The Oregon men’s track and field team ended its indoor season Saturday at the NCAA championship in Fayetteville, Ark., with its best ever showing — a ninth place finish with three Ducks earning All-American honors.
Sophomore Trevor Woods finished third in the pole vault with a personal best 17 feet, 11-3/4 inches — the same mark as the top five finishers. Top seed Jeff Hansen of Brigham Young won the pole vault with fewer overall misses.
“I was the ninth seed coming in, but I vaulted like I was one of the favorites and attacked all my attempts,” Woods said. “I’m stoked to be an All-American and third overall even though I’m only a sophomore.”
Woods opened the competition by clearing the 17-foot mark on his third attempt, and followed that with a first-attempt clearance of 17-3 3/4. He missed his three attempts at 18-3 3/4.
Junior Samie Parker won the Ducks’ first ever All-American honor in the 60-meter dash, placing fourth with a time of 6.67 seconds. Tennessee’s Justin Gatlin won the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.59 seconds.
“The All-American award is nice,” Parker said, “but I was hoping to be in there fighting for the win, so there’s still more to work on. My start was OK, but I need more in my middle phase to put me in better position for the finish.”
The last Duck to earn an All-American nod was Pat Johnson, now a wide receiver with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, in 1995. Johnson tied the school record in the 200-meter outdoor event with a time of 20.39 seconds.
Parker, a wide receiver on the Oregon football team, will split time with the two sports during the spring.
“I’m not worried about splitting my concentration between the two,” Parker said. “Whichever sport I’m doing at that time, I’m concentrating full on. They’ve worked well together so far.”
Simon Kimata received Oregon’s third All-American honor at the NCAA championships. Competing in his first indoor championships, the Nyeri, Kenya, native finished fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.56. Last year’s NCAA outdoor champion, Otukile Lekote of South Carolina, finished first with a time of 1:46.88.
“I came in hoping to go top three,” Kimata said, “but indoors is a new thing for me, especially on such a small track when I’m fairly big compared to the rest of the guys.
“I ran out of gas at the end so I know I gave it my all.”