To the dismay of 6,381 spectators and numerous athletes alike, Thursday’s NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at Hayward Field were conducted in a steady downpour that delayed several events.
Oregon track and field athletes, long accustomed to such weather, turned in solid performances through the meet’s first day. Seven men and 10 women advanced to the next round of qualifiers for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in two weeks.
“You get used to it. We’re used to running in liquid sunshine,” said freshman sprinter English Gardner. “Everyone else isn’t.”
The precocious Gardner, a Voorhees, N.J. native, easily won her heat of the 100-meter dash in 11.39 seconds. Senior Mandy White (11.60) and junior Amber Purvis (11.35) also qualified for Friday’s quarterfinal race with second-place finishes in their respective heats. Senior Mandy White (11.60) and junior Amber Purvis (11.35) also qualified for Friday’s quarterfinal race with second-place finishes in their respective heats.
The good vibrations for Oregon sprinters continued at 400 meters, as freshmen Mike Berry (46.31, first in his heat) and Chizoba Okodogbe (54.38, fourth in her heat) qualified for Saturday’s quarterfinals in that event.
“I just wanted to get out and run as hard as I could to get first place,” said Berry.
Sophomores Becca Friday (4:22.79) and Jordan Hasay (4:24.03) won their respective heats in the women’s 1,500m in advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinal. Friday spent much of her race along the inside rail, boxed in and stepped on at one point, but she found an extra gear during the final lap.
Hasay separated herself from a lead pack composed of almost the entire field with a kick at 200 meters remaining to win the race.

“I’ve grown increasingly confident in my kick,” Hasay said.
Ducks senior Matthew Centrowitz also kicked into the lead pack with 200 meters remaining to win the men’s 1,500m in 3:47.70. A.J. Acosta qualified in fifth place (3:48.89), a “big finish“ for the senior after suffering a foot injury at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
Sixth-year senior thrower Alex Wolff closed out his last meet at Oregon on a high note, tossing his javelin 241 feet, 11 inches on his second attempt. The mark was sufficient for a fourth-place finish and a ticket to Des Moines, Iowa.
“I knew it was going to go 70 meters (229 feet, 9 inches),” Wolff said. “As soon as I let it go, I knew I was punching my ticket to NCAAs.”

Sophomore Anne Kesselring (2:06.02) and freshman Laura Roesler (2:07.79) will both compete in the 800m quarterfinal on Friday after the Duck duo won their respective heats.
Sophomore Elijah Greer emerged from the back of his men’s 800m heat pack with a lap remaining to edging out Texas A&M’s Joey Roberts by a hundredth of a second to win the heat. His time of 1:48.56 was the fastest on the day for the event.
“I didn’t need to win it, but I wanted to go for it,” Greer said. “It’s Hayward Field.”
Oregon’s Jamesha Youngblood made her first attempt in the women’s long jump count, hitting a legal mark of 20 feet, 9 ¼ inches. Youngblood, who finished third overall in the event, promptly passed on her next five attempts.
The frigid night concluded with the 10,000-meter races for men and women, the only individual running races Thursday that advance directly to NCAA outdoors.
Junior Luke Puskedra daringly sprinted from the lead pack early on and kept a 50-meter gap between him and the field for much of the race. The pack would catch up to him, however, and Puskedra finished in 11th place (29:19.88). Freshman Parker Stinson (12th place, 29:20.89) will join him at NCAAs.
In the women’s 10,000m semifinal, Oregon’s Bronwyn Crossman secured a spot at NCAAs with a ninth-place finish (33:36.74). Her time was the seventh-fastest in school history.