The Oregon men are clear favorites to win a national title at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, should everything go to plan. Here are Oregon's entries for the men, and a possible
blueprint of how they can win.
400m
Calvin Smith, Florida, 44.96
Gil Roberts, Texas Tech, 44.97
Dwight Mullings, Mississippi State, 44.98
Michael Bingham, Wake Forest, 45.05
Justin Oliver, Texas A&M, 45.34
Jonathan Borlee, Florida State, 45.34
Kevin Borlee, Florida State, 45.51
John Bailey, Mississippi State, 45.55
Chad Barlow, Oregon 46.69
Barlow appears to be a long shot to make the NCAA final, but he's certainly capable of making it past the preliminary round with a solid race. He has not been satisfied with his performances of late, particularly at the Pacific-10
Conference Championships.
800m
Tevan Everett, Texas, 1:47.39
Chris Gowell, Baylor, 1:47.42
Andrew Wheating, Oregon, 1:47.66
Richard Jones, LSU, 1:47.70
Alex McClary, Arkansas, 1:47.78
Jeff Moriarity, Columbia, 1:47.96
Tyler Mulder, Northern Iowa, 1:48.09
Jason Collett, Kansas State, 1:48.23
Two-time NCAA Champion Jacob Hernandez of Texas suffered a hamstring injury this season and could not qualify through the Midwest Regional. For Wheating, in search of his first NCAA individual title, that matters little: "He's got a teammate that is just as fast," Wheating remarked at the NCAA
West Regionals.
1,500m
Matthew Centrowitz, Oregon, 3:36.92
Lee Emanuel, New Mexico, 3:37.25
Garrett Heath, Stanford, 3:37.57
Jack Bolas, Wisconsin, 3:37.64
Craig Miller, Wisconsin, 3:37.81
Michael Coe, Cal, 3:37.98
German Fernandez, Oklahoma State, 3:40.04
David McCarthy, Providence, 3:41.37
Jordan McNamara, Oregon, 3:43.10
Possibly the most exciting event on the men's side, Centrowitz will face serious competition from Arkansas' Emanuel and OSU's Fernandez, possibly the most talented freshman in the nation. McNamara's personal best in the 1,500m is 3:41.13; meaning the event
final is not out of the
question for him.
3,000m
Steeplechase
Jake Morse, Texas, 8:34.57
Corey Thorne, Louisville, 8:36.98
Josh Karanja, Eastern Michigan, 8:37.20
Kyle Perry, BYU, 8:40.29
Kyle Heath, Syracuse, 8:40.89
Chris Winter, Oregon, 8:42.03
Steve Strickland, Utah State, 8:42.71
Stephen Lisgo, Butler, 8:42.84
Winter has raced against Perry, Strickland (twice) and Lisgo this season, and familiarity could impact his race plan. Barring a fall, it's hard to see the senior from North Vancouver, British Columbia fail to score in this meet.
5,000m
Brandon Bethke, Arizona State, 13:27.79
Hassan Mead, Minnesota, 13:28.45
Chris Derrick, Stanford, 13:29.98
David McNeill, Northern Arizona, 13:30.63
Shadrack Biwott, Oregon, 13:36.25
Ryan Vail, Oklahoma State, 13:37.06
Rory Fraser, New Mexico, 13:39.85
Michael Maag, Princeton, 13:41.17
Galen Rupp, Oregon, 13:46.41
Scott Wall, Oregon, 13:49.40
Hard to imagine a race favorite with only the 12th-best time of the season, but Rupp certainly qualifies after winning the West Regional 5,000m over Bethke, Derrick, McNeill and teammate Biwott. Wall is a threat to score but a likely casualty to
team strategy.
10,000m
Sam Chelanga, Liberty, 27:28.48
Shawn Forrest, Arkansas, 27:52.10
Dan Nunn, Georgetown, 28:24.10
Patrick Smyth, Notre Dame, 28:25.85
Girma Mecheso, Auburn, 28:26.09
Galen Rupp, Oregon, 28:28.68
James Strang, Arkansas, 28:29.27
Yosef Ghebray, Cal, 28:32.27
Luke Puskedra, Oregon, 28:34.17
Diego Mercado, Oregon, 28:48.54
Daniel Mercado, Oregon, 28:53.02
Galen Rupp has never lost a race to Sam Chelanga, who now holds the collegiate record in this event. Rupp is likely the favorite to win this race, but Puskedra is an especially potent threat to score and cap off a sensational freshman year.
Long Jump
Alan Bailey, Arkansas, 8.06m
Julian Reid, Texas A&M, 8.04m
Jeremy Hicks, LSU, 8.00m
Luis Rivera-Morales, Arizona, 7.95m
Nicholas Gordon, Nebraska, 7.93m
Mychael Stewart, Arkansas, 7.92m
Mandhla Mgijima, Western Kentucky, 7.90m
Reindell Cole, Cal-State Northridge, 7.86m
Vernell Warren, Oregon, 7.62m
This year won't be Warren's year, but the sophomore from Portland will gain invaluable experience as he progresses as a track athlete.
Javelin Throw
Cyrus Hostetler, Oregon, 83.16m
Corey White, USC, 82.97m
Chris Hill, Georgia, 81.03m
Craig Kinsley, Brown, 73.62m
Matthias Treff, Virginia Tech, 73.11m
Cody Fillinich, Northwestern State, 73.11m
Pontus Thomee, Boise State, 72.93m
Kyle Nielsen, Washington, 72.90m
Alex Wolff, Oregon, 71.77m
Hostetler, White and Hill are clearly the class of the field, but conditions could easily bring them down to the level of the remaining athletes. Wolff, who set a personal best at Pac-10s, has a legitimate shot to score at nationals for the first time in his career.
Decathlon
Ashton Eaton, Oregon, 8091 points
Moritz Cleve, Kansas State, 8004
Mateo Sossah, UNC, 7821
Mat Clark, Northern Iowa, 7785
Trinity Otto, Texas A&M, 7655
R.J. McGinnis, Minnesota, 7626
Lars Rise, Missouri, 7617
Rok Derzanic, Kansas State, 7535
Marshall Ackley, Oregon, 7337
Florida State's Gonzalo Barriolhet exited the outdoor season early with shoulder surgery, leaving the decathlon as Eaton's to lose. Ackley could break 7,500 points for the first time in Fayetteville, but that does not guarantee that he would score.
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