It’s Pacific-10 Conference Championship time for one Duck.
Jenny Kenyon, Oregon’s only heptathlete, is hoping for some semblance of decent weather as she strives for at least 5,000 points and a conference title over the course of seven events beginning with the 100-meter hurdles at noon on Saturday and ending with the 800 meters at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
It’ll be Kenyon’s second taste of the conference heptathlon championship. Last season, the sophomore from Newbury Park, Calif., totaled 4,432 points and finished sixth. This time, Kenyon enters competition with a career-best of 4,793, third-best in the Pac-10 this season.
“She’s going to have her work cut out for her,” head coach Tom Heinonen said. “But she had a great meet last Sunday at Irvine, so if we get any kind of weather, she’ll have a great chance to put a [personal record] on the board.”
True, at the Steve Scott Invitational last weekend, Kenyon PR’d in the long jump (18 feet 9 3/4 inches) and the 100 hurdles (14.82 seconds).
And furthering Kenyon’s chances this weekend is the fact that none of last year’s top-five finishers will be competing this weekend.
“Last year, I kind of felt like it was just more of an experience that I was going to compete, but I didn’t know what to expect,” said Kenyon, also a sophomore in heptathlon time.
“Now I know what to expect, and I’m ready.”
As are the Ducks core of underclassmen.
It was hard for anyone to know exactly what to expect from this young Oregon team when the season began.
Heinonen said back then, he knew his team had the potential to be successful, but one shouldn’t forget young athletes are young athletes. They’re bound, by nature, to have their ups and downs.
But going into Saturday’s Oregon Twilight, the final meet of the regular season and the final opportunity to earn Pac-10 Championship qualifying marks, the kids — especially the freshmen — have provided quite a few ups.
“Our freshmen have made lots of progress,” Heinonen said, “and we’ve needed them to. Many of them are the backbone of our team for many years to come.”
That auspicious freshmen “backbone” includes middle distance runner Eri Macdonald, high jumper Jenny Brogden, versatile thrower Mary Etter and her fellow thrower Jordan McDaniels.
Macdonald currently ranks fifth in the Pac-10 in the 800 (2:08.62) and is .17 seconds from a Pac-10 qualifying mark in the 1,500 (4:40.31).
Etter has qualified for next weekend’s conference championships at Hayward Field in both the shot put and the discus — and she’s a mere 11 inches away from qualifying in the hammer throw as well.
“I’ve only got one more chance,” Etter said. “I’ll just give it my all and hope it happens. ‘Cause if it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen.’”
Brogden is only a 1/2 inch (5-6 1/2) from a Pac-10 height in the high jump and McDaniels is 3 1/2 feet (146-6) from earning a Pac-10 mark in the discus.
McDaniels is “going to hit that,” Etter said. “She’s so close, I know it.”
Others on the bubble include sophomores Endia Abrante and Janette Martin in the 800 (Abrante is .22 seconds away with a seasonal best of 55.66, and Martin’s within 1.14 seconds of making the cut). Shannae McNairy is .18 seconds away (14.52) of making it in the 100-meter hurdles.
Freshman Amanda Brown is 3 1/4 inches shy of a Pac-10 mark in the long jump. Senior Hilary Holly has already scored a Pac-10 qualifier (19-2) in the long jump, but she’s still in search of the Pac-10 requirement in the 100 meters (.17 seconds away, 12.21).
Teams are guaranteed one entry per Pac-10 event even if they don’t have a qualified mark by the right-of-entry rule — though those athletes still count toward the 24-athlete max team-rule limit. Coaches are also allowed three wild card entries, which also count toward the 24-athlete limit.
“We do have some wild card choices to make,” Heinonen said. ” But we’re not making them yet.”
No, because beginning with the women’s hammer at 5:30 p.m., the Ducks have one last chance to do the qualifying themselves.