Another weekend for the Ducks, another set of school records brought down.
Senior Galen Rupp, competing at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Saturday, finished second in the 3,000m with an NCAA indoor qualifying mark of 7:44.69, nearly three seconds behind Bekana Daba of Ethiopia and nearly 10 seconds better than the school record, which Rupp himself set in 2007.
Several Ducks also competed in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory in New York City on Friday and
Saturday. Junior Keshia Baker had an extraordinarily productive Friday, lowering her own school record in the women’s 400m with a 53.49 in a preliminary heat (an NCAA provisional qualifying mark) and helping the women’s distance medley relay team to another school record. Nicole Blood, Baker, Zoe Buckman and Alex Kosinski completed the race in 11:05.08, breaking last season’s record of 11:10.48.
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Freshman sprinter Amber Purvis continued her torrid start to her UO career by yet again besting the school record in the 60m. Purvis’ preliminary heat produced a time of 7.34, beating last week’s record by .02 and improving her provisional qualifing mark. She ran a 7.36 in the finals to finish in fourth place.
The men’s mile at the New Balance Invitational featured a 1-2 Oregon finish, as Andrew Wheating and Matthew Centrowitz finished in 3:59.11 and 4:02.21, respectively. Wheating’s time, an NCAA automatic qualifier, is second in school history behind A.J. Acosta, who posted a 3:58.52 indoor mile last season to break the mark initially held by Steve Prefontaine. Centrowitz’s time is a provisional qualifying time.
Senior Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott won the men’s 3,000m in 7:55.27, an NCAA automatic qualifier and the second-best time in school history, while freshman Lindsey Pearson set a personal best and a third-best all-time mark in school history with a 8.79-second performance in the 60m hurdles.
Freshman Luke Puskedra competed in the junior men’s race at the 2009 USA Cross Country Championships on Saturday and finished third to freshmen rivals German Fernandez (Oklahoma State) and Chris Derrick (Stanford). Puskedra is eligible to represent Team USA in the junior race at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships on March 28 in Amman, Jordan.