Hayward Field, the site of nine NCAA Championships and three Olympic Trials, will again host a list of top-caliber athletes from around the country Saturday in the Pepsi Team Invitational.
In the 14th edition of the invitational, but first since 1999, the Oregon women’s track team will compete in team scoring as it goes head to head with Colorado, Minnesota and Washington.
“This is a chance for the team to do something that’s inherently important,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said. “All you’ve got to do is add points and it just changes everything completely from ‘I’m doing it for me’ to ‘I’m doing it for the team.’”
In the last edition of the Pepsi Invitational in 1999, Nebraska took home both the men’s and women’s crowns, followed by the Huskies. Oregon finished in third.
Four years later, Heinonen will be taken back in history, as his alma mater comes to town. Minnesota has a list of strong throwers along with junior Alean Frawley, who owns the Gophers’ best marks in the hammer and shot put at 166 feet 9 inches and 51-7 1/4, respectively.
The Ducks and Gophers will match up well as Oregon is predominately strong in the throws. Senior Jordan Sauvage has thrown 188-3 in the hammer this season and 147-3 in the discus.
Senior Mary Etter will have her work cut out with a personal best of 44-6 3/4 in the shot put, far short of Frawley, who owns a personal best of 49-11 1/4. Etter leads the team at 169-7 in the discus.
“Since I was a freshman, it’s been 180 in the disc,” Etter said of her goal. “I need to keep working hard and let as few distractions as possible not get in the way. I’m hoping to hit it this week because I was hitting it in practice a few days ago.”
Minnesota also brings senior Shani Marks, who placed 14th outdoors in the triple jump in 2002. She has jumped nearly 43 feet, ahead of Oregon’s senior Amanda Brown at 40-8 3/4. Washington’s Brittiny Roberts ranks second among entries at 41-4.
Colorado brings an all-star list of track athletes to the forefront after the harrier team finished fifth in the fall at NCAAs. Junior Sara Gorton, who won the NCAA 5,000-meter championship indoors, has the best time in this weekend’s 1,500 at 4 minutes, 24 seconds.
Teammate Natalie Florence has a time of 9:25 in the 3,000, second to Washington’s Sabrina Monro at 9:20. The two will likely go head to head as their times separate them from the rest by 15 seconds.
Oregon’s Pac-10 rival will also feature sophomore Kate Soma in the pole vault as one of the few other competitors who rank along with the Ducks’ trifecta.
Soma ranks third in the entries behind redshirt seniors Becky Holliday and Niki McEwen.
The Huskies also have freshman Lauren Digman in the 400 meters at 57 seconds, along with Minnesota’s Kou Luogon at 54.80. But Oregon senior Janette Davis owns the best time of 54.76 and has a season goal of running sub-54 seconds.
“If the weather is right, she may run really fast,” Heinonen said. “I don’t know if she is going to run under 54 but she’s going to run really well.”
“There is absolutely nowhere better than this track, I can promise you that,” Davis said of racing back in Eugene. “This track is amazing, and I just love it.”
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