The Oregon-UCLA men’s track dual meet Saturday is considered a throwback, a novelty in today’s track-and-field landscape. Each team uses 34 athletes, and the top three in each event score points. Entering the second year of a two-year agreement, the meet is considered a critical piece to team development this season.
“It’s good for the athletes to put them in a team scoring situation,” said Dan Steele, associate director of track and field. “I think it’s good for the fans. It’s just fun to figure out who’s the best on a given day.”
“I like the dual meet because it’s so fast,” junior Ashton Eaton said. “You don’t have time to do anything but compete. I think that’s when people are at their best, is when they don’t really think about what they’re doing. I like competing against UCLA because I’ve got friends over there.”
The resounding image of last year captures the playful atmosphere of the meet: Bruins head coach Arturo Venegas creating snow angels as hail dumped down on Hayward Field. The lasting memory is a 94-69 Oregon victory, when pre-race form charts predicted a UCLA victory.
“We really destroyed the form charts (last year). I think they’ve learned not to pay that much attention to what the form charts say,” Steele said. “Winning last year, I think it was a huge advantage because we’ve got the same people back and we’re better than we were last year.”
In case the Oregon men haven’t heeded the coaches … well, the top-ranked Ducks are considered the underdogs yet again. A form chart compiled by The Register-Guard has the 16th-ranked Bruins besting the Ducks, 83-80. And this comes off a team loss to Indiana at the Pepsi Team Invitational two weeks ago, which weighed on the coaches despite resting several top athletes.
Then again, last year’s meet was expected to be close, too.
“This team has proven time and time again they know how to step up, they know how to beat people,” Steele said. “I think it’ll probably be a close meet, but if it’s a close meet, I’ve gotta go with the Ducks.”
Season debuts
Senior Galen Rupp and sophomore Andrew Wheating are expected to compete at Hayward Field for their first races of the outdoor season. Rupp is coming off a phenomenal indoor track season, winning individual national titles in the 5,000m and 10,000m and running the anchor leg for the national title-winning distance medley relay. Wheating was the national runner-up in the 800m as the Ducks won the first indoor national track and field title in school history. Rupp has never competed in a collegiate dual meet.
Eaton is also expected to compete in his most extensive action of the outdoor season, entered in four events and potentially competing in six.
“I’m used to it,” he said. “Four events, 10 events – what’s the difference, you know?”
Extending the dual
Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna said that, while an agreement to extend the Oregon-UCLA men’s dual meet beyond this year has not been reached, both sides have been enthusiastic about the meet in its present form.
“The chances of it are pretty good. They like the idea, and they like the concept,” Lananna said. “They think it’s great, they think it’s a rallying point. And for the University of Oregon, that’s exactly what it is, an opportunity to put our team together.
“The downside of it is, some of it’s economic. It doesn’t make sense for UCLA to come to Eugene on a regular basis, and it doesn’t make sense for us to get down there for a dual meet.”
Before last year, Oregon last participated in a two-team dual meet with UCLA in 1985. The Bruins won at Hayward, 100-63, and have an overall series lead of 11-5 on the Ducks. Oregon has not traveled to Los Angeles for a dual meet with UCLA since 1976, but Lananna was open to a road competition when asked.
“Is there a chance? Sure,” he said. “I think it’d come down to where it’d make sense, where it’d fit the schedule.”
Women at Mt. SAC
A cadre of 20 members of the No. 2 Duck women will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays, on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. Among the participants are junior Nicole Blood, who set a personal best in the 5,000m at Mt. SAC last year, and freshman Amber Purvis, who set school records in the 100m and 200m at the Pepsi Invitational.
“This is just another important step in their evolution toward the Pac-10 Championships,” Steele said. “We’re definitely gonna get some good weather, good conditions to compete in, and good athletes to compete against.”
Bowerman’s Pack to be together again
Hayward Field’s student section, dubbed Bowerman’s Pack, will be at the Saturday’s meet again. Students who attend and sign in to the Bowerman’s Pack three of the four regular season meets – the Pepsi Invitational, the dual, the Oregon Relays and the Oregon Twilight – will receive a Bowerman’s Pack T-shirt and a free ticket to the Pacific-10 Conference meet.
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