In its first significant outdoor action this season, Oregon track and field won 16 events in Saturday’s Pepsi Team Invitational, topping impressive competition on both the men’s and women’s sides to sweep the event. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205410605@@
The Oregon women led by a considerable margin throughout most of the meet, finishing with 221.5 points. The Ducks were followed by Washington (157 points), No. 5 Texas A&M (149.5) and UCLA (135). Oregon’s point total was the second highest in the history of the Pepsi meet, which has been an annual tradition since 1990.
The men, ranked No. 16 in the last USTFCCCA poll, recovered from an early deficit to claim victory. Oregon ended up with 204 points, followed by No. 6 Texas A&M (190), Washington (138) and UCLA (134). @@http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings@@
The women were propelled by outstanding efforts in a plethora of events but received a huge boost from redshirt senior Alex Kosinski. The three-time track All-American, who had her 2011 season cut short due to injury, won the 5,000 meters in 15:36.90. The time shaved 21 seconds off her personal best and was the third-fastest 5K in school history. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4365&SPID=243&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3645736&Q_SEASON=2011@@
Kosinski’s race put the exclamation point on a dominant team performance, but the women of Oregon turned in scoring performances throughout the day.
Sophomore sprinters English Gardner and Phyllis Francis both won their events, with Gardner taking the 200 meters in 23.24 and Francis claiming the 400 meters in 52.99.
“I’m the short sprinter,” Gardner said, referring to her normal role on the team. “60, 100 meters — that’s where most of my confidence is. Everything else is a little bit too much out of my comfort zone. It felt pretty good.”
Junior Anne Kesselring, the reigning NCAA champion in the 800 meters, led a big 1-2 Oregon sweep in the event, winning in 2:05.46. Sophomore Laura Roesler, a four-time All-American in her own right, finished just behind in 2:05.83. In the 1,500 meters, junior Becca Friday won in 4:20.21.
“When I took the lead I felt super smooth,” said Kesselring. “I’m not super sharp yet, but I feel really fit, and that’s good. A good opener.”
On the men’s side, redshirt freshman Sam Crouser shined in the first field event, taking the javelin with a winning effort on his final attempt. The Gresham, Ore., native registered 244-3/74.45 meters on his last throw to top the Aggies’ Sam Humphries, the national leader in the event. Crouser’s winning toss was the fourth-longest in Oregon history.
Senior Travis Thompson and sophomore Boru Guyota finished 1-2 in the 800 meters, with Thompson edging out Guyota, 1:51.08 to 1:51.09. Thompson grabbed the lead with an aggressive move about 200 meters into the race, squeezing through a miniscule opening to escape from the pack.
“I saw this little gap, so I kicked really hard and it worked out,” Thompson said. “It was a team score, and me and Boru went 1-2, and that’s what counts.”
Oregon and Texas A&M were knotted at 129-129 following the 400-meter hurdles before the Ducks took the lead for good on the pole vault. In the 5,000 meters, a 1-2 finish from Trevor Dunbar and Chris Kwiatkowski secured a victory for the Duck men. Dunbar won in 13:51.79, with Kwiatkowski following in 14:04.38.
In the 1,500 meters, junior Elijah Greer set a personal best, finishing in 3:45.84 to edge Ryan Soberanis of Washington, who crossed the finish line in 3:46.94. Freshman Chad Noelle placed third for the Ducks with a time of 3:45.84.
Freshman Johnathan Cabral made a key contribution to an inspired performance by the Oregon men. He won the 110-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 13.63, barely ahead of Texas A&M’s Wayne Davis, who came in at 13.70. He later returned to the oval to take second in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 53.40.
“I stayed clean over all the hurdles, and I stayed aggressive on the hurdles,” said Cabral. “The fifth or sixth one, I hit it kind of hard, and it threw me off balance, but I regained momentum and stayed on my feet over the finish line.”
Oregon scored their final points on the men’s side by winning a hotly-contested 4×400-meter relay. Bryan Harper, Thompson, Arthur Delaney and Greer completed the race in 3:08.90, edging out the Aggies by less than a tenth of a second (3:08.98).
The Ducks return to action this Friday at the John Knight Twilight in Monmouth, Ore. Competition begins at 3:45 p.m. @@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=243&SPSID=4364@@