It was a banner day for the Oregon men’s track and field team Saturday at Hayward Field.
Despite inclement weather at the fabled field, head coach Martin Smith’s squad was able to take the Montana-Weber State Triangular in convincing fashion.
With two wins in the day, 116-66 over Montana and 108 1/2 to Weber State’s 96, the Ducks furthered their success this season. After a ninth place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ind., last weekend, their highest finish ever, Oregon showed those results were no fluke.
John Stiegeler was up to his old tricks again, getting a mark of 247 feet in the javelin throw. His score was good enough to garner first in the meet, a whole 40 feet in front of teammate Adam Jenkins’ throw, who came in second place.
Samie Parker nearly missed his best mark of 2001 in the 100-meter dash by .02 seconds. His mark of 10.47 was good enough for first place in the event, and it started his 2002 outdoor season with a bang.
“It felt good,” he said. “Pretty much overall, I think I did fair. Just because of the weather, I didn’t get a chance to get a real good warm-up to have my body really ready to run.”
The sleet, snow and rain that pelted Hayward Field didn’t get in the Ducks’ way Saturday, especially in the field events. The water made for sloppy conditions on the all-weather track, but that still couldn’t contain Oregon’s runners.
Jason Slye won the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.21, and Micah Harris took the 110-meter hurdles at 14.13.
Trevor Woods took the pole vault competition at a height of 17 feet 4.5 inches, and the high jump was won by the Ducks’ Kyley Johnson (7-.25).
Oregon’s James March took the discus with a mark of 151 feet, and Adam Kriz won the hammer throw at 186-1.
And in the triple jump, Foluso Akinradewo earned the Ducks three points with a mark of 48-6.25 for first place.
Last but not least, Simon Kimata was stone cold again, taking first in the 800-meter run. However, he felt the weather may have hampered his time.
“I don’t want to say I would have done better,” he said. “I don’t like running in these type of conditions because you can’t even warm up.”