DUCKS DISTANCE ON DISPLAY AT MCCRAVY MEMORIAL
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Both the strength and depth of the Oregon men’s distance team was on full display at the Rod McCravy Memorial, Friday, capping a day of personal bests across all events.
The Men of Oregon went 1-2-3 in the men’s 5,000 led by senior Eric Jenkins who sprinted home to finish in 13:31.76, the third-fastest time in Oregon history. He was followed by Parker Stinson, who finished in 13:38.68 for a personal best, and transfer Will Geoghegan who posted a time of 13:43.22. Jenkins and Stinson now own the top two times in the NCAA this season while Geoghegan is fourth. Finishing behind the trio in fifth was Jeramy Elkaimwith a time of 14:20.66, ranking 12th in the nation this season.
Continuing the trend of strong distance running and picking up another event win was the men’s distance medley relay team of John Gregorek, Marcus Chambers, Nikolaus Franzmair and Edward Cheserek who ran away from the competition to finish in 9:32.61, the fastest collegiate time of the season. After steady first and second legs from Gregorek and Chambers, the freshman Franzmair held his own in the 800 against NCAA runner-up Ryan Schnulle of Florida, setting the stage for Cheserek to break away with 800 meters left in his anchor leg on his way to a four-second victory.
“It was a good day for the Ducks as far as their ability to go out and get some qualifying marks early in the season,” said head coach Robert Johnson. “The guys in the 5k did an outstanding job and then to turn around and run a qualifying time in the DMR was great.”
Jenna Prandini and Jasmine Todd competed in the long jump where both finished in the top four. Prandini led the strong field into the finals with an indoor personal best of 21-2.5 (6.46m) which ranks third in Oregon history. The junior passed on each of her finals attempts, conceding the victory to Sha’Keela Saunders who finished as the runner-up to Prandini at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships but jumped 21-5.25 on her final attempt to snag the victory, Friday. The two are the only women in the country to surpass the 21-foot mark this season.
Todd, who finished sixth in the event last season at the NCAA Indoor Championships, used a mark of 20-6.5 (6.26m) on her first finals attempt to take fourth, ranking 10th in the NCAA.
Prandini and Todd will both take to the track tomorrow against an extremely competitive field in the 60-meter dash.
Freshman Ashlee Moore and Lauren Crockett started the day for the Ducks in the pentathlon, finishing third and fifth, respectively. Moore’s first pentathlon resulted in a score of 3,850, ranking fifth in Oregon history. Crockett set a personal best with 3,686 points highlighted by a personal record in the high jump of 6-0.75 (1.85m). That height ranks second in UO history and third in the NCAA so far this season.
In another competitive race, the women’s DMR team of Katie Porada,Christian Brennan, Annie Leblanc and Alli Cash took fourth in 11:12.12.
Greg Skipper made his 2015 debut in the weight throw and used his first toss of 67-1.5 (20.46m) to finish fourth. Teammate Arthur Delaney also finished fourth, running to a time of 21.42 in the men’s 200.
Freshman long jumper Nate Moore made his Oregon debut in the event, leaping to a best of 24-3.5 (7.40m) for a fifth-place finish in front of Trevor Ferguson (23-4.75/7.13m) who finished eighth.
The Rod McCravy Memorial will continue, Saturday at 9 a.m. PT. The meet will be streamed live on SEC Network+. With a strong slate of competition, the Ducks will look for another day full of NCAA qualifying marks.
“We knew this was going to be a high caliber meet and we prepared for the competition we were going to face here,” Johnson said. “We have a very talented group of men and women and they are going out and showing what they can do.”
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