Freshman Mary Etter wins the discus and finishes third in the shot put and fifth in the hammer at the Cardinal Invitational.
At a meet that entertained some of the nation’s best athletes, the Oregon women’s track and field team made its presence felt at the Cardinal Invitational Friday.
Primarily by way of the efforts of Karis Howell and Mary Etter.
Howell, a redshirt junior, won the javelin. One of eight Oregon throwers to make an appearance at the prestigious Invitational, Howell returned from a week away from competition and won her event handily, with a throw of 161 feet, 8 inches.
The next closest thrower was Sonoma State’s Melissa Costa. She recorded a 142-2 throw, less than four inches beyond the Ducks’ Charyl Weingarten, who equaled her personal best but just missed the Pacific-10 Conference Championships qualifying mark with a throw of 142-2. As usual, Etter was particularly busy and particularly productive. The freshman won the discus with a throw of 165-9, came in third in the shot put (44-4) and finished fifth in the hammer throw (158-10).
Her teammate, junior Maureen Morrison, picked up third in the discus (161-10) and was beaten by five inches in the hammer. Morrison threw 161-10. Winner Chi-Chi Onyeagbako, of Stanford, threw 180-1. The Ducks’ Wendy Olson finished eighth in the javelin, with a throw of 122-05. In the discus, Heather Hill went for 137-01 feet and seventh place.
On paper, Oregon’s runner’s record results do not seem quite as prolific as their counterparts in the throws — a result mostly of the elevated level of competition on the track.
Katie Crabb’s time in the 1,500 (4 minutes, 21.54 seconds) neared her PR of 4:19.82. Her ninth-place standing is reflective and attributable to the field, which included several world-class athletes.
Shayne Culpepper won the race by almost two seconds, in 4:14.69 while former Duck standout Marie Davis placed with a time of 4:20.17. Oregon’s Nattalie Wright came in 25 (4:43.83).
Eri Macdonald claimed seventh in her heat 17th overall and with a time of 2:14. The finish doesn’t improve her fourth-best-in-conference time of 2:08.62. Macdonald’s fellow freshman, Erinn Gulbrandsen, completed the race in 2:15.38.
Several Ducks also competed at the Mt. Hood Invitational in Gresham on Saturday. Farrah McCubbin won the 400 hurdles (1:06.10.) Deborah Lee (35-11 3/4) won the triple jump and Kylee Wells won the 1,500 (4:48.01).
Other members of the team competed in the Steve Scott Invitational. It was the first time Oregon took part at the 700-plus athlete meet held on the UC-Irvine campus Sunday afternoon.