The Oregon track and field squads will scatter this weekend to two meets, one in Seattle and one in Ames, Iowa.
The men will head to Iowa for the Iowa State Classic on Friday and Saturday, while the women will head to Husky-land for the Washington Invitational on Saturday.
The men will be led once again by dual-sport speedster Samie Parker, while several of the Ducks’ touted distance runners will make their 2003 debuts. Parker is the only Oregon male to notch an NCAA-provisional time in the indoor season, as he sprinted to a time of 6.68 seconds in the 60-meter dash at the Bodybuilding.com Invitational earlier this month.
Oregon’s distance runners will try to make a splash at the Classic. Ryan Andrus and Eric Logsdon will compete in the 5,000 and the 3,000, respectively, after both capped successful fall cross country seasons by leading Oregon to fifth place at the NCAA Championships.
The women will be led by Niki McEwan, who has returned to form this indoor season after an up-and down career. She notched a personal-best and school-record-tying vault of 14-1 1/4 at the season-opening Pole Vault Summit. That mark is only an NCAA provisional height, but currently leads the nation. Fellow vaulters Becky Holliday (seventh) and Kristin Riley (25th) are also ranked among the nation’s best.
The Duck women distance runners, like the men, will make their debut this weekend in Seattle. Highly-touted recruit Nicole Feest, who had a successful cross country season and even won one meet, will make her track debut in the 3,000. Magdalena Sandoval and Alicia Snyder-Carlson will make their 2003 indoor debuts in the 3,000 and mile, respectively.
Oregon’s contingent will be the largest of the young season for the women. A total of 28 athletes will compete in almost every event this weekend. The field at the Washington Invitational includes Eastern Washington, Portland and Portland State, and partial teams from Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA and USC.
For both teams, this weekend’s meets signal an approach to the end of the indoor season. The men have only one more meet, the Pacific-10 Conference Invitational, before the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14. The women will compete in three more meets before the NCAAs.