A large portion of the Oregon women’s track and field team will achieve a “first” for the 2005 outdoor season this weekend.
The Ducks will travel to Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday for the Golden Bear Invitational, making this journey the team’s first outdoor meet away from Hayward Field.
California, Houston, Portland State, Sacramento State and Boise State have athletes entered into the meet. Unattached athletes are expected to compete as well.
Oregon’s first road trip of the season may not be as substantial as what Kasey Harwood accomplished in her first outdoor race for the Ducks, but it’s still a first, nonetheless.
Harwood, a freshman middle distance runner, competed in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at last week’s Pepsi Team Invitational and won.
“That was a nice surprise,” Harwood said. “I didn’t think I would get into the record books that soon.
“It was the first 400 hurdles race that I’d done, so I was really nervous. I thought about it a lot and prepared for it and then just went out and did what I could.”
Harwood took the event with 61.08 seconds, edging out teammate and training partner
Kayla Mellott.
“I was going to her for advice before the race,” Harwood said.
The same hurdle-hopping duo will be running the 400-meter hurdles this weekend. They hold the second- and third-best times in the field, behind sophomore Tiffany Abney of Houston (58.60).
Oregon’s Lauryn Jordan will add two new events to her résumé, the 100-meter hurdles and the javelin. She will also compete in the long jump and triple jump, both events she won at the Pepsi Invitational.
“I want her to be really strong as a heptathlete,” Oregon assistant coach Rock Light said. “Right now everything is leading up to her heptathlon at the Oregon Invitational.”
Sofie Abildtrup is signed up for the 100, although she is known as Oregon’s primary 400-meter runner. Last week, she took second in the 200-meter dash.
“Now it’s time for her to get faster in the shorter events to be ready for the 400 later on,” Light said.
Abildtrup’s seeding mark (11.94) sits in the middle of the 11-sprinter pack. Oregon freshman Irie Searcy will run in the lane next to Abildtrup. The two sprinters will also participate in the 200. In a field of 20, Abildtrup holds the third-best seeding time in that event (23.93).
Oregon has opted not to invest any athletes in the distance running events — the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters.
Hammer thrower Brittany Hinchcliffe’s listed seeding measurement of 197 feet 5 1/2 inches is almost two feet less than her school record at Oregon (199-2). Either way, she has at least a 10-foot advantage over the competition.
The Ducks have four javelin throwers slated to compete this weekend. Sarah Malone was recently reinstated and will compete after serving the better part of a two-week suspension for violating team policy. In addition, All-Americans Roslyn Lundeen and Elisa Crumley will try to pick up the slack as they did last week, finishing first and second.
Senior Bree Fuqua is scheduled as Oregon’s lone competitor in the shotput and discus events. She holds the school record in the shotput and has nearly a four-foot advantage this weekend.

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