Jermaine Hanspard won’t be competing at the Mount San Antonio College Relays.
“Negative,” said the Oregon sprinter as he left football practice Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the senior must stay in Eugene to play in Saturday’s football scrimmage even though he said he would rather travel with the Oregon track and field team, because Mount SAC is “the biggest track meet of the season … it’s where all the competition is.”
He’s right.
The relays, held annually in Walnut, Calif., host 26 collegiate teams and six international teams. Because of the high level of competition at the meet, it is a place where many athletes earn NCAA-qualifying marks.
Oregon should be familiar with many of its competitors. Just last week, the Ducks faced Stanford, Colorado, Colorado State and Air Force at the Hayward Relays. Each of those teams will also be in Walnut.
The men compete exclusively at the relays. However, most of the women will split paths and compete in other area meets, the Pomona Pitzer Invitational and possibly the Long Beach State Invitational.
Distance runner Steve Fein has not fully recovered from illness and is questionable to compete at Mount SAC. Representing Oregon in the distances will be seniors Andrew Bliss and Todd Humcke, and sophomore Adam Bergquist.
Sophomore Santiago Lorenzo, who received Pacific-10 Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors for his third-place finish at the Texas Relays decathlon, plans to compete in the 4×400-meter relay.
“I don’t like the 400-meter dash — but the relay is different,” Lorenzo said. “It’s like a group event, I really like running that. I use it as part of a workout because decathlon is pretty long. When I don’t do the decathlon, I try to do as many events as I can.”
Decathlon coach Bill Lawson said a break from multi-event competitions will give Lorenzo a chance to recover for later in the season.
“I think Santiago, provided he stays healthy going into the Pac-10 meet, if we rest him and train him correctly, should be able to score a little bit more and he has a real chance at being Pac-10 Champion,” Lawson said.
The spotlight on Mount SAC is usually focused on the track, but the success of Oregon’s jumpers could draw attention to the field.
Foluso Akinradewo, one of the Ducks’ youngest talents, won the triple jump at the Hayward Relays in just one attempt. The freshman, who graduated from Clovis High School in Fresno, Calif., competed at the Mount SAC relays as a prep star.
“I feel all right, but my right ankle is bothering me,” Akinradewo said. “I hope it doesn’t bother me too much at the meet so I can get that provisional mark.”
Sophomore Jason Boness wants to improve on his season best of 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches, which he’s cleared in the past two meets. Boness’ personal-best height is a leap of 7-4 1/2 inches.
Sprinter Howard Moore is coming off of a seasonal best in the 200 meters. Also fresh from a seasonal and personal-best performance is thrower John Bello, who threw the discuss 177-3 last Saturday.
On the women’s side, the major story at Mount SAC is a possibility race between world champion Inger Miller and world-record holder Marion Jones in the 400-meter dash.
But plenty of other stories will play out this weekend as well. Including the one about the continuing evolution of the Oregon women’s team.
So young and so talented, the Ducks figure to take another important step forward at the prestigious relays and the Pomona Pitzer Invitational — and if everything goes right, not at the scheduled Long Beach Invitational.
After last season when head coach Tom Heinonen’s team survived a frantic weekend of trekking all over Southern California, competing in numerous events at separate meets, the Ducks have learned their lesson. The less commuting they do on Southland freeways, the better.
“We’re going to have everybody compete at the Mount SAC that got in,” Heinonen said. “And we’re gonna run several people at Pomona Pitzer on Friday, but we’re not planning on taking anybody to Long Beach at all, if we can avoid it. It’s a long drive and it gets really tiring for the athletes.
“Last year we learned how to minimize the chaos and maximize the performances.”
That’s important because this weekend his athletes are going to need that energy.
Nine Oregon women will be represented at Mount SAC, including senior Katie Crabb, the Pac-10’s leading 1,500-meter runner.
Eri MacDonald and Nattalie Wright also take to the track this weekend in the 800 meters.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for Katie Crabb, Nattalie Wright and Eri MacDonald,” Heinonen said. “They just have to be ready to responded to some really serious competition — but so does everybody else.
“We’re looking forward to it because people like [junior javelin thrower] Keris Howell have thrown well against minimal competition but need to have better competition to simulate conference championships and NCAA championships,” said Heinonen, noting some players who will especially benefit from the competition. “[Freshman shot putter] Mary Etter is talented but needs to experience big competition. That’s exactly what this meet will give us.”
Pole vaulters Niki Reed and Karina Elstrom will be there too, as will javelin thrower Charyl Weingarten and hammer thrower Maureen Morrison, who set an Oregon record last weekend with a toss of 185-9. Long jumper Hillary Holly is also in action.
Absent at Mount SAC will be the Ducks’ top distance threat, Amy Nickerson. The freshman has been unable to train due to injured illiotibial tract band, Heinonen said.
The rest of the women’s team, likely including redshirt freshman Lucretia Larkin, returning from a stress fracture that cut short her freshman season, will compete in the Pomona Pitzer and possibly the Long Beach Invitational, depending on variables like weather and the scheduling of events.