After only three outdoor meets this spring, several Oregon Track and Field athletes are wasting no time getting to the NCAA Tournament this June. Five Ducks earned NCAA qualifying marks at the prestigious Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif, over break.
On the men’s side, redshirt freshman Jason Hartmann earned an automatic berth for the national meet in the 10,000 meters with a personal best time of 28 minutes, 56 seconds. The time also vaulted Hartmann to seventh on the Ducks’ all-time list.
Freshman John Lucas placed 63rd in a time of 30:42 in his first 10,000 meters on the track.
For the Oregon women, distance runner Hanna Smedstad earned an NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the women in the 10,000 meters. The senior transfer placed 21st with a time of 34:42. Smedstad, traditionally a 5,000 meter runner, ran her second 10,000 meter run ever on Stanford’s track.
“I didn’t race as well as I would have liked,” Smedstad said. “I started out all right the first half, but didn’t have that much in the second half. The goal was hopefully to run an NCAA automatic time or a provisional time that would get me into nationals.”
Sophomore Mary Etter notched an NCAA provisional mark with a second place finish in the discus, throwing the platter 168 feet, four inches. Etter also earned a season best in the shot put with a throw of 46-11 3/4, but was two feet off an NCAA provisional mark. Senior Maureen Morrison followed with a fifth place finish, a Pac-10 qualifying mark.
A trio of Duck women earned provisional marks in the pole vault and javelin. Junior Niki Reed placed sixth in the pole vault with a height of 12-11 3/4 inches. Teammate Holly Speight tied for tenth at 11-11 3/4. Speight had already scored an NCAA provisional mark at the Oregon Preview.
Freshman Sarah Malone now ranks fifth nationally after placing fourth in the javelin with a toss of 159-7. Malone ranks second on the Oregon all-time list behind teammate Karis Howell.
A trio of Ducks also earned Pacific-10 Conference Championship qualifying marks. Sophomore Amanda Brown placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 19-2, two inches farther than the Pac-10 mark.
Freshman Ann Sullivan earned a personal best in the 100 hurdles, placing sixth with a time of 14.16, easily qualifying for the Pac-10s.
Slye, Steigeler, Howell lead Ducks in Tempe
Three Duck men picked up victories at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., March 23.
Redshirt sophomore Jason Slye made a successful debut in the decathlon, winning the event with 6,677 points.
The former pole vaulter ran a strong 1,500 meters, the final event, to surpass Kansas State’s Pat Pyle. Slye competed well in the pole vault (16-0 3/4), 100 meters (11.36) and the long jump (19-11 3/4).
Junior Cody Howell vaulted 16-4 3/4 on his first attempt in the pole vault to edge Indiana’s Chris Mack and teammate Trevor Woods.
Sophomore John Steigeler tossed the javelin 230-1 for his second win and second NCAA automatic qualifying mark of the season.
Other Ducks who placed included junior Micah Harris (second in the 110 hurdles), junior Jason Boness (third in the high jump) and Adam Jenkins and Ryan Keith in the javelin.
The Ducks return to action this weekend in Austin, Texas at the Texas Relays.