.23.

The most fun of the night might have been watching the Ducks fend off Louisiana State for the 4x400 meter title. Jamesha Youngblood led off and Oregon surged to the lead on Baker’s second leg. Michele Williams held position before Amber Purvis ran the anchor and held off LSU’s LaTavia Thomas to win in 3:32.97, which was also a school record.

“It was exciting,” said Purvis. “I looked at (Thomas) in the video screen and saw her coming so then I just gave it all I had in the end.”

It was the first Oregon women's relay win at the NCAA meet of any kind - indoors or outdoors. The Ducks 1980 mile relay of Melanie Batiste, Rhonda Massey, Leann Warren and Grace Bakari won the AIAW championship at Hayward Field.

The men also captured big points in the mile. Mac Fleet was second in 4:01.63, while senior A.J. Acosta was fourth in 4:02.27.

Fleet, a freshman from San Diego, Calif., lurked in the back of the field for the first six laps until making his move with 600 meters remaining. He threw out a big kick to jump all the way from ninth to second.

“The race plan was to stay as calm as possible though one K and then try to make a move along the outside,” said Fleet.

Also for the men, senior Andrew Wheating finished second in the 800 meters in 1:48.40 and the 4x400 meter relay team of Matt Butcher, Eaton, Travis Thompson and Chad Barlow grabbed sixth in 3:08.42.

“I think we had a phenomenal, phenomenal performance,” said assistant coach Andy Powell of the men’s performance. “Talking with Vin Lananna before the meet, 40 points was a goal and we scored 44 and tied for second, which was a very good result for us.”

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2009 PAC 10 Championships