2008 Woodie Awards
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Clearing their paths
Thirteen individuals and the men's 4x400 relay team solidified NCAA championship spots at Regionals
by Jacob May | Sports Editor
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"Both teams had a very good day," Oregon head coach Vin Lananna said in a media release on Saturday. "We basically advanced just about everyone through that we thought we could."
Oregon, as expected, finished first in the men's 800 meter race thanks to Andrew Wheating's ability to hold off USC's Duane Solomon in the final meters, and Rachel Yurkovich won the women's javelin by a large margin. Yurkovich defended her regional title with a throw of 180 feet, 11 inches on her second attempt and passed on her next two throws. It was 20 feet farther than the second-place finisher.
"All my throws felt pretty good today, but the second one definitely felt the best," Yurkovich said. "It's always nice to win, but the real goal was just to get through to nationals and stay healthy."
In the 800m, Wheating took the lead with 220 meters to go and never surrendered it, finishing in 1:47.93 while Solomon came in at 1:48.52.
"The plan was to stay on the leader and then when I felt comfortable, make my move," Wheating said.
"So I waited until I felt like I was in a good position and went for it," he said. "I gave a little burst there at the end just to make sure no one snuck in at the line."
In the women's 800m, Zoe Buckman finished second, running behind California's Alysia Johnson throughout the entirety of the race and set a personal-best time in 2:02.50. It's the fifth-fastest mark in school history.
"We had a particularly impressive day in the 800 meters," said Lananna. "Zoe (Buckman's) 2:02 is a really outstanding mark, and Andrew Wheating has become a runner. He's learned to win races in different ways and use his versatility."
On Friday, Nicole Blood came in second in the 5,000m with a time of 16:26.69 but Oregon's Sarah Pearson came in fourth with a 14-second personal-best time of 16:28.15. Pearson stayed with the main pack of runners for most of the race chose to break off at the right time.
"I had to decide if I was going to run a fast race or a strategic race," said Pearson. "I knew that when the first group broke early, if I went with them I would die, but I figured that would happen to some of those runners, so I waited for them to fade, because I have a pretty good kick now.
"I decided to make my move with two (laps) to go, and it's a bit risky to make a move with 800 meters left," she said. "But I felt if I didn't make my move then, it could have been my last race. I felt a little better when I ran a couple of girls down, but I didn't feel safe until I crossed the finish line."
Lananna was pleased with the surprise performance after Pearson was seeded ninth out of 25 runners.
"That was the best race of her life, no question," said Lananna. "The way she went out with a gutsy performance and put herself in a place to seize the opportunity to earn a trip to nationals. I couldn't be happier for Sarah."
Carlos Trujillo continued to find success in the distance events after he won the 10,000m at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships. Trujillo finished fourth in 5,000m in 14:06.16.
The NCAA Championships will be held June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. Oregon has 24 contenders for at-large bids that will be announced today.
jmay@dailyemerald.com
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