Laura Harmon expected the extremely hot weather in Tucson, Ariz., to have an impact on her 5,000-meter event at last weekend’s Pacific-10 Conference Championships.
Harmon, a junior from Vancouver, Wash., placed eighth in the race with a time of 17 minutes, 21.57 seconds. Only two seconds separated her from the sixth place finisher, Arizona State’s Desiree Davila. A contingent from Stanford finished in the top three led by Sara Bei, who clocked in at 16.35.39.
As temperatures soared to nearly 100 degrees, Harmon said it was tough to run in an environment so different than Eugene.
“It’s hard to race out of your element,” Harmon said. “It’s really dry and the air is really dusty and dirty, but everybody has to compete in it. I wish I would have felt better.”
Harmon was not happy about her race despite adding points to Oregon’s team score. She said it was really difficult to remain hydrated during the heat of the day.
“I did definitely push the fluids a lot,” Harmon said. “I just didn’t feel that great. Going into the race, I was mentally prepared. Physically, I knew I was prepared, but I wasn’t feeling it after awhile.”
The Oregon women took seventh overall for the second straight year after scoring 58 points. UCLA won its eighth consecutive conference championship after accumulating 174.5 points. The Bruins are ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to the Trackwire 25.
Harmon said afterwards she felt her team was much better than what they showed.
“I definitely knew we wanted to do better than that,” Harmon said. “Given what we were expected to do, I guess it was good. But I think we set expectations a little bit higher than that.”

Good times
As her final year at Oregon culminates, pole vaulter Kirsten Larwin is determined to leave with a stamp on her four-year career.
Larwin finished with her highest ever Pac-10 placing in the pole vault when she cleared the bar at 13 feet, 6 1/4 inches. The mark beat her prior personal best by nearly three inches, achieved in April at the Texas Relays. Larwin placed fourth, right ahead of teammate Emily Enders, who cleared 13-2 1/4.
“I was really happy,” Larwin said. “I couldn’t be happier actually. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. It’s been a long time coming. It was my third attempt, so it was do or die.”
Larwin admitted to being a little rattled toward the end of the competition. At her last two heights, she cleared the bar on her third and final attempt. Larwin credited Enders and pole vault coach Mark Vanderville for keeping her focused.
“They knew I could do it,” Larwin said. “Mark just seemed so calm about this whole thing, and he wasn’t worried when it came down to it and that gave me confidence. Emily just told me I was ready and it was time to do it and jump high.”Washington’s Kate Soma won the event over heralded UCLA sophomore Chelsea Johnson with a mark of 14-2. Despite being competitors, Larwin said all of the women pole vaulters supported one another throughout the day.
Larwin said Soma is a very good friend of hers and they gave advice to each other along the way.
“Pole vault is unique and it isn’t like any other event,” Larwin said. “Of course, you’re out there to do the very best to try to win every single time, but the best girl wins on the day. I’m just really happy with how I did and (Soma) was cheering for me and I was cheering for her.”