The score was tied at 79, and the 5,039 members of the Hayward Field crowd were going nuts. This was for the dual meet win and the bragging rights.
Ashton Eaton of Oregon and Quinton Powell of UCLA crouched into the starting blocks for the 4×400 meter relay amidst loud chants of “Go! Ducks!” and “Go! Bruins!” from enterprising athletes in the Hayward infield. The gun fired … and fired again, 10 meters into the race. No false start was charged; the video board’s timing mechanism malfunctioned.
That’s when the crowd really got going.
“I’ve never been so pumped up for a four-by-four in my life,” junior Chad Barlow said. “I had goosebumps; I couldn’t stop moving and shaking. It was awesome.”
Bruin athletes and fans started a loud “U-C-L-A” chant, which was immediately countered with a reverberating “Let’s go Ducks!” that had to be quieted by the announcer’s voice.
“That false start was sweet,” Eaton recalled. “Once the crowd got into it, it was just like, ‘Ahh …’
“That’s what dual meets are all about. The Bruins started yelling, our crowd started yelling … I was just sitting there like, ‘Man, this is so cool.’ It really got me fired up for the 4×4.”
The gun fired a second time for a legal start. Eaton pulled ahead of Powell with a 47.1-second 400-meter split. Eaton handed off to fellow decathlete Marshall Ackley, who rounded the Bowerman Curve in a dead heat with UCLA’s Elijah Wells. Travis Thompson took over and fell slightly behind UCLA’s Stan Griffin, but he pulled ahead in his last 100 meters.
Thompson handed off to Chad Barlow just as Griffin stretched the baton toward Karlton Rolle. But the exchange was botched; the baton tumbled to the ground, the crowd in shock.
“I looked up on the video board and saw nobody behind me,” Barlow said. “I didn’t (notice at first).”
Oregon officially won in 3:12.21 to capture the decisive five relay points.
The disappointment wasn’t limited to the Bruin runners, sitting in stunned silence as the Ducks
celebrated an 84-79 dual meet victory, their second straight.
“I was hoping they’d have a clean exchange, just like we did, and have the two anchor legs fight it out,” said Dan Steele, associate director of track and field. “That’s college track and field at its best.”
An anticlimactic ending, however, did not overshadow some critical performances of the day, particularly that of Eaton. The junior from Bend began the day competing in the long jump and setting a new personal best of 25 feet, 8 inches in non-legal wind. Another personal best came in the 100 meters, where the only Duck among four Bruins ran past them in 10.49 seconds, a new personal best and an NCAA regional qualifying mark.
Saturday was an important day for redshirt sophomore hurdler David Klech, as the UCLA transfer won both the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles against his former teammates. The Ducks swept both hurdles races for 18 points toward the final score.
“It’s really exciting. I really didn’t get to have a great year at UCLA, so it’s really nice to have them see me compete well,” Klech said.
Senior Galen Rupp and freshman Luke Puskedra made their outdoor debuts in the 5,000 meters, leading the Ducks to a 1-2-3 sweep with redshirt sophomore Danny Mercado. Redshirt sophomore Matthew Centrowitz finished .01 seconds behind Shadrack Biwott in his outdoor debut in the 1,500 meters, and Andrew Wheating won his first outdoor 800 meters of the year. Junior thrower Cyrus Hostetler followed up his auspicious Duck debut at Hayward Field – a Pacific-10 Conference record 272 feet, 10 inches on his first throw – by leading a 1-2-3 sweep in the javelin with Alex Wolff and Britton Nelson.
The focus of the meet, however, was on the big picture of team scoring, and Oregon found itself in jeopardy as the Bruins swept the triple jump, shot put, discus and 200 meters. But the Ducks managed contributions from unsung heroes such as Colin Witter-Tilton – whose third-place clearance of 16 feet, 6.75 inches gave the Ducks an unexpected point in the pole vault – and Thompson, who set a lifetime best and a regional qualifying mark with a third-place finish in the 800 meters in 1:50.09.
“That kid has 800 speed. He should be the Andy Wheating of last year, this year,” said Wheating. “He’s definitely got a lot of potential.”
The emotional roller coaster of the dual meet gave way to questions about its return; UCLA and Oregon signed a two-year agreement and are renegotiating its continuation. The competitive spirit of the meet is arguably its biggest selling point and was on full display Saturday.
“I wish they didn’t drop the baton,” Barlow said, “because now they have an excuse.”
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