Elite 800 Powers Duck Women to First MPSF Crown

Elite 800 Powers Duck Women to First MPSF Crown
Courtesy: GoDucks.com
Release: 02/27/2010





SEATTLE, Wash. – Wins by Amber Purvis [Hercules, Calif. (Benicia)] , Andrew Wheating, Jordan Hasay [Arroyo Grande, Calif. (Mission College Prep) ] and Anne Kesselring were among the top performances for the Oregon track and field teams as the Ducks tuned up for the NCAA Indoor Championships Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation meet at the Dempsey Indoor Facility.

“Many of our athletes, particularly on the men’s side, weren’t entered in their top events in preparation for the NCAA Championships in two weeks,” said Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. “We always aim to be at our peak going into the NCAAs, and I think we’re set up pretty well right now.”

The Oregon women won the MPSF title for the first time in school history with 133 points. Stanford was second with 113 points, followed by Arizona (109) and Arizona State (75). The men were sixth with 59 points. UCLA won with 108.5.

Hasay, a freshman from Arroyo Grande, Calif., got the women rolling on Saturday with a win in the mile. Her time, 4:35.01, was a three-second personal best, and was less than :02 off the school record, 4:33.26, set 28 years ago by Leann Warren. Hasay’s mark was also an MPSF meet record and an NCAA Championships automatic qualifier.

Senior Nicole Blood [Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Royal HS, Simi Valley, CA)] was right behind Hasay in a personal-best 4:38.88, the fourth-fastest mile in school history.

Purvis, a sophomore from Hercules, Calif., added another 10 points to the women’s total by winning the 60 meters in a Dempsey Indoor Facility record 7.30 seconds. That NCAA provisional time lowered her own school record by .03. Oregon also received four points from junior Mandy White’s fifth-place 60 meter finish in 7.51.

Kesselring, a freshman from Nurnberg, Germany, was the third women’s victor of the day, taking the 800 meters in an NCAA provisional 2:05.72, which ranked third all-time at Oregon. She led an onslaught of Duck scoring in the 800 – 22 points – as junior Zoe Buckman was fourth in a personal-best 2:06.78, freshman Chloe Steinbeck placed fifth in 2:08.65 and freshman Becca Friday was sixth in 2:10.22.

“The women had a lot of nice performances,” said Lananna. “Hasay and Blood were great in the mile, so was Kesselring in the 800 and Amber Purvis running 7.30 is a big-time performance.”

Other highlights for the women:

· In the 60 meter hurdles, sophomore Brianne Theisen broke her own school record in a third-place run in 8.40 that was also an NCAA provisional qualifier. Sophomore Lyndsay Pearson was sixth in that race in 8.62.

· Rita Santibanez had a PR by nearly a foot to take third in the shot put. The senior from Salem, Ore., threw 47-0.75 on Saturday.

· Senior Mattie Bridgmon placed third in the 3,000 meters in an NCAA provisional 9:25.20.

· In the pole vault, junior Melissa Gergel tied for third at 13-7.25 and sophomore Jordan Roskelley took sixth at 13-1.5.

· Junior Michele Williams captured fourth in the 400 meters in the second-fastest time in school history, 54.63.

· In the high jump Theisen tied for fourth with a clearance at 5-8.5. Jasmine Kelly also cleared 5-8.5 and was awarded sixth based on misses. That height moved the junior from Vancouver, Wash., to No. 4 all-time on the Oregon indoor list.

· The Ducks’ 4x400 meter relay team of Theisen, White, Camilla Dencer and Alexandria Davidson placed third in 3:42.33.

On the men’s side, Wheating won the mile in an indoor personal-best 3:58.20, a time that ranks fourth at Oregon. The Ducks also had a second and a fourth-place finish in the 60 meters hurdles. Eric Hersey took second in 7.96, while junior Justin Cross was fourth in 8.22. Hersey, a junior from Los Altos, Calif., cracked 8.00 in the 60 hurdles for the first time in his career and also moved into a tie for fourth on the UO indoor list.

Also, the men’s 4x400 meter relay improved its NCAA Indoor chances by running a season-best 3:07.61 to finish in second. The team of Matt Butcher, Ashton Eaton, Travis Thompson and Chad Barlow improved upon the Ducks’ previous season best by more than a second.

“Andrew Wheating was great in the mile and we accomplished what we needed to in the men’s 4x400 relay by improving our chances for an NCAA bid,” said Lananna. “Obviously, we chose to rest guys like Mac Fleet [San Diego, Calif. (University City)] and Elijah Greer in the middle distances, as well as Ashton Eaton in the heptathlon, for the NCAA meet.”

Other highlights for the men:

· In the heptathlon, Marshall Ackley won the 1,000 meters in 2:41.06 to take third overall, scoring a personal-best 5,324 points. That score was just one point shy of being an NCAA provisional qualifier.

· Sophomore Danny Marconi placed fourth in the high jump with a clearance at 6-11.5, which was also a personal best.

· Junior Chad Barlow was sixth in the 400 meter in 47.80.

· Sophomore Brian Schaudt tied for seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 48-5.5.

· Senior A.J. Acosta [Oceanside, Calif. (El Camino)] was eighth in the 3,000 meters in 8:06.69.

Oregon will have a handful of individuals in action at last chance meets next weekend before the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 12-13.

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