A slew of mallards and one Crabb posted strong performances for Oregon in two track meets over the weekend.
The Duck men sent a partial squad of 16 athletes to compete at the Mountain Pacific Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz. Saturday. To the delight of assistant coach Bill Lawson, 14 scored in the meet’s championship round.
“This meet was a good stepping stone toward the outdoor season and a good finish to the indoor season,” Lawson said. “It says a lot that we took 16 guys this weekend and 14 of them scored at a championship meet; that’s very positive.”
Three Ducks — freshman pole vaulter Trevor Woods, sophomore hurdler Terry Ellis and junior decathlete Billy Pappas — posted top-three finishes in their events.
Woods upped his personal best by more than two inches, finishing third with a height of 17 feet, 1 inch. Ellis finished second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.04 seconds, followed by Pappas’ time of 8.18.
Meanwhile, senior runner Katie Crabb posted yet another strong finish in the mile distance, this time at the Last Chance Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.
Crabb finished second overall and top among collegians in a time of 4:47.08. Her time was just .70 seconds slower than her personal best from two weeks ago at the Cannon Classic in Indianapolis.
“The leaders got out slow and didn’t pick it up enough for Katie to run a faster time,” women’s head coach Tom Heinonen said. “They went out at just over 72 seconds and Katie was trapped at that point and couldn’t get out to push it.”
Crabb’s time doesn’t assure her a spot in the NCAA’s mile field. She could make one more attempt to better her qualifying time at a meet this weekend, but Heinonen hasn’t announced Crabb’s plans yet.
Several Oregon men may also shoot for better qualifying marks on Friday, possibly at the NCAA Qualifier meet at Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.
Track teams going strong
Daily Emerald
February 25, 2001
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