For four years, this is what Katie Crabb has dreamt of: qualifying for the NCAA Championships. But not only qualifying — believing she belonged. Feeling secure that she could respond to the challenge of racing against the nation’s best collegiate 1,500-meter runners. Rising to the challenge, peaking at the right moment. And, naturally, becoming an All-American.
Dream affirmed.
For Crabb, as well as two other members of the Oregon women’s track and field team. Junior javelin thrower Karis Howell and freshman discus thrower Mary Etter also return from the NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C., as All-Americans, thanks to their respective seventh- and eight-place finishes in hot, dramatic weather conditions. The four Duck women who competed at the NCAAs accounted for five points and a tie for 45th.
Crabb qualified for the 1,500 finals on Thursday by finishing fifth in her heat, with a time of 4 minutes, 21.91 seconds — good enough to get her into the final and, in the process, practically ensuring that she’d claimed All-American status.
Having run in the national championships in 1998, Crabb knew she had to pick up the pace in Thursday’s first heat, and she went ahead and took the lead for parts of the third and fourth laps.
“I’d never been in a final of the NCAA Championships, but I knew what to expect because I’d watched it in ’98,” Crabb said. “And knowing it was my absolute last chance to do this, it was now or never. And I knew I could run with those girls.”
Against the nation’s best, Crabb — having trimmed her trademark long, blonde braid to a shoulder-length cut the day before she left for North Carolina — ran a cool, calculated race. She finished seventh, improved her personal record by a half-second 4:19.30 and, most importantly, became an All-American. Hers is Oregon’s ninth such honor since 1981.
“I felt really good warming up,” Crabb said. “I wasn’t as nervous as I though I’d be. I was more focused. I just thought there was no reason for me to not run well.
“And good stuff happened. I accomplished all of my goals. Couldn’t ask for much more.”
Earlier on Saturday, Howell quickly exorcised any doubts she had going into the javelin competition with opening marks of 161 feet and 160 feet, followed by a foul and then throws of 141-2, 168-1 and 150-5 — her best series this season.
She herself was also an All-American as a sophomore for her 10th-place finish in her last NCAA appearance in 1998. But serious shoulder surgery sidelined her all last year. This year Howell endured an inconsistent, often frustrating and abbreviated comeback season, including a disappointing seventh-place finish at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
“Everyone’s thinking, ‘Hey, she’s had the surgeries; she’s all fixed; she should be good to go,’” throws coach Sally Harmon said prior to the national championships. “And she’s feeling the same way: ‘Yeah, I had the surgery. I should be coming back, and a lot of people have expectations of me to repeat.’ The internal pressure is incredible, you wonder why you’re throwing. And when things don’t go right, you just hate the javelin.”
Things went rather right at NCAAs — and Howell made up with her event.
“The last few weeks my confidence had been really shaken,” Howell said. “But [Saturday] it was fun again. My arm felt pretty good. When my technique is on, it hurts a lot less.
“Two weeks ago, I met with our doctor, and he basically said my arm wasn’t going to fall off, so Sally and I went after it in training. We decided that at this point, we couldn’t protect my shoulder anymore.”
Texas El-Paso’s Angeliki Tsioulakoud won the 20-athlete competition with a throw of 197-8.
Etter, now officially the top freshman in the nation, came in eighth and attained All-American status in the discus Thursday.
Sophomore pole vaulter Niki Reed placed 13th with a vault of 12-9 1/2. She had to wait almost two hours after the event’s scheduled 6 p.m. start. Once the competition began, Reed cleared 12-9 1/2 on her second try but then missed all three attempts at 13-1 1/2.

Reed, an All-American last season, wasn’t satisfied with her results. Still, her performance wasn’t particularly poor, especially considering her recent dealings by a plycha (an extra piece of cartilage) in her knee, which limits her ability to bend and straighten her leg.
“It was a disappointing way to end the season,” said Reed, who re-set her Ducks’ school record with her vault of 13-5 1/4 on April 29. “But I did the best I could.”
She has another shot at the Olympic Trials in July — but first things first.
“The next big thing is final exams week,” Reed said, “and then we’ll practice for Sacramento.”