Every year, the Stanford Invitational comes along early in the track and field outdoor season. And every year, the Oregon men and women compete at Cobb Track and Angell Field, looking for high marks that will vault them into the NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
On Friday, one men’s competitor and three Oregon women qualified for this year’s regionals, set to be held at Stanford in early June. Saturday saw the same kind of results, with Kirsten Riley claiming an NCAA regional mark in the pole vault.
Riley, whose top height this year of 13 feet, 5 1/2 inches came during the indoor season, edged out Santa Barbara’s Deborah Sampson. Both cleared the height of 12-11 3/4, but Riley did so with less misses. She failed to clear 13-4.
The clearance was Riley’s first of the outdoor season after missing the Oregon Preview the previous week because her poles had yet to land in Eugene after the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
“I changed my approach and added two more steps in my run-up, and it felt pretty good,” Riley said. “When we went up to 13-4, my first attempt was OK, but the second two were off.”
Senior Mary Etter upped her season best in the discus (169-7), but had already qualified for a regional berth the previous week.
Riley was the only Oregon woman to claim victory Saturday, and on Friday, the Ducks failed to win any single event. However, they did put forth an impressive showing.
Sophomore javelin thrower Roslyn Lundeen earned an NCAA regional mark with a throw of 155-9. Lundeen skipped the Oregon Preview because of a slight elbow injury she suffered in December.
“My throws were all about the same, but weak,” she said. “I’m trying to be more cautious and patient with my arm this year after having to fight through injuries all of last year.”
Sophomore Magdalena Sandoval earned an NCAA regional mark
in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:43.94, while senior Georgette Moyle matched the regional requirement of 12 feet in the pole vault.
On the men’s side, junior Ryan Andrus earned an NCAA provisional mark in the 10,000, taking 14th at 29:12.02. The mark is Oregon’s fastest in the event this year, and is just 12 seconds under the NCAA automatic mark.
Sophomore Brett Holts came in well under the NCAA regional requirement for the steeplechase, finishing the event in 8 minutes, 52.41 seconds. The time was by far a personal record for the Bend native, as his previous best was 8:57.33 at the Cardinal Invitational — also hosted by Stanford — last May.
At the Oregon Preview the weekend before the Stanford Invitational, the Ducks fared well, too, with the men posting six regional marks and the women five.
For the fans at Hayward Field, it wasn’t about who did well, but about who competed.
Javelin thrower John Stiegeler and decathlete Santiago Lorenzo, who both missed all or most of the 2002 outdoor season, competed at Hayward for the first time since their injuries. Neither fared particularly well by their standards — Stiegeler posted a regional mark at 219-11 and Lorenzo’s best finish was third in the 110 hurdles (14.90). However, Lorenzo also anchored the 4×400 team, which took the event at 3:12.99.
“It feels great,” Stiegeler said of his left knee, the area in which he tore his anterior cruciate ligament last year in the Texas Relays. “It’s been awhile. It’s a good test to see where my knee’s at. It’s improved quite a bit.”
Lorenzo, the 2001 NCAA Champion in the decathlon, redshirted the outdoor season to rehabilitate a quad muscle injury he suffered last February.
Lorenzo said he was excited to begin the year at Hayward and wanted to remind the fans in Eugene that he was still around.
“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “Hard work has definitely been paying off. It’s a great way to start off the year.”
On the women’s side, Jordan Sauvage took first in the hammer in a big way. The senior eclipsed the school record — set by Maureen Morrison in 2000 — with a throw of 188-3, and easily won the event. It was also an NCAA regional mark.