Nick Bakke is in the picture.
Even if he was never in the national javelin scene before he won the Pacific-10 Conference title last week, Oregon sophomore Nick Bakke (pronounced Back-ee) is now officially headed to the NCAA Championships, as the 20th and final member of the javelin field.
When asked if he ever thought about making the NCAA Championships earlier this season, Bakke said, “Not realistically.
“I had high hopes and everything,” Bakke said. “But not realistically, no.”
Bakke moved up the NCAA list Thursday when Oregon junior John Stiegeler bowed out of the meet. Stiegeler tore his anterior cruciate ligament in April, but finished the season ranked fourth in the nation.
Bakke was one of several Oregon athletes who learned their NCAA fate Thursday night. Brandon Holliday, ranked 25th in the 400 hurdles, didn’t move up the list and wasn’t invited to the national meet. On the women’s side, middle-distance runner Eri Macdonald, ranked 25th in the 800-meter race, missed making the NCAA meet by 10 spots.
Several Oregon athletes were assured spots in the final meet of the season, but moved up or down the national lists. The rankings won’t mean anything next week, but for now they provide an idea of where the Oregon team might score points. Only the 1-8 positions score points, in descending order, at the NCAA meet.
On the men’s side, the most dramatic leap was made by Jason Hartmann, who moved from 12th to 10th in the 10,000. Adam Kriz jumped a spot to 12th in the hammer, and Micah Harris went from a tie for 11th to ninth in the 110 hurdles. Two Ducks moved down the list: Simon Kimata went from second to third in the 800 and Trevor Woods dropped from fifth to seventh in the pole vault.
On the women’s side, only one Duck of the five NCAA qualifiers moved on their lists. Javelin thrower Roslyn Lundeen moved from 13th to 12th. Becky Holliday remained third nationally in the pole vault, Sarah Malone stayed at fourth in the javelin, Elisa Crumley stayed at eighth in the javelin and Mary Etter remained ninth in discus.
Oregon will take the qualified athletes to the national meet with high expectations to repeat last season’s success. The men finished ninth overall last year, while the women finished 60th, but made progress.
The Ducks will start competition in the NCAA meet on Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La. Becky Hollid ay, Kriz and Kimata are the three Ducks in action on the first day of the meet. The NCAAs last through Saturday.

Academi-Ducks
Three Oregon track and field athletes were given honors of a different kind than NCAA qualifying marks on Thursday.
Pac-10 decathlon champion Billy Pappas and senior distance runner Adam Bergquist were named to the Verizon District VIII All-Academic first team, while sophomore pole vaulter Woods was named to the second team.
Pappas, a psychology major with a 3.61 GPA, was also named to the same academic honor last season, as well as being named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team.
It was the first such honor for Bergquist, an exercise and movement science major who maintains a 3.99 GPA. Bergquist was named to the Pac-10 All-Academic team his sophomore and junior years.
Oregon was the only school with multiple representatives on the District VIII squad, which encompasses the entire west coast, Arizona and Hawaii.