Can Oregon's women win a national title? Possibly, but it's an outside shot, one that's broken down by each event an Oregon woman is entered in at next weekend's NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
400m
Jessica Beard, Texas A&M, 51.24
Leslie Cole, Oklahoma, 51.55
Keshia Baker, Oregon, 51.74
Francena McCorory, Hampton, 51.75
Joanna Atkins, Auburn, 51.77
Lajada Baldwin, Ole Miss, 51.95
Alexandria Spruiel, North Carolina A&T, 51.95
Shelise Williams, Arkansas, 52.32
After setting the school record at the Pac-10 Championships, Baker has shown a knack for rising to the occasion. That knack could wrest the individual title away from Beard, who finished fourth at NCAAs last year.
800m
Phoebe Wright, Tennessee, 2:02.15
Geena Gall, Michigan, 2:02.29
Molly Beckwith, Indiana, 2:02.51
LaTavia Thomas, LSU, 2:02.77
Pilar McShine, Florida State, 2:02.89
Lacey Cramer, BYU, 2:03.01
Laura Hermanson, North Dakota State, 2:03.21
Chanelle Price, Tennessee, 2:03.30
12. Zoe Buckman, Oregon, 2:05.21
Buckman has a personal-best time of 2:02.50 in the 800m, and the women will absolutely need her to score for there to be any hope of a national championship.
Wright is a former walk-on who became a three-time
All-American for the Lady Vols.
1,500m
Susan Kuijken, Florida State, 4:08.90
Lauren Centrowitz, Stanford, 4:10.42
Brenda Martinez, UC Riverside, 4:13.58
Sarah Bowman, Tennessee, 4:13.59
Lucy VanDalen, Stony Brook, 4:13.72
Maggie Infeld, Georgetown, 4:16.37
Katie Palmer, BYU, 4:16.44
Christine Babcock, Washington, 4:16.50
13. Alex Kosinski, Oregon, 4:18.43
Kosinski performed well in comparatively slow 1,500m races at Pac-10s and regionals, but she will be hard-pressed to score if this race comes out fast.
3,000m Steeplechase
Jenny Barringer, Colorado, 9:26.30
Nicole Bush, Michigan State, 9:39.38
Bridget Franek, Penn State, 9:43.57
Mel Lawrence, Washington, 9:52.77
Silje Fjortoft, SMU, 9:56.73
Erin Bedell, Baylor, 9:58.46
Lennie Waite, Rice, 10:00.30
Zsofia Erdelyi, USC, 10:01.99
27. Claire Michel, Oregon, 10:23.14
Michel, the school-record holder in this event, is ranked 27th out of 27 runners for her first-ever trip to nationals.
5,000m
Angela Bizzarri, Illinois, 15:37.39
Nicole Blood, Oregon, 15:42.13
Katie Follett, Washington, 15:48.72
Gwen Jorgensen, Wisconsin, 15:52.19
Janet Jesang, Western Kentucky, 15:52.22
Kellyn Johnson, Wichita State, 16:02.25
Marie-Louise Asselin, West Virginia, 16:03.29
Frances Koons, Villanova, 16:06.12
Blood and Bizzarri competed against one another at the 2008 U.S. Track and Field Trials. Adding in Follett, a member of the Huskies' national-champion cross country squad, this race will go a long way toward determining whether the Oregon women can win a national championship; they'll need at least eight of these points.
10,000m
Lisa Koll, Iowa State, 32:43.85
Andrea Walkonen, Boston, 33:13.66
Clara Grandt, West Virginia, 33:16.96
Danette Doetzel, Providence, 33:23.22
Mattie Bridgmon, Oregon, 33:37.73
Catherine White, Arkansas, 33:37.83
Cecily Lemmon, BYU, 33:38.34
Anita Campbell, Washington, 33:40.22
Bridgmon's 10,000m seed time came on March 27, which could indicate how she'll run at nationals; then again, half of the top eight ran their seed times in the month of March.
