Bree Fuqua is reaping the benefits of her decision to come to Oregon.
The first-year transfer from the University of Wisconsin took fourth place in the shot put at Saturday’s NCAA West Regional Qualifier in Northridge, Calif., and will make her debut at the NCAA Championships beginning June 9.
The junior from Polson, Mont., achieved a personal record on her first throw when she tossed the shot 52 feet, 8 3/4 inches. Her subsequent attempts, though, showed no improvement. Fuqua’s mark held up over the rest of the competition to finish in the top five and earn an automatic bid to nationals.
Her personal best inches her closer to Oregon’s all-time shot put record holder, Quenna Beasley, who threw 53-1 1/2 in 1983.
“I accomplished what I wanted to do,” Fuqua said. “I never had done the regional system before because I redshirted last year, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. But I knew I was going to be in the top five. After I threw my first throw, I was pretty sure I was in. The first throw felt good, but the rest didn’t feel good at all. I wasn’t really sure why.”
Fuqua has battled multiple injuries during her collegiate career, including a torn labrum in her hip that caused her to redshirt last season.
The arrival of first-year throws coach Lance Deal has been a big difference for Fuqua’s health this year. The two have developed a training regimen to help avoid the injury bug.
“We first altered my technique from last year because of my hip injury,” Fuqua said. “I think that’s helped tremendously because the training program fits me perfectly. Usually by this time in the season, I have like 10 injuries. I think if I would have still been at Wisconsin, I wouldn’t have been able to make it this long into the season.”
Fatigue is a huge factor heading down the final stretch of the outdoor season that began in mid-January. With the NCAA Championships on the horizon, Fuqua said the excitement of competing on the largest stage of collegiate track and field overcomes everything else.
“If we just had a little meet coming up, I probably wouldn’t be able to get too excited,” Fuqua said. “But because it’s nationals, the adrenaline will help out.”

NCAA invites
The Oregon men’s and women’s track and field teams will send a total of 20 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
The men will send 13 athletes participating in 10 different events, including three All-America distance runners, three hurdlers, two decathletes and high jumpers, a school record 4×400 relay team and the nation’s top pole vaulter.
The women will take seven athletes in six events that include the javelin school-record holder, two pole vaulters, a sprinter, a distance runner, a shot putter and a heptathlete.
Tommy Skipper, a freshman from Sandy, enters the field ranked first in the nation after breaking the Pacific-10 Conference outdoor record by one inch with a clearance of 18-10 1/4 in the pole vault. Eric Mitchum, a sophomore from Calumet City, Ill., is ranked third in the nation at the 110 meter hurdles based on his personal best of 13.50 seconds.
Sarah Malone, an All-American javelin thrower, leads the Oregon women’s contingent based on her personal best and school record mark of 179-7 achieved at the Texas Relays in late March. Malone is currently ranked third in the nation behind Pacific-10 Conference rival Inga Stasiulionyte from Southern California. Kirsten Larwin, a senior pole vaulter, is ranked ninth in the nation based on her personal record of 13-6 1/4.