Matthew Centrowitz’s already strong summer continued to improve this weekend as he broke the Oregon school record in the men’s 1,500 meters for the second time in as many months.
The junior from Arnold, Md., clocked a time of 3:34.46 at Friday’s Diamond League meet at Stade Louiss II in Monaco. The three-time Pacific-10 Conference champion in the event, who also added NCAA champion and USA National champion to his extremely impressive resume, finished 10th overall in the race.
Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat took first in 3:30.47.
Elsewhere for Oregon track and field athletes competing this summer, Ducks freshman Phyllis Francis took third in the final of the women’s 400m at the Pan American Junior Championships in Miramar, Fla. Francis finished the race in 53.81, while fellow Team USA competitor Diamond Dixon finished second in 53.10, and Jamaica’s Chrisann Gordon won the event in 52.62.
Incoming freshman Allison Woodward claimed second in the women’s 3,000m in 9:13.83, and fellow 2011 signee Jenna Prandini finished fourth in the final of the women’s 100m. She clocked an 11.56 in the final after running an 11.44 in the semifinals on Friday morning.
Prandini went on to finish fourth in the women’s long jump, sailing 19 feet, four inches on her final jump of the day. Oregon recruit Greg Skipper finished fourth in the men’s hammer throw on Sunday, with a mark of 207-6, more than 30 feet behind teammate and event champion Alec Faldermeyer (239-2).
Current Oregon runner Parker Stinson kept his stranglehold over the men’s 10,000m competition, winning the event in 30:37.88, with Mexico’s Said Diaz Ceron Jr. placing second in 31:10.72.@@http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=52052-Mens-10000-Pan-American-Junior-Athletics-Championships-2011@@
Plum, Team USA successful start to Junior Worlds
University of Oregon sophomore setter Lauren Plum helped the U.S. Junior National Team get off to a strong start by sweeping Belgium, 3-0, in the team’s opener on Friday in the 2011 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championships.
Plum saw playing time in all three sets as a reserve as the team cruised to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 victory. The American squad held advantages in hitting (.511-.325) and blocks (13-5), while Belgium kept a 5-2 edge in service aces.
In the second match of opening round bracket play on Saturday, the U.S. defeated Poland 25-19, 16-25, 29-27, 25-14. Plum played in all four sets, with two kills, one block and one service ace to her credit. The American team rounded out bracket play with a match against Korea late Sunday afternoon.
Edwards leads several Oregon golfers at U.S. Women’s Am
Oregon junior women’s golfer Ashley Edward narrowly missed out on an invitation to U.S. Women’s Amateur National Championships later this summer.
Edwards tied for sixth at the qualifier at Oakbrook Golf and Country Club late last week, as she shot a three-over 74 and ended in a five-way tie for sixth place in the 46-player field. Edwards shot four birdies, nine pars, four bogeys and one double bogey along the way, but was unable to punch her ticket to nationals in the playoff round.
Also competing in the event were Oregon seniors Kendra Little (13th-tie, 76) and Erica Omlid (21st-t, 78), sophomore Avery Sills (28th-t, 81) and incoming freshman Cali Hipp (31st-t, 82).
Madeleine Sheils of Boise won the event by one stroke with an even-par 71. She will compete in next month’s championship tournament, which will be hosted by the Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I., Aug. 8-14.