Oregon running star Jordan Hasay, who was named Pac-12 women’s cross country athlete of the year in 2011, led the Ducks to a dominant performance at the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge this weekend. (Beth Easterbrook/The State Press)
Oregon track and field won both men’s and women’s mile races as well as both distance medley relays to cap off an impressive weekend at the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4367&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205370354&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Juniors Jordan Hasay and Becca Friday went 1-2 in the women’s mile, just missing the NCAA automatic qualifying mark. Hasay won in a time of 4:37.29, with Friday finishing just behind in 4:37.53. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=243&SPSID=4365@@
The duo also competed on a distance medley relay team that won easily in a time of 10:56.31, six seconds ahead of second-place Tennessee, which finished in 11:02.74. The quartet of Hasay, Friday, junior Anne Kesselring and sophomore Chizoba Okodogbe recorded the second-fasted DMR time in school history (fewer than two seconds off their own school record time set at the 2011 Indoor Track and Field Championships). The four automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in March 9-10 with the time. @@http://www.goducks.com/downloads2/445130.htm?ATCLID=205370354&SPSID=4367&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Brianne Theisen also had a record weekend, tallying personal bests in the shot put and high jump to break a 30-year-old Canadian record in the pentathlon. The senior from Humboldt, Saskatchewan, hadn’t competed in any track meet in 10 months after she was injured in last year’s outdoor season. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4367&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205369934&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
“We came to this meet to break up training and see where I’m at,” Theisen told GoDucks.com. “Apparently it’s pretty good.”
The men’s team was also victorious in the DMR, posting 9:36.88 to hold off Florida, which came in second with a time of 9:38.95. The team was led off by sophomore Boru Guyota, followed by senior Bryan Harper, freshman Russell Hornsby and sophomore Oregon debutant Trevor Dunbar.
Dunbar also won his first individual race as a Duck, finishing in 4:06.57 ahead of Texas A&M’s Will Barry (4:08.07).
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team came from behind to win with a time of 3:09.79. Harper led them off, followed by freshmen Arthur Delaney and Jack Galpin. Sophomore Mike Berry anchored the team with an impressive 45.38 leg.
“This might have been the best total team effort at an indoor meet that I’ve seen from an Oregon group,” associate athletic director Vin Lananna said. “Almost everyone who traveled hit a PR or did what they set out to accomplish this weekend.”
The Ducks’ sprinters will next compete at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 10 and the rest of the team will go to the Husky Classic in Seattle Feb. 10-11. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&KEY=&SPID=243&SPSID=4364@@
