Tenths of a second separate the Oregon men’s 4x400m relay team from a bid to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The Ducks enter the West Regionals this weekend with the fifth-best time behind USC, Washington, Arizona State and UCLA and need to finish at least third to automatically qualify for nationals.
But considering Oregon edged UCLA by .01 seconds to finish fourth in the race at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, the Regional race could be even closer. How the relay team finishes will depend on several factors, each playing a big part in a race that could determine the Ducks’ fate by a hundredth of a second once again.
Freshmen step up for Pac-10s
After straining his hamstring while running the 100m at the conference championship, junior Phil Alexander sat out of the 4x400m forcing freshman Zach Ancell into the race, comprising the team with three freshman and Lane Community College transfer Marcus Dillon, none of whom had run in the Pac-10 finals before.
The inexperience didn’t slow the Ducks down as Ancell posted a season-best split in the 47-second range while freshmen Chad Barlow and Ashton Eaton had similar splits and Dillon anchored the relay with a mid-46 second final leg that moved Oregon from sixth place to fourth place in the final 200m of the race.
It wasn’t the first relay Ancell had run all year, but certainly the most important. Oregon was the leading the meet by four points prior to the relay and needed to finish in at least fifth to guarantee a team victory. Ancell and the rest of the relay team made sure not to disappoint.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” Ancell said. “We were warming up and I was like ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this. I’m not ready for this.’ Chad kept the mood light and made sure I didn’t freak out too much.”
Barlow tried to keep his friend focused after he noticed that Ancell grew quiet and began pacing prior to running.
“I told him, ‘This is what we run track for. This is it right here,’” Barlow said.
Despite his nerves, Ancell performed well under the circumstances, but his best time still fell short of Alexander’s and if the race comes down to a few tenths of a second, the Ducks’ chances of reaching the NCAA Championships could rest on the health of a single hamstring.
“I think with Phil being on the team, we’re more comfortable with him because we run with him so much,” Eaton said. “But if Zach has to run, then I have no doubt he’d step up like he did at Pac-10s. With either one of them, we’ll be in a spot to go to nationals.”
To make sure he’s ready for the race, Alexander has been easing himself back to where he was before the injury.
“I’ve been taking it easy at practice, trying to get it back stronger,” Alexander said. “It might be Friday until I start sprinting hard.”
Although Alexander believes he’ll be set to run for Saturday’s race, Ancell will be ready to step in again if necessary and this time, he’ll certainly be prepared for it.
“We may be younger and less experienced and whatever, but we have the heart,” Ancell said. “That’s the one thing that gets us through the races.”
Eaton sets the pace
Eaton, the opening leg of the relay, said the team already has the heart to reach nationals but believes the best way of passing up the teams in front of them will rely on how well he starts.
“We already have the drive to reach nationals,” Eaton said. “What it would take (to pass up the other teams) is a good first leg.”
Eaton said that if he sees a teammate giving it all on the last stretch trying to gain those extra yards, that gets him motivated to run harder. He hopes that by proving to his teammates that he didn’t hold anything back while he runs, that will inspire them as well.
“That’ll kick start the whole thing,” he said.
But Eaton hopes the crowd in Eugene provides more volume than Stanford’s. He had never heard a crowd become so mute.
“That was the most silent, lonely moment in my life,” Eaton said. “Everybody was quiet, waiting.”
Dillon’s photo finish
Although each member’s performance was important, Dillon’s willpower in the last leg moved Oregon to a spot that secured the Ducks’ conference championship.
But despite running a tremendous final lap, Dillon’s teammates expect more out of him.
“I know Marcus can run faster than that,” Eaton said. “Coming into this a little bit more fresh, I’m sure we’ll get a 45-split out of Marcus.
“He always steps it up at the big meets.”
And Dillon certainly expects more out of himself as well. He had to run multiple events that day before the relay and had to dive at the finish line to edge out UCLA.
“The Lord worked me in mysterious ways to get me where I wanted,” Dillon said.
Dillon held nothing back during his leg and was spent from a day full of racing. He expects to give the same type of performance at the West Regionals and asked his teammates to do the same.
“Look, I’m going to give you my all, but Ashton, Chad, Zach, Phil, I’m going to need you to give your all, too,” he said.
But what it comes down to is running faster, something Barlow said the team will try to do come Saturday.
“We’re hoping to surprise some people,” Barlow said. “We can all run a lot faster.”
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