Coming off an impressive showing at the Oregon Twilight meet at Hayward Field Saturday, Oregon’s track and field program reaped benefits with a rare sweep of the weekly Pac-12 awards announced Tuesday.
De’Anthony Thomas, Becca Friday, Dakotah Keys and Brianne Theisen each garnered recognition for their standout performances.
Thomas, a freshman known widely for his exploits on the football field, earned Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after taking second in the 200 meters (21.60 seconds) and third in the 100 meters (10.65) — while also playing the anchor role on the first place 4×100-meter relay team. This was Thomas’ first appearance as a member of Oregon’s team. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205425220@@
Friday, meanwhile, earned Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after pacing all collegiate competitors in the 800-meter race. The junior’s time of 2:05.61 was a personal best — and also placed her 10th in school history.
Off the track, Keys took Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the Pac-12 title in the decathlon. Though it was just the freshman’s second time competing in the event, he was able to post victories in the javelin, high jump and long jump as Oregon took its eighth decathlon title in the last 12 years.
Rounding out Oregon’s sweep, Theisen was named Women’s Field Athlete of the Week on the heels of a Pac-12 heptathlon title and conference record 6,353 points. The senior was victorious in five of the seven events, and her score proved to be the third-highest by a collegiate athlete in NCAA history. Theisen also won the title in 2009 and 2010 but missed out on a chance for three straight last year due to an injury.
So far this season, senior Alex Kosinski@@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=3645736@@ is the only other Oregon competitor to win Athlete of the Week honors, garnering recognition in the Women’s Track category back on April 10.