Woods named Athlete of Week
Oregon sophomore Trevor Woods on Monday became the second Duck this season to win the Pacific-10 Conference’s men’s field event Athlete of the Week honor.
The All-American from Coos Bay was rewarded for his win and first career 18-foot clearance in the pole vault (18-0 1/2) in the Oregon-Washington dual meet Saturday. Heading into last weekend’s action, only two other vaulters nationally had met or bettered the 5.50-meter equivalent mark this season.
Woods’ effort moved him to fourth all-time for the Ducks and also one of only four ever to clear the 18-foot barrier. The conference pole vault leader in 2002 also had NCAA provisional 17-6 1/2 clearances in his two prior outdoor stops. Indoors in March, he upped his then-PR to 17-11 3/4 for third in the NCAA Championships in March — the same height as the winner but with more misses.
Last season, Woods took fourth as a freshman in the 2001 Pac-10 Championships (17-3) and was one of two freshmen invited to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Other winners Monday from the remaining three men’s and women’s categories included Washington’s Eric Garner (men’s track — 800 — 1:50.80; 1,500 — 3:43.40), USC’s Nakiya Johnson (women’s track — 400 — 52.30) and Arizona’s Brianna Glenn (women’s field — long jump — 21-5; 100 — 11.36).
In the award’s second edition of the 2002 outdoor season, Woods followed the lead of teammate and redshirt junior John Stiegeler, who won the honor a week prior. The fellow Coos Bay native won the javelin in the Texas Relays on April 6 with a first attempt effort and NCAA automatic mark of 242-11, barely four feet short of his season best and national-leading mark of 247-0. Stiegeler, however, tore a ligament in his left knee in the competition and will sit out the remainder of the season.
The Duck men and women look forward this week to the Mt. SAC Relays, scheduled to begin Thursday in Walnut, Calif. The Ducks will likely enter decathletes Billy Pappas and Jason Slye and heptathlete Jenny Kenyon in combined event competitions starting Thursday at nearby Azusa Pacific University.
— from staff and wire reports
