Any realist would tell you that the Oregon women’s track team is hard-pressed to improve on the fifth-place Pacific-10 Conference finish that it has had the previous three seasons.
Because the Ducks are young.
Talented, for sure.
But also young after losing 14 seniors — several of them key — to graduation.
“We’re going in the right direction,” head coach Tom Heinonen said. “We want to do as good as we can be in the Pac-10 meet in May. It’s just going to be tough to move up, as young as we are, but young teams have the greatest potential to improve.”
Oregon’s 2000 roster consists of 16 upperclassmen and 34 underclassmen, including budding stars like middle distance runner Amy Nickerson and pole vaulter Niki Reed.
Not all of the Ducks’ young athletes will compete. Sophomore Alexis Yeater, for one, will skip at least this season due to career-threatening “muscle problems in her legs,” Heinonen said.
But with three meets under their collective belt already, many of this season’s youthful Ducks have already shown promise.
At the Stanford Invitational on March 26, sophomore Niki Reed, who finished fifth at the NCAA Championships last season, won with a provisional NCAA-qualifying height of 12 feet, five inches.
Nickerson, also a freshman, likely could pace the Ducks in the distances, as she did during cross-country season. She claimed a personal best of nine minutes, 44.75 seconds in the 3,000 meters at Stanford.
Freshman thrower Mary Etter was a mere three inches off of an NCAA provisional mark at Stanford in the discus with a throw of 168-8 — that after struggling badly in both the hammer and shot put earlier that day.
“She’s a big-time newcomer who’s doing a really great job,” Heinonen said. “She’s talented and resilient, both pretty valuable assists in track and field.”
Fellow freshman thrower, Jordan McDaniels, has been a pleasant surprise for the Ducks early, Heinonen said. At Stanford, she finished 14th in the discus with a 142-5 throw.
Also in Palo Alto, Calif., freshman Eri Macdonald ran a personal best of 2:09.43 to finish second among collegians in the 1,500. She also ran the swiftest leg of the Ducks’ 4×400 relay.
There’s ample potential, no doubt — potential that can only benefit from the type of example set by the team’s established athletes, like Katie Crabb and Hilary Holly.
“We have a great group of freshmen,” Crabb said. “There’s a lot of energy, and there’s a lot of learning to be done, but it’s nice because I can show them the ropes a little bit.”
Holly echoed those thoughts.
“Me and Katie are trying to put the leadership in,” Holly said. “Trying to teach the younger girls the way of Oregon track, because it’s tough to come in as a freshman and relearn everything, especially in such a good program.”
This season, Holly has been stressing the technical aspects of her approach in hopes of a first appearance at the NCAAs. Last season, she led the Ducks with five jumps past the 19-foot mark.
Holly and her jumping counterparts could be pushed by a freshman — four-time Oregon prep champ Amanda Brown.
Katie Crabb, the Ducks’ most experienced middle distance runner, is hoping to end her career by making her second NCAA Championship appearance and her first in the 1,500 final.
Twelve Oregon athletes have already qualified for the Pac-10 championships, which will be held at Hayward Field on May 20 and 21.
“Our athletes are thrilled about that,” Heinonen said. “This is a chance for a lot of our athletes to get into a big meet at home.”