Five Oregon Ducks are slated to compete at the Mt. SAC Relays, beginning today and running through Friday in Walnut, Calif.
Oregon will be represented by three multi-event athletes — Aaron McVein and Ingmar Kerem in the decathlon, and Erin Funkhouser in the heptathlon — and two pole vaulters, Melissa Gergel and Jordan Roskelley.
Assistant athletic director Vin Lananna intended to send more female athletes — the men are competing in their dual meet against UCLA this weekend — but the scheduling “didn’t make sense” with regards to the season.
Pepsi Invitational no-shows
On Tuesday, Lananna told reporters senior Andrew Wheating had to “make up his mind” about his Pepsi Team Invitational. His choices: Run the 800 meters, run the 1,500 meters or don’t run.
Wheating chose the last option, though he was seen supporting teammates at the meet.
Oregon also was without middle distance runner Elijah Greer and javelin thrower Cyrus Hostetler, who is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee. Hostetler’s right leg is his plant leg in the javelin throw.
Texas A&M held out several of its top athletes as well, most notably multi-events athlete Trinity Otto. Sprinter Porscha Lucas, the reigning NCAA champion at 200 meters, did not compete in that event at the Pepsi, nor did NCAA 200m scorer Gerald Phiri compete in that event. NCAA 400 meters scorer Bryan Miller competed in the 4×400-meter relay for the Aggies but did not compete in the 400m.
Henry pleased with results
Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry was pleased with the second-place finishes of his men’s and women’s teams in the final standings at the Pepsi Invitational.
“The things that we wanted to do … we came up here to compete,” Henry said. “We didn’t do everything that we’d do under normal circumstances, but our kids competed at a level I’m very pleased with.”
“We didn’t come up here for the sun.”
Henry, the only NCAA head coach who has won consecutive outdoor national titles (three times, with LSU twice and the Aggies once), appreciated the opportunity to see Hayward Field before the 2010 NCAA outdoor championships come to Eugene in June.
“I think at that level, it’s important for (athletes) to see the warm-up areas, see the clerking, see how things work, so they have a familiarization with what the whole thing is,” he said. “Getting on the track, competing in front of a nice crowd, that is important.”
Henry also spoke to the potentially budding rivalry between the two schools.
“I think it’s very important to have teams competing against teams. Track has got to get back to what Vin Lananna’s trying to do here and what we’re trying to do at A&M. If you aren’t putting together a team, you’re cheating our sport.”
Acosta’s ignominious debut
A.J. Acosta, an All-American in the 1,500m at the NCAA outdoors two years ago, was slated to try his hand at the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the Ducks at the Pepsi, as coaches looked for ways to use Acosta best.
“I did it one time at high school, at like the end of the season,” Acosta told reporters last week. “I’m excited for it. If I was afraid of water, I wouldn’t have come to Oregon. I just worry about getting over the hurdles, really.”
The redshirt junior from Oceanside, Calif., cleared every standard — and the water jump — successfully, but the summation of his race was a performance to forget. Acosta led the first half of the race before falling behind, eventually settling for fifth place. His time was 9:32.51, which would have been last at last year’s NCAA meet by six seconds.
“That was not indicative of his performance last week,” Lananna said.
Eaton, Purvis honored
Oregon’s Ashton Eaton and Amber Purvis were honored by the Pacific-10 Conference as the men’s and women’s track athletes of the week for their performances at the Pepsi Invitational.
Eaton won the 110-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 13.64 and the long jump with a mark of 25 feet, six inches, while Purvis won the 100 meters (11.38) and 200m (23.00) in wind-aided times. Both also ran the second leg of a second-place 4x400m relay team.
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Oregon sends only five competitors to Mt. SAC Relays
Daily Emerald
April 12, 2010
Ivar Vong
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