So much has happened in the world of Oregon track and field during the last few weeks.
Both the men and women have been putting together some impressive performances.
We’ve all heard about the arrival of Galen Rupp to the collegiate distance running world. Steve Prefontaine’s boy wonder debuted at the Oregon Invitational last week where he suffered a nasty fall but still took fifth in the 5K race.
Then there’s Jordan Kent, quite possibly the best athlete on any Duck roster — or rosters, in his case. The speedster, who happens to play basketball on the side, has already collected first-place finishes in the long jump and 4×100 relay coming off a redshirt season.
Rupp is like one of those gas-electric
hybrid cars. He has a way of efficiently consuming his fuel during a race to make the laps look effortless.
Kent, on the other hand, is like a sports car you can fire up, put the pedal to the metal and be sure will be first to see the checkered flag.
The rest of us are amazed because we seem to be more like those road-crowding SUV’s that lug around and let so much go to waste.
Away from the running world,
throwers are usually overlooked in track and field, but tucked away in Hayward Field,
the Oregon women are starting to catch
the attention of many spectators with
groundbreaking performances.
“It’s great because throwers tend to be on the outskirts,” Oregon hammer thrower Brittany Hinchcliffe said.” But I think we get a lot of support here.”
And the support is well deserved. The school records for two of the four throwing events have already been rewritten this season, and many more personal records have been improved.
Senior Bree Fuqua tallied the first record-breaker at the Montana Open by heaving her shot 53 feet, 9 inches.
Hinchcliffe made history when she started the Pepsi Team Invitational with a hammer toss of 199 feet, 2 inches (she broke
the school record on a previous throw but decided to up the ante for fun). Fuqua added
2 1/4 inches to her shot put mark at that meet as well.
Teammates and training partners are trying to create some awareness about Fuqua and her progress.
Forget trying to stop Pre, try stopping Bree.
That idea came from Oregon throws coach Lance Deal, and a group of his pupils ironed his sentiment onto cotton. Senior javelin thrower Sarah Malone, redshirt hammer thrower Britney Henry and Team XO hammer thrower Cari Soong all wore T-shirts with a stop sign on the front that read “Stop Bree.”
Fuqua is Oregon’s only everyday competitor in the shot put and discus. The depth that Oregon has in the hammer throw and javelin events is much more extensive.
Behind Hinchcliffe stand senior Katie Kersh and Henry. Kersh
improved her personal record last weekend for the second time
this season.
Adding to last weekend’s accomplishments on the field, Henry landed hammer throws that were capable of shattering the school record.
A trio of All-American athletes line up for Oregon on the javelin runway. Malone and juniors
Roslyn Lundeen and Elisa Crumley have all earned All-American
honors in the past.
Malone has held the Oregon javelin record since her freshman year. Her season-best 177-1 ranks first in the Pacific-10 Conference and places her amongst the top five in the nation.
The Wonder Women of the Oregon track and field team are rekindling the continuously burning flame of the great Prefontaine in the form of a clever, revamped fashion statement while pulling out top-notch performances.

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