In the race between Immediate Future and Long Term at the Oregon Twilight on Saturday, Long Term won by a nose.
The Ducks caught a glimpse of their distance-running future as miler Mike McGrath passed a big name — Steve Prefontaine — on Oregon’s prep list in the Bill McChesney Jr. Memorial Twilight Mile. McGrath, who ran the race in 4 minutes, 5.28 seconds, is now ranked third all-time in the state and is signed to come to Oregon next year.
“I came here to run 4:04, and getting under four would’ve been icing on the cake,” McGrath said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to get there, though.”
McGrath said he’s excited about running on the Hayward Field track as a collegian.
“If I’m going to (go under four minutes) anywhere, it’s going to be here,” McGrath said.
Another high schooler, Galen Rupp, made a splash in the 3,000. Rupp took aim at Prefontaine’s high school record in the event, but missed it by six seconds. He finished third overall in 8:14.00
But as far as their immediate future is concerned, the Ducks took another successful step toward the Pacific-10 Conference Championships with a strong showing at the rainy Oregon Twilight. In their last chance to qualify, several Ducks notched marks that vaulted them into the Pac-10 and NCAA regional meets.
The most important of those marks came from Jordan Kent, who ran his only 200-meter race of the regular season and didn’t botch the chance. He dominated the first half of the race, finished in 21.09 seconds and won the event. His time was a personal best by .20 seconds and good enough to put him fourth on the conference list.
“Today I felt good,” said Kent, who pulled out of the 200 at the Oregon Invitational last week because of a minor groin injury. “But I didn’t expect to PR. I just got out pretty fast.”
The Ducks also got important qualifying marks from Ryan Flaherty in the 800 and Jeff Lindsey in the high jump. Flaherty, a freshman and former Oregon high school champion in the 800, won the event handily and was excited to notch his first qualifying time as a Duck.
“I’m stoked,” he said. “It’s been bugging me for awhile that I couldn’t get that mark, and this felt great. It definitely gives me confidence heading into Pac-10s.”
Lindsey, like fellow freshman Chad Clason at the Oregon Invitational, used the presence of former Duck standout Kyley Johnson to jump an NCAA-regional qualifying height of 6 feet, 9 1/2 inches. Johnson won the event at the same height but had fewer misses.
Most of the other Oregon winners, like Eric Mitchum in the 110 hurdles and Brandon Holliday in the 400 hurdles, had already qualified for the conference and regional meets before Saturday’s action.
Jason Hartmann, who won the 3,000 in his only race at Hayward Field this season, said he just wanted to come out and give the 3,301 fans in attendance a good show.
“It felt good to get out and give them something they want,”
Hartmann said.
Hartmann is one of many Ducks who now feel primed for the Pac-10 meet. Despite the cold, blustery conditions at Hayward Field on Saturday, the meet provided the best possible tune-up for the conference finale in two weeks.
“We continue to show a lot of steady improvement,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said. “Everything will get a lot more serious here in a couple weeks.”
The Pac-10 heptathlon and decathlon will take place Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles. The rest of the Oregon crew will head down for the big meet on May 17-18, and the NCAA West Regionals will be held at Stanford starting May 30.
On Friday, Brett Holts ran down to preview the Stanford steeplechase at the Cardinal Invitational. He finished 10th in the elite field but lowered his personal best in the event by almost two seconds. He was already qualified for the regional meet in the event.