Pole Vault
Katie Stripling, Arkansas, 4.40m
Natalie Willer, Nebraska, 4.38m
Alicia Rue, Minnesota, 4.35m
Melissa Gergel, Oregon, 4.32m
Kylie Hutson, Indiana State, 4.32m
Vera Neuenswander, Indiana, 4.31m
Katy Viuf, UCLA, 4.30m
Rachel Laurent, LSU, 4.30m
Gergel set out to prove that her surprise Pac-10 Championship in the pole vault was no fluke, and she responded by winning the regional individual title. Positive momentum is hard to discount in a crowded field, and a top-three finish could push Oregon over the top.
Long Jump
Blessing Okagbare, UTEP, 6.86m
Rhonda Watkins, UCLA, 6.66m
TiAnca Mock, Oklahoma, 6.64m
Karoline Koehler, San Diego State, 6.64m
Shara Proctor, Florida, 6.61m
Kimberly Williams, Florida State, 6.57m
Jeomi Maduka, Cornell, 6.55m
Bianca Stewart, Southern Illinois, 6.54m
12. Jamesha Youngblood,
Oregon, 6.43m
While Okagbare and Watkins, a Beijing Olympian from Trinidad and Tobago, compete for the title, Youngblood could sneak into the top eight - after all, she snuck past Watkins with a school-record leap to win the Pac-10 title in this event.
Triple Jump
Kimberly Williams, Florida State, 13.98m
Sarah Nambawa, MTSU, 13.94m
Yasmine Regis, Texas A&M, 13.75m
Shara Proctor, Florida, 13.74m
Blessing Okagbare, UTEP, 13.73m
Karoline Koehler, San Diego State, 13.64m
Neidra Covington, TCU, 13.56m
Lauren Martin, Indiana State, 13.53m
18. Jamesha Youngblood, Oregon 13.16m
Youngblood is far less likely to score in the triple jump than in the long jump, but any points she scores at nationals would be the first of her career.
Discus Throw
Annie Alexander, Tennessee, 57.53m
Simone DuToit, SMU, 57.35m
Sarah Stevens, Arizona State, 57.21m
Ashley Muffet, Kentucky, 57.20m
D'Andra Carter, Texas Tech, 57.04m
Jere' Summers, Louisville, 56.81m
Emily Pendleton, Michigan, 55.06m
Tiphanie Dietz, Oklahoma State, 54.09m
19. Lucy Cridland, Oregon, 51.92m
Heading into nationals for the first time as a senior, Cridland has been the feel-good story for the women after receiving an automatic qualifier on her very last throw of the West Regionals.
Javelin Throw
Kara Patterson, Purdue, 58.56m
Rachel Yurkovich, Oregon 58.26m
Marissa Tschida, Washington State, 55.38m
Katie Coronado, New Mexico, 55.18m
Kim Hanslovan, Penn State, 54.35m
Anna Wessman, UTEP, 54.23m
Michelle Thompson, Georgia, 54.21m
Karlee McQuillen, Penn State, 53.62m
As Rachel Yurkovich throws for her second consecutive NCAA title, teammate Ashley McCrea (13th-best throw among qualifiers) will not compete after tearing the meniscus, ACL and MCL in her plant leg.
Heptathlon
Brianne Theisen, Oregon, 5986 points
Liz Roehrig, Minnesota, 5871
Bettie Wade, Michigan, 5834
Megan Wheatley, Nebraska, 5800
Kalinda McFadden, Oregon, 5780
Gayle Hunter, Penn State, 5730
Nia Ali, USC, 5681
Ryann Krais, UCLA, 5606
It's unlikely that the Oregon women will score 18 points again, but Theisen is likely to both win the event and score over 6,000 points. UCLA's Krais is a budding star in the heptathlon, the only freshman among the top eight seeds.
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