Katie Crabb is sick. She has been battling an ongoing flu and cold. A nagging bug that just doesn’t seem to go away.
But that’s not stopping the engaging smile from surfacing on the senior long-distance runner’s face.
Yes, there’s a reason Crabb is, as she says, “pumped.”
She’ll tell you that she’s extremely excited for Saturday’s Hayward Relays that features many of the country’s superior teams. No itty-bitty cold is going to keep her off the track this weekend.
“It’s going to be a spectacular meet,” Crabb said. “It’s always seemed to make for a great race. And there’s nothing compared to running here at home.”
The Hayward Relays mark Oregon’s second home meet of the season, and definitely its biggest home competition of the regular season. It also shifts the track and field season into high gear, as the women will compete in a different meet every weekend from now until they host the Pacific-10 Conference Championships on May 20-21. In Oregon’s previous meets they have had two week intervals to prepare.
“This weekend is the beginning of a march to the Pac-10 meet, most of which will be at home,” head coach Tom Heinonen said. “This is the first step in that direction, a time for the athletes to step up and compete.”
Even though the event — in its second year — focuses on relays, there will be plenty of field action taking place.
The women’s discus gets things started bright and early with a 10 a.m. start. In that event, freshman Mary Etter will be the one to watch. Etter, who Heinonen says “loves to compete,” is coming off a season-best discus throw of 168 feet, eight inches at the Stanford Invitational on March 26. Etter also will compete in the shot put, which takes place at 10:30 a.m.
Another event that the Ducks should do well in is the javelin at 12:30 p.m., with junior Karis Howell leading the way. Howell also recorded a season best (166-4) at Stanford.
“This is a high-powered competition in a unique format,” Heinonen said. “But for our field events, it’s a normal format and just business as usual. It’s an opportunity to put up a good mark.”
However, the expected large crowd between 5,000 and 6,000 will be more focused on the relay portion of the event — after all, it’s what the meet is named after.
“They’re fun,” Heinonen said. “Everybody loves to run relays, and it’s a chance for the visitors to go through the Hayward Field experience.”
Some of the loaded field of “visitors” will be BYU, Colorado, and San Diego State. Pac-10 rivals Washington and Stanford will also be on hand.
Among the participants the Huskies will be sending down south include NCAA automatic qualifier Anna Aoki (10,000 meters), as well as provisional qualifiers Margaret Butler and Cami Matson (3,000 m).
“It’s going to be amazing,” said long jumper and sprinter Hilary Holly. “It’s really exciting to run here. I’ve been here for four years, but it just gets more exciting every year.”
Holly and Crabb are both proven senior leaders on a Duck team that features plenty of young talent. They know how crucial an event like this will be, though scores in this race don’t matter in terms of qualifying for the Pac-10 meet or earning a provisional time.
“I think the competitiveness of this meet is really important,” Holly said. “Also, we have amazing support. The freshmen get to learn what it’s all about. It may be an eye-opener for some, but it’s going to make them realize what needs to be done.”