Oregon’s track team, separated into groups for competitions in Fayetteville, Ark., and Seattle, Wash., had several notable performances last weekend.
Tommy Skipper, who headlined a group of Oregon athletes with Eric Mitchum at the University of Arkansas’ Tyson Invitational, achieved a season-best in the pole vault at 18-0 1/2. Skipper finished fifth in the elite section, losing to Olympian and U.S. record holder Jeff Hartwig who cleared a height of 18-8 1/4.
Skipper is the first Oregon man to earn NCAA automatic mark. He will return to Fayetteville in March for the third time in NCAA competition. Skipper won the NCAA indoor title as a sophomore in 2005 and was runner-up as a freshman in 2004.
Mitchum finished second in the 60-meter hurdles final Friday, tying his season-best mark of 7.78 seconds. Mitchum came within .09 seconds of the school record of 7.69. Earlier in the morning, Mitchum notched 7.81 seconds to advance to the final.
For the Oregon women, senior Lauryn Jordan came in 13th in the long jump at 18-7 3/4. She achieved the distance on her third jump after fouling on her two initial attempts.
Saturday, Jordan finished 10th in the triple jump at 39-8 3/4. Senior high jumper Jeff Lindsey finished sixth at 6-5 1/2.
On the other side of the country, three Oregon track and field athletes earned NCAA provisional marks
Saturday in the Husky Classic at the University of Washington in Seattle. Redshirt sophomore Michael.
McGrath finished 11th in the mile at 4:02.30. He moved within seconds of the NCAA automatic mark (3:59.00). McGrath surpassed the NCAA provisional standard of 4:04.90.
In the women’s portion, junior Dana Buchanan and graduate student Amber McGown also achieved NCAA provisional marks.
Buchanan recorded a personal-best time of 4:46.71 and finished seventh. Her time finished below the NCAA standard of 4:47.00.
McGown earned sixth in the 3,000 meters with a personal record of 9:32.57. Saturday’s race marked McGown’s first 3,000 meter race in six years. She moved into fifth place all-time for Oregon. Redshirt junior Colin Veldman moved into fourth on Oregon’s all-time list in the weight throw to notch fifth place at 60-3 3/4. He moved within breathing distance of the NCAA provisional standard of 62-4.
Walter Thurmond III, a cornerback for the football team, made his collegiate track debut with a fifth-place finish in the final in 8.23 seconds.
McGrath was also part of the Oregon men’s distance medley relay team that ran Saturday night.
McGrath teamed with seniors Travis Anderson, Matt Scherer and sophomore Galen Rupp to finish second in 9:49.38.
Freshman runner Zoe Nelson made her collegiate track debut, finishing 14th in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:49.74.
Junior Britney Henry notched fourth in the weight throw at 58-10. Freshman Megan Maloney earned ninth at 55-8 1/2.
Oregon has two weeks off before returning to competition in the Mountain Pacific Championships in Seattle on Feb. 24-25.
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