The Ducks did it again, and this time it didn’t come down to the 4×400 meter relay.
The Oregon men’s track team finished with just three individual champions, but its depth and talent in the distance events proved to be the main factor in the team’s second consecutive Pacific-10 Conference Championship – its fourth in six years – upsetting Arizona State on its home track in Tempe, Ariz.
The men ended Friday’s competition in first with a 26.5-point advantage over Arizona State, which was in third place at the time. But the Sun Devils came within 1.5 points of the Ducks on Saturday before the 5,000 meter, a race that was littered with Oregon distance runners.

Former Duck and current Sun Devil Kyle Alcorn finished first in the event, but Oregon scored 21 points by taking home second (freshman Diego Mercado), fourth (senior Carlos Trujillo), fifth (sophomore A.J. Acosta), sixth (sophomore Kenny Klotz) and eighth (junior Scott Wall) and won the meet for Oregon.
“Those distance kids are tough as nails,” Oregon assistant head coach Dan Steele told reporters. “They were all tired going into that race, but they knew the meet was on the line. We told them to bring that Hayward Field magic to Tempe, and that’s what they did.”
Oregon finished with 144.5 points, Arizona State came in second with 134. UCLA, which was within striking distance of the Ducks after day one, finished third with 108.
And as expected Oregon’s distance team proved to be the deciding factor in the meet, although some of the performances came unexpectedly. Former walk-on Trujillo won the 10,000 on Friday night in 30 minutes, 11.97 seconds while Klotz (second) and the Mercado twins (Diego and Danny) finished fifth and sixth.
“It was definitely my best race ever,” Trujillo said in a press release. “With a mile to go, I thought I would just go for it.”
“This is my best day ever.”
The other individual winners were Ashton Eaton, who won last weekend’s decathlon competition, and middle distance runner Andrew Wheating, who ran a personal-best in the 800, out-kicking USC’s Duane Solomon down the final stretch to finish in 1:46.83. Wheating’s time ranks as the fifth-best mark in Oregon history.
“I thought he was going to get away from me,” Wheating said. “But with about 50 meters left, he was right on my shoulder and I could tell he had nothing left. … It’s been a hell of a year.”
Oregon’s other big-time scorers were Acosta, who finished second in the 1,500m in 3:42.34, Chris Winter finished third in the 3000m steeplechase in 8:46.91, Phil Alexander came in third in the 200m in 21.00.
And despite already having the meet won before the 4×400, the Oregon relay team ran a season-best 3:04.85, the eighth-best mark in Oregon history and finished in second place – .10 seconds behind the Sun Devils.
The throwers came up big for the Ducks too. Senior Colin Veldman finished second in the hammer throw (219 feet, two inches) while his best discus throw (181 feet) earned a fourth-place finish.
Also in the hammer, Jordan Stray and Steven Johnson finished in fifth and seventh place, respectively.
In the javelin, Alex Wolff finished fifth and Mike Simmons came in seventh.
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