When you think of Oregon track and field, you think about Steve Prefontaine. You think about Hayward Field, one of the most beautiful and legendary track venues on the West Coast.
When you think of Oregon women’s track and field, you think dominance and tradition.
This season, behind the strength of returning all-Americans, young talent and a few experienced additions from other schools, the Duck women will try to restore the fading glory of Tracktown, USA.
“We’re a very young team,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said.
The women will use strong field and distance units to improve on its ninth-place performance at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships last season.
A spark for the Ducks this year will be the NCAA Championships in late May and early June. The NCAA’s would normally be motivation enough, but this season they will be held at Hayward Field, and the Oregon athletes say that will drive them to run, jump and throw even farther.
“We’d like to have as many people as possible qualify for the national championships,” senior transfer Hanna Smedstad said. “Since it’s here, that will be very exciting.”
Smedstad — a three-time all-American in the 3,000 and 5,000 before coming to Oregon — figures to be one of a handful of Oregon athletes gunning for NCAA-worthy times. She joins 2000 NCAA qualifiers Karis Howell, a javelin thrower, Mary Etter, a shot putter, and Niki Reed, a pole vaulter, to form an experienced nucleus for a team that is inexperienced but talented for the most part.
Reed said that she and the rest of the athletes will try to enjoy themselves on the road to the NCAAs.
“I have high goals for myself,” Reed said. “But I’m just trying to have fun.”
“I’ve never run at Oregon before, but people tell me it’s great,” Smedstad said. “It’s going to be fun.”
The field squads, especially the throwers, should provide the highlights for the Ducks all season. Oregon is deep at every throwing position and many of the other field events as well.
“Our throwing events are strong, mostly because we have an experienced, mature group,” Heinonen said.
Joining Howell and Etter in the throws are senior Maureen Morrison — who has scored NCAA provisional marks but no NCAA qualifying distances — and sophomore Jordan McDaniels in the discus. In the javelin, sophomore Charyl Weingarten came on strong toward the end of last season and figures to do so again this spring.
In the middle and long distance races, Smedstad and sophomore standout Eri Macdonald will try to fill the huge hole that Katie Crabb left behind. Crabb’s Oregon career wrapped up at last weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championships.
Reed anchors the deepest part of the Oregon team, the jumpers, which include seniors Holly Speight and Karina Elstrom, a previous all-American.
All in all, the Ducks hope that old talent and new legs will mix, and that in the end they can send as many athletes as possible to the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field.