The Oregon men’s distance medley relay team just missed the NCAA automatic qualifying standard Sunday at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships in Boston. The foursome of Mike McGrath, Chad Barlow, Andrew Wheating and A.J. Acosta finished in nine minutes, 34.06 seconds, a shade off of the 9:34.00 standard. They finished second overall, just behind Wisconsin’s 9:33.29 and in front of Oregon Track Club Elite’s 9:39.43.
Oregon led almost from start to finish, only getting passed by Wisconsin in the final 400 meters.
“It is really tough to lead that event from start to finish but each person ran a very competitive race,” said Oregon assistant coach Andy Powell in a media release.
The time bettered the group’s old school record of 9:36.21 from earlier this season.
The event was classified as an exhibition, meaning the top finishers don’t move on to the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain.
The other Duck runner in Boston was freshman Matthew Centrowitz, who ran the 3,000m. He finished 12th of 16 in 8:13.19, a personal best. His old best, from high school, was 8:20.09.
Former Oregon pole vaulter Tommy Skipper couldn’t clear his opening height in the pole vault. Becky Holliday, the school record holder in the women’s pole vault, was sixth at 14 feet 5 1/4 inches.
The Ducks’ next meet is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships next weekend in Seattle. The men were third at the meet last year, while the women placed seventh.
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