NCAA Track and Field: Noble, Yurkovich Lead Ducks in Oregon Preview

On the men’s side, junior Michael McGrath cruised to the 1,500m win with his fastest time as a Duck (3:44.25).

Photo: goducks.com

EUGENE - The University of Oregon track and field teams successfully opened their outdoor season Saturday with 15 wins (6W, 9M), 10 regional qualifying marks (5W, 5M) and two women’s meet records in the Oregon Preview, held at historic Hayward Field on the UO campus.

Under nearly ideal, 66 and sunny weather conditions, the sophomore pair of Rachel Yurkovich and Rebekah Noble enjoyed meet records in front of a record crowd of 5,699 spectators that easily surpassed the previous record of 4,291 from last year.

Yurkovoich posted the second best javelin throw all-time for the Ducks on her first throw of the season (184-6).

That winning heave improved on her former best of 179-10 that came in the ’06 Oregon Preview and ranked her fifth in the U.S. and seventh in the collegiate ranks at the end of last season.

The Newberg, Ore., native followed with the best series of her career with marks of 178-5, 179-0 and 167-0 on her second, third and fourth throws (note: all field events had four attempt series Saturday instead of a traditional six attempts).

Yurkovich, an All-American and Pac-10 and West Regional champion for UO as a frosh, rewrote the former meet record (175-7) set by school record holder Sarah Malone in her senior season in 2005.

Malone, also a Newberg High School alumnus, posted only one throw in her career longer than Yurkovich’s Saturday – a school record that won the 2005 West Regional (186-10).

The Ducks also scored another javelin regional qualifier Saturday from sophomore Ashley McCrea (second, 152-3) who topped the 142-6 regional qualifying standard.

Freshman Kara Meeuwsen (fourth, 141-2) was 1 foot, 4 inches away from a third invitation.

On the track, Noble bested the 800m field by over 20 meters en route to her third, sub-2:05.00 clocking on her home track (first, 2:04.70) in her young career.

The returning NCAA outdoor champion and two-time NCAA indoor runner-up edged Melanie Hardy of Team XO (second, 2:10.82), and Noble easily met the NCAA regional standard of 2:09.80.

Two other Ducks added regional marks in the field events – the pole vault duo of senior Emily Enders and freshman Eniko Eros – who exactly matched the standard (12-5 1/2) and finished second and third, respectively.

Overall in the event, Concordia pole vaulter Jessie Gallaher (first, 13-1 1/2) tied the meet record previously set by Kirsten (Riley) Larwin in 2004.

Oregon’s sprint crew shouldered the heaviest workload of the afternoon, as the newcomer pair of junior Kavina Hall and freshman Keshia Baker won the 200m (24.82) and 400m (56.47), respectively, and also ran on the winning 4x100m relay (46.79).

Hall also competed in the 100m (fifth, 12.56) and 400m (third, 57.01), and Baker ran the 100m (sixth, 12.58) and 200m (eighth, 25.83).

In the meet finale, the Duck duo ran on the first- and second-place relays that ran times of 3:48.84 and 3:53.19, respectively.

Other noteworthy Duck women’s marks Saturday of came from sophomores Megan Maloney (hammer, second, 174-6) and Leah Worthen (200m, second, 25.00; 400m, second, 56.57), and freshmen Keara Sammons (3,000m, third, 9:44.95) and Lauren Zaludek (1,500m, third, 4:43.82).

Other top non-Oregon women's marks came from former Duck Amber McGown of Team XO (1,500m, first, 4:21.25), Cack Ferrell of Oregon Track Club Elite (3,000m, first, 9:26.42) and Cari Soong of Team XO (hammer, first, 205-8).

On the men’s side, junior Michael McGrath cruised to the 1,500m win with his fastest time as a Duck (3:44.25), and easily met the 3:47.80 regional qualifying standard.

The Portland, Ore., native held off Sean Graham of the Oregon Track Club Elite team at the finish line (second, 3:44.37) in a race that also featured freshman A.J. Acosta (fourth, 3:48.66).

McGrath’s time improved on his former Duck best of 3:44.70 from the Pac-10 Championships final in Eugene last spring.

His overall personal best came in ’05 when he redshirted and ran 3:42.44 in Stanford, Calif., at the Payton Jordan Open that May.

UO’s other four regional qualifying marks Saturday came in the field events, courtesy of redshirt sophomore Mark Lewis who tied his personal best in the shot put (first, 55-2 3/4) and seniors David Moore (pole vault, first, 16-6 3/4), Brian Richotte (hammer, first, 198-3) and Ryan Brandel (javelin, first, 213-2).

Moore was just under his outdoor best of 16-8 3/4, and Brandