As Ross Krempley sprinted toward the finish line of the 4×400 relay, the Hayward Field public address announcer proclaimed, “The sun has returned to the Willamette Valley, and so have the Ducks as they win the relay and the event.”
The final race of the day proved to be icing on the cake for the Oregon men’s track and field team, who had captured the necessary 82 points in its previous run to overtake the Washington Huskies in the 93rd edition of the Washington Dual.
Oregon’s almost six-second advantage over Washington in the last relay event propelled the Ducks to the 87-75 victory in front of 2,678 fans at Hayward Field.
“We showed the ability to improve and I was real pleased with the steps we took,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said. “It’s just real different than a big invitation. It engages every kid to be a part of the team and to contribute to the chance of the team doing well. It helps bring a team together.”
Indeed, the players, whether they competed in the field or on the track, were united as one. On this Saturday afternoon, the Ducks spoke not of gaining qualifying marks for later competitions, but of earning enough overall points that day to beat their Northwest Pacific-10 Conference rival Huskies.
“It’s always real exciting and this dual meet with Washington has a great history,” said Santiago Lorenzo, who battled through a flu all week to win the long jump on his only leap of the day with a season best 23 feet, four 3/4 inches. “It’s real nice to win. In the long jump, we knew we could get that 1-2-3 sweep and help beat Washington.”
As expected, the Ducks came out strong from the get-go and dominated the field portion of the meet. Oregon’s John Bello gave his team the early 36-22 lead after seven events when he won the shot put event with an NCAA provisional mark of 58-11 1/4.
Bello’s day wasn’t done, though, as he went on to capture first in the discus throw as well with a heave of 180-1.
“With a smaller field, compared to an invitational, you have to take more responsibility to pump yourself up and maximize your performance,” Bello said.
Oregon captured first, second and third place in the long jump, shot put and javelin throw, respectively, where John Steigeler won with an NCAA provisional javelin mark of 221-5.
“We’re out here to show everyone that Oregon’s a powerhouse,” Steigeler said.
Other Oregon field event winners included Jason Boness in the high jump (7-0 1/2) and Adam Kriz in the hammer (183-1).
The Ducks’ strong performance in the field took much of the pressure off the sprinters who were trying to compete with All-American speedster Ja’Warren Hooker of Washington. Hooker, who doubled at the PAC-10 Championships in the 100- and 200-meters last spring in Eugene, tore up the track once again with wins in those two events.
“This is one meet you circle on your schedule,” said Hooker, who ran a 10.32 in the 100 and a 20.82 in the 200. “I just enjoy coming here with this crowd. It’s exciting. We got NCAA’s, U.S. Nationals and Prefontaine here so I’ll be back a few more times.”
Perhaps the most important victories for the Ducks came in the hurdle races. Oregon scored valuable points when junior Micah Harris took first in the 100-meter high hurdles and junior Tim Overfield beat out the field in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.
Harris, a transfer from Central Arizona, went below the 14-second mark for the third time this season, running a 13.95 to finish ahead of fellow Duck Terry Ellis (14.36 seconds).
“It’s always great to score points that matter for the team,” Harris said. “This is a great meet for us to break some of the ice of the top and get it under our belt and prepare us for the rest of the season.”
Overfield set a new personal record with his time of 52.14 seconds when he finished ahead of Washington’s Brad Goodrich (52.77) and Lorenzo (52.82).
“Perhaps the individual that had the best individual breakthrough today was Tim Overfield,” Smith said.
Another strong performance came from junior transfer Simon Kimata, who celebrated his first ever meet at Hayward with a first-place finish in the 800-meters in a time of 1:50.76.
“I was really happy for Simon,” Smith said of the Nyeri, Kenya, native. “It was a wonderful step for Simon. He looked really good today and ran a wonderful leg on the mile relay.”
The Ducks also received an added boost by having some of the Oregon football players run in the sprints. Cornerback A.K. Keyes, linebacker Wesly Mallard and receiver Samie Parker all rid of their pads for a day to compete Saturday, despite playing in the football scrimmage on Friday.
Oregon hopes to keep its success going next weekend at the always competitive Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
“We’re on a roll,” Harris said.