The Oregon women’s track and field team took to the field of competition for the 77th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at the University of Texas at Austin.
The women sent only their throwers to the meet, which was held at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the site where the 2004 NCAA Championships will take place in two months.
In Thursday’s competition, two Oregon women hammer throwers participated. However, both athletes struggled in the event and finished in the bottom part of the standings.
In the Flight 1 section of the hammer event, junior Katie Kersh ended up in ninth place out of the 13 competitors. Kersh, a transfer from Sierra Junior College in Sacramento, improved in each of her subsequent throws, however. The third-year Duck achieved a first mark of 49.10 meters that placed her eighth heading into the second throw.
Kersh, also a two-time letterwinner in softball and volleyball two years ago in junior college, improved her second effort to 49.72 meters. Despite the better score, Kersh moved down to ninth place after Texas Tech junior Olivia Clardy made a mark of 51.46 meters that vaulted her up to the sixth position from the ninth spot.
Kersh’s last throw resulted in her best effort of the day at 50.22 meters or 164-09. Kersh’s performance regressed from last week when she led the Ducks after posting a score of 165-04 at the Stanford Invitational.
In the overall standings, Kersh finished in last place at 21st among competitors who earned a legal mark. Colorado State senior Loree Smith won the event after an impressive first throw of 67.05 meters or 220-00. The mark topped the second-place finisher, Louisiana State sophomore Britney Henry, by about 18 feet.
Kersh — a Willow Creek, Calif., native — has a personal best in the hammer at 173-5, which ranks her second among Oregon’s hammer team and would be a qualifying mark for the Pacific-10 Conference and Regionals.
The other Oregon entrant, sophomore Megan Kriz, also endured a tough day. Kriz, a transfer from Portland State and one of several other transfers on the team, failed to produce a legal mark as she fouled on each of her three attempts.
The Oregon women are still in a transition period under first-year head coach of the entire track and field program, Martin Smith. New assistant coach Lance Deal is overseeing the throwers units and is leading the ongoing effort to rebuild the women’s program behind a new philosophy with more emphasis on the field competition.
Five more Ducks are scheduled to compete in other field events throughout today. Kriz’s sister, junior Rachael Kriz, will participate in the javelin after earning a regional qualifying mark of 137-2 at the Stanford Invitational.
Redshirt junior Bree Fuqua will lead the Ducks at the discus, along with senior Jill Hoxmeier. Fuqua paced the women last week after placing third in discus at 158-09.
The Oregon women are looking at this meet as preparation for next weekend’s Pepsi Invitational at Hayward Field when Colorado, Minnesota and Washington visit Eugene.
In other events, host Texas enjoyed success on the track. Texas senior Jodi Jones won the 10,000-meter race in her first time competing in the event. She told TexasSports.com that preparation from her coaches during the week helped her win.
“When I took the lead I noticed the pace was slowing down,” Jones told TexasSports.com. “I didn’t feel comfortable but I thought I could keep the pace and it turns out I did.”