It wasn’t a top-five finish, and it didn’t gain the Ducks any national notoriety, but Oregon’s sixth-place finish at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships in Pullman, Wash., was its best effort since 1999, when they placed fifth.
And as expected, it was Oregon’s field squad that pulled it through.
Paced by the field squad, which earned 53 of Oregon’s 67 points, the Ducks were able to hold off Arizona.
“It was a great meet,” head coach Tom Heinonen said. “It was another step up for us. We had a lot of athletes who far exceeded expectation and scrapped for points.”
UCLA, last season’s Pac-10 champions, took this season’s version with 160 points, barely holding off 2001 NCAA champion USC. The Bruins won the final event, the 4×400, en route to the victory, giving them their sixth straight championship. Stanford finished third (121 points), with Arizona State fourth (89). Host Washington State finished fifth (85), a good margin ahead of the Ducks.
The Wildcats rolled in behind Oregon at No. 7 (59), with California taking Oregon’s spot from last season at eight (44), and Washington finishing last for the second year in a row (36).
As expected, Oregon pole vaulter Becky Holliday and javelin participant Sarah Malone placed second in their respective events. However, it was junior Jenny Brogdon who stole the show on the competition’s first day, Saturday.

The La Grande native placed second in the high jump at a height of 5-09.25, just behind Washington State’s Whitney Evans. The jump was a personal best for Brogdon, but does not give her an NCAA provisional mark.
However, it did give Oregon eight points and set the way for a successful weekend.
“My technique felt really fluid today,” Brogdon said after earning the sixth best jump in Oregon history. “Usually, when I worry about particular heights, I don’t do very well, so I focused on just being relaxed and jumping loose and in control, and didn’t worry about the little things. I felt great from the start and was glad I could help the team.”
“Jenny’s performance was the biggest breakthrough on Saturday,” Heinonen said. “The high jump is a really mental event and when you’re on, you can do great things.”
Sophomore Rachael Kriz placed seventh in the event at 5-07.25 — also a career best –giving the Ducks an additional two points, helping the team to 41 overall on day one.
Oregon finished Saturday in second place, 10 points behind leader Stanford. UCLA wasn’t far behind at 32, while eventual runner-up USC was locked in a fifth-place tie with Washington State at 31 points.
Malone, who finished second last season to USC’s Inga Stasiulionyte in the javelin, couldn’t get out of the sophomore’s shadow again and replicated her finish from a year ago. Stasiulionyte upped her national best throw in the javelin to 186-10, a comfortable lead over Malone who finished at 171-09.
The javelin throw, however, was Oregon’s best event as the squad finished two-four-five-six en route to 20 points. Freshman Roslyn Lundeen made her first appearance at the Pac-10s a successful one, finishing fourth (163-11). Fellow freshman Elisa Crumley took fifth (160-06), while junior Charyl Weingarten earned a personal best mark with a throw of 158-08 (sixth).
“I was a little disappointed to get second again,” Malone said, “although Inga threw well and deserved the win. The Pac-10 has gotten so tough, and I was proud of how Charyl and the freshmen stepped up. We’ve been pushing each all year, and it helped having the whole group here to keep each other focused.”
Day one was much kinder to the Ducks, as the squad fell to six after day two.
Oregon, which had earned more points during day one than the entire competition in 2001, was held in check by the national powers and was able to earn only 27 points. Most of those came from the team’s pole vaulters, a group that earned 11 points with second and sixth place finishes.
Holliday edged out friend and national leader Tracy O’Hara of UCLA with a jump of 13-9 3/4, but was not able to overcome Arizona’s Amy Linnen (14-1 3/4). Sophomore Kirsten Riley improved from last season’s 10th-place finish to earn sixth with a season best of 12-10.
“It was a good day,” Holliday said. “I know exactly what I have to do now.”
Junior Mary Etter did not disappoint as well, taking third in the discus with a throw of 169-1. Her finish earned Oregon five points, and coupled with junior Amanda Brown’s sixth place finish in the triple jump (40-2 3/4) and junior Jordan Sauvage’s eighth place mark in the hammer (183-9), helped the Ducks hold off Arizona.
“A lot of people are really happy,” Etter said from the road Sunday. “It’s an individual sport, but it’s a team thing.”