Alex Wolff and the Oregon men’s javelin throwers have a friendly wager with the men’s 1,500-meter runners heading into the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas, today.
“We’re going to have a little competition to see if the javelin throwers can score more points than the 1,500-meter runners at NCAAs,” the redshirt junior from Newberg said. “The first step is for us to all make it to nationals this weekend at regionals.”
The Ducks will have four competitors in each event attempting to formally qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with team points at that meet providing an excellent incentive. After all, the winning unit receives what Wolff calls “pure pride” in lieu of
actual prizes.
“It’s a great opportunity to add a little extra fire to the competition,” Wolff said. “We have one job, honestly, at regionals — get as many people to nationals.”
The survive-and-advance format of the outdoor regional meets — the NCAA East Regional meet will be held concurrently in Greensboro, N.C. — has long been criticized by assistant athletic director Vin Lananna. Lananna sees the meet as largely unnecessary and risky, with the possibility that a top competitor may miss the NCAAs due to injury or poor performance.
At Tuesday’s media day, Lananna questioned the economic reasoning behind the two regionals.
“I bet the Pac-10 is spending close to a million dollars (on the regionals),” Lananna said. “We pay for ourselves to get there. For the regional championships, each institution pays its own thing. That alone makes it a little frightening.”
Nevertheless, the No. 1-ranked Oregon women and No. 2-ranked Oregon men still have to compete for their spots at the end of the day. If they do not, someone will be happy to replace them.
“I think it’s a formality that I hope everybody treats seriously because if you don’t treat the formality, the formality will be that you don’t go to the NCAAs, even though it’s here in Eugene with lots of spectators,” Lananna said. “So it’s important that whether we think the system is a good system or a bad system, it’s what we have to do.”
Even if the formality is treated begrudgingly.
“I think it’s kind of unnecessary to have to run regionals in the first place, but the system is what it is,” redshirt junior A.J. Acosta said. “Everyone has to run in 90-degree heat and have fun doing it.”
The Texas heat — a far cry from the 50-degree days and rain showers Eugene has seen of late — makes rest and hydration a priority for the 27 men and 24 women traveling to Austin to compete.
“We’ll prepare for the humidity. We know it going in there,” said senior Nicole Blood, who will be repeating her Pacific-10 Conference Championships double at 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter in Austin.
“We’ll be hydrated and ready to go.”
The top 12 finishers in each event at West Regionals will move onto the NCAAs, joining the top 12 in the East. (Decathletes and heptathletes are exempt from competing at regionals; Oregon’s Ashton Eaton is entered in the long jump competition at the West Regional, separate from the decathlon.) The first two rounds of every running event from 100 meters to 1,500 meters, including hurdles races, will be considered the “NCAA First Round” and “Quarterfinal” heats, with semifinals and finals on June 9-12. The 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races will hold semifinal heats at regionals.
When positions one through 12 accomplish the same basic goal, the mission becomes simplified. Survive and advance.
“We’re going there to accomplish one thing,” Wolff said, “and that’s it.”

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