After losing standouts like Eric Mitchum, Matt Scherer, Richard Del Rincon, Matthew Adams and Jordan Kent to graduation and – in Kent’s case – football at the end of last season, Oregon’s men’s track program went into this season as a team of underdogs, and the general perception was that this would be the Ducks’ rebuilding year.
Some ‘rebuilding’ year it’s been.
Oregon edged Arizona State by three points and USC by four to clinch the Pacific-10 Conference championship three weeks ago. The Ducks then went on to distinguish themselves at the NCAA West Regionals last weekend, with podium finishes from both relay teams, throwers Ryan Brandel and Brian Richotte, pole vaulter Tommy Skipper, sprinter Marcus Dillon, and distance specialists Galen Rupp and Mike McGrath.
“We began the year talking about how young the team was and how many athletes had graduated on the men’s side,” Oregon Director of Track and Field Vin Lananna said. “And I’ll say exactly the same thing now. They are still young even though the men are the Pac-10 champs. I think in every meet we’ve had this year, our team has exceeded whatever the expectations and form charts are.
“We’re still a young team, we’re just a little better.”
Today, the young but improved Ducks begin competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., where 13 Oregon men will compete in nine different events.
Skipper and Rupp both top their collegiate event lists, and stand very strong chances of bringing home the pole vault and 10,000m titles.
Rupp qualified for both the 5,000m and the 10,000m, but declined the 5,000m bid and elected to focus solely on the 10,000m race.
“It was a tough call because the team could have used some extra points, but we decided that we probably weren’t going to win a team championship, and if we looked longer term, it would have hurt my chances the following week at USA (Championships),” Rupp said. “It’s a tough double at the NCAAs so we agreed that we made the right decision.”
Rupp is the American collegiate record holder in the 10,000m (27:33.48) while Skipper currently owns the Pac-10 outdoor pole vault record (19-0 1/4) and is seventh all time among collegians.
Javelin thrower Ryan Brandel, who transferred to Oregon from Sacramento State two years ago, is seeded eighth for the meet and is looking forward to going back and competing at his former school.
“I think there’s a little added bonus to it (being in Sacramento),” Brandel said. “I went there a couple of years ago, practiced there everyday and worked out on that field and that runway. It’s my first nationals and my last nationals going down there to my old school, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“I’m going to go down there, have a positive attitude and leave it all on the runway.”
Brandel and hammer thrower Richotte say the Ducks have a legitimate shot of a podium finish at nationals.
“I definitely think we have a chance of winning the thing,” Brandel said. “Talking with Brian and everything, we were saying how going into the Pac-10s, not a lot of people expected us to do much, and we all came together down there.
“Now I expect the same thing going down to nationals; we’re all going to come together as a team. We have something to prove, and it really fuels us and gives us ammunition going into it.”
Other Ducks competing this week include Dillon in the 400m, freshman Ashton Eaton in the long jump, both 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, and distance runners McGrath, A.J. Acosta, and Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott.
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