A week after he chased down defending NCAA champion Chris Solinsky to take the 5,000m title at the Oregon Invitational, Galen Rupp made big waves again, this time at the Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
On Sunday, the junior distance-running sensation broke a 25-year-old school record en route to first place in the 10,000m race.
Rupp’s time of 27:33.48 gave him sole possession of a record that has stood since 1982 when Bill McChesney ran a 27:50.83. Rupp’s previous personal best was 28:15.52, which he ran two years ago at the Oregon Twilight.
The mark is also the seventh-fastest all-time by an American and third all-time in the NCAA. Henry Rono of Washington State owns the all-time mark at 27:22.47, set in 1978. Both Rono and Samson Kimombwa, No. 2 on the NCAA list and also from Washington State, are Kenyan-born, leaving Rupp as the fastest American collegian ever.
Aside from Rupp, several other Ducks also produced season bests and regional marks over the weekend.
At the California Collegiate Challenge in Berkeley, Calif., freshman long jumper Ashton Eaton came in first and qualified for regionals with a jump of 24-2. Hammer thrower Brian Richotte also put up a 216-9 regional-qualifying throw that was just off his season best of 218-8.
The men also had a good weekend on the track. Sophomore Jared Huske scored the first regional qualifying mark of his career with a 14.18 time in the 110m hurdles prelims, a .14 second improvement on his personal best.
In the 110m hurdles final, Huske managed a 14.19, which was good for seventh place. Huske also ran a .10 second personal best improvement when he came in fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.75.
Junior Marcus Dillon also produced his first regional-qualifying standard of the season when he finished second in the 400m in 47.02 – a season best mark for Dillon.
In the 800m, Ryan Waite finished third with a time of 1:52.32, a season best by .27 seconds.
Oregon’s distance runners spent the weekend at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn. The Ducks’ 4xMile relay team of J.K. Withers, A.J. Acosta, Mike McGrath and Andrew Wheating finished seventh overall in 16:28.52.
Women’s track
The Oregon women’s track and field team picked up two regional qualifying marks each Friday and Saturday in the California Collegiate Challenge.
Saturday’s regional marks came in the javelin, courtesy of Ashley McCrea, who finished second on a throw of 151-8. Teammate Kara Meeuwsen ended in fifth place at 144-9, just two inches shy of her personal best of 144-11.
Oregon sprinters Irie Searcy and Kasey Harwood had personal bests. Searcy ran 13th in the 400m in 56.76, and Kasey Harwood earned 12th in the 400m hurdles in 1:03.25.
Kavina Hall placed ninth in the 400m in 55.31. Amanda Santana was 13th in the 400m hurdles in 1:03.35. The 4x100m relay team placed seventh in 46.62.
In Friday action, pole vaulter Emily Enders finished in fifth place at 12-5 1/2 and bested the regional qualifying standard of 12-5 1/2 for the fourth time this season.
Lucy Cridland made a 5-foot-2-inch improvement in the discus throw with a toss of 158-7, good for fourth place, and surpassing the regional standard of 155-2 for the first time in her Oregon career.
Kalindra McFadden placed 19th in the long jump at 17-10 3/4. Jasmine Kelly was seventh in the high jump at 5-3. Thrower Megan Maloney was fourth in the hammer at 166-9.
Rebekah Noble ran a 4:21.52 1500m to place 12th in the ‘A’ section of the Cardinal Invitational Sunday night and freshman Zoe Buckman finished fourth in the ‘B’ section in 4:24.68. Nicole Blood’s 16:27.41 placed her eighth in the ‘B’ section of the 5000m.
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