Junior Mary Etter had that special magic Saturday in Tempe, Ariz., leading the Oregon women’s track and field team to a successful showing at the Arizona State Invitational.
Etter, a two-time Pacific-10 Conference scorer and one-time All-American, earned NCAA provisional marks in the shot put (48-11 feet 1/2 inches) and the discus (166-3). Both distances were good enough to net her first in each event.
However, the strongest showing from the Oregon women may have come in the javelin throw.
Freshman Roslyn Lundeen took first with a throw of 166-11, with sophomore Sarah Malone taking second at 165-3, both marks being good enough to eclipse the qualifying provisional standard. Lundeen’s throw was a career best and enabled her to climb the NCAA provisional list as well.
Not to be outdone, freshman Elisa Crumley finished third with a mark of 159-8, also eclipsing the provisional standard.
Rounding out the event, junior Charyl Weingarten finished fourth, but her throw of 150-2 was just under the standard of 150-11.
Overall, the Ducks had a stellar day down in the desert.
“We were happy with the day, and had a lot of good things happen,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said. “Our athletes responded to wonderful weather in our first really good opportunity to compete this season. Some of the events were pretty low-key and had relatively small fields, but we still had some remarkably good performances, including four wins in the throws with really solid marks and five middle distance PRs.”
Junior Jordan Sauvage continued the Ducks’ winning ways with the team’s first qualifying mark in the hammer throw (172-4). Etter also placed well in the event, earning third with a distance of 165-7.
Junior Carrie Zografos took third in the 800 meter run, with a time of 2:11.85. She finished less than a second behind second-place finisher Lisa Aguilera of Arizona State.
Freshman Laura Harmon was right behind Zografos, finishing the run at 2:12.55, good enough to earn fourth in the event. Junior Alicia Snyder-Carlson placed sixth.
All Duck runners in the 800 earned personal bests.
Ending the day, junior Amanda Brown took second in the triple jump (38-4 1/4), sophomore Kirsten Riley earned a 12-5 1/2 mark in the pole vault — good enough for second — and freshman Katie McKeever placed third in the discus (155-4).

Men busy in California

and Arizona
The Oregon men’s track team warmed up — literally and figuratively — at the Cardinal Invitational in California and the Arizona State Invitational in Arizona this weekend.
The Ducks notched an NCAA automatic mark and four Pac-10 marks, all in distance-running events, at the weekend-long Cardinal Invitational.
But in Arizona, Simon Kimata, Micah Harris and Terry Ellis had the big meets. Kimata ran a personal best in the 800, a 1:46.65, to potentially take the national lead and earn an automatic NCAA qualifying time. Harris and Ellis ran Pac-10 qualifying times in the 110-meter hurdles.
Kimata’s 800 time was the fourth-best time in Oregon history.
In Palo Alto, Calif., sophomore Jason Hartmann started his 2002 campaign strong with an NCAA mark of 28:51.00 in the 10,000-meter race.
“Today was a good first step,” Hartmann said. “The goal was to get an automatic qualifying mark and run smart. The conditions felt great and the field was ready to go. It’s good to get the qualifying time under your belt, so you can get some confidence and focus on the rest of the season.”
Hartmann’s teammates Adam Bergquist and John Lucas garnered Pac-10 marks Friday in the 5,000 and 10,000, respectively. On Sunday, Ryan Andrus added a Pac-10 mark — the first of his career — in the 1,500, and Brett Holts notched a Pac-10 mark in the steeplechase. Eric Logsdon missed a Pac-10 mark in the steeplechase by a mere quarter-second.
The Ducks have a full week of action ahead of them in the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The Oregon squad will begin action at the meet on Wednesday.