This could be the best Oregon track and field team in over a decade. The 2001 squad is deep across the board and has a legitimate NCAA contender in almost every event — except in the sprints.
The Ducks’ weakness in the sprints was evident in their 87-75 dual meet win over Washington last Saturday. While Oregon disposed of the Huskies with dominance in the throws, jumps and hurdles, Washington won the 100-, 200- and 400-meters.
“We’ve recognized the 100 and 200 meters as an area we need to improve on,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said. “It hasn’t been so much of a worry as an area that we’ll need to work on this season and in the future.”
Granted, Washington did have the services of Olympian Ja’Warren Hooker in the sprints on Saturday, but the nearest Oregon finisher to Hooker was just under a second, an eternity in sprinting.
With a third of the season already passed, the Ducks have no Pacific-10 qualifiers in the 100-, 200-, 400-meters or the long jump, an event closely tied to the sprints.
Luckily, this year’s team is versatile enough that the sprinting hole shouldn’t be that big a problem come the Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
On Saturday, Smith gained the services of two football players, senior Wesly Mallard and sophomore A.K. Keyes, in the 100-meters. Keyes placed third in a time of 11.08 seconds while Mallard came in fifth in 11.47.
Keyes and Mallard aren’t the first football players to hit the oval for Oregon. Last season, freshmen receivers Samie Parker and Ric Cottengim were key sprinters for the Ducks.
“We work closely with coach Bellotti to make sure his players stay healthy and focused on football,” Smith said. “Sprinting is very beneficial for speed and conditioning for football players.”
Cottengim has since left Oregon and Parker has been hampered this spring by nagging injuries, although he did participate in the 4×100 hurdles Saturday.
A definite option for Smith is the use of hurdlers and decathletes in the sprinting events. Junior transfer Micah Harris, an NCAA qualifier in the 110 hurdles, has competed several times this season in the 200-meters. Freshman Jake Garlick was the Utah state champion in the 110 hurdles and 200-meters in high school.
Oregon decathletes, whose Pac-10 meet is a week earlier than the rest of the team, may compete in sprinting events at the multi-event portion of the Pac-10s. Juniors Santiago Lorenzo, Billy Pappas and sophomore Jason Slye all compete in the 100, 400 and long jump as part of the decathlon and may do the same events at the Pac-10 meet.

A healthy prognosis
Junior transfer Simon Kimata passed his first test of the season Saturday in the 800-meters. The Nyeri, Kenya, native competed for the first time in two years following a stress fracture injury and an NCAA transfer period.
Kimata, who owns a 1 minute, 47 second personal best in the 800-meters, won the half-mile race against Washington in a “satisfactory” 1:50.7.
“I didn’t want to push too hard on Saturday,” Kimata said. “I can’t say I ran my fastest — I was just out there to win. The most important thing right now is to stay healthy.”
If Kimata remains healthy and returns to his old form, he could make an already-strong middle distance corps very formidable. He joins junior Ross Krempley, a Pac-10 finalist last season, Merritt McDole, Sean Gross and Jake Horner.