Expected to run away from the pack early, the Oregon men built up a sizeable lead and maintained it through the final events of the first day of the Pacific-10 Conference Championships at Hayward Field.
The Ducks will enter Sunday’s competitions with 88 points, well ahead of second-place UCLA, with 45 points. Arizona and Stanford are tied for third with 39 points after the first day, followed by Washington with 33 points.
The first scored event of the day for the men was the javelin, a strong event for the Ducks with Cyrus Hostetler, Alex Wolff and Britton Nelson anchoring the aerial assault. Throwing into a headwind, Hostetler found himself passed early by USC’s Corey White, a 2008 U.S. Track & Field Trials competitor in the javelin. White’s first throw went 248 feet, 5 inches, with no one coming close as the meet progressed, but Hostetler managed a sixth and final attempt of 250-5 to steal the title away from White.
Wolff managed a personal best on his second throw of 235 feet, 5 inches for third place, and Nelson – despite fouling on four of his six attempts – threw 204-2 to capture the eighth and final scoring spot for 17 total points.
Ashton Eaton completed a long jump of 25 feet, 6.75 inches on his third attempt, a personal best and the 10th-best mark in school history. Eaton looked unstoppable until Arizona’s Luis Rivera-Morales jumped 26 feet in his fourth attempt, then 26-1 in his fifth attempt. Eaton fouled on his last attempt, settling for second place and eight points. Vernell Warren made his last jump count, soaring 24 feet, 11 inches for fourth place and five points.
Chris Winter, the top seed heading into the Pac-10s in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, won the race in 8:51.48 for an additional 10 points. Winter became the first Duck winner of the steeplechase since Micah Davis completed the feat in 1999. The Ducks also got a small boost from sophomore Jordan Stray in the men’s hammer throw: Three points, for a sixth-place finish with a 200-foot, 11-inch throw.
The men’s 10,000m was the final event of the day and Oregon’s best chance at big points, with Galen Rupp, Shadrack Biwott, Luke Puskedra and Danny and Diego Mercado all entered. Galen Rupp won the meet in 29:01.93, helping guide the men to a 1-2-4-7-8 finish for 26 points.
Robert Husseman
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Oregon men begin to pull away from Pac-10 field
Daily Emerald
May 16, 2009
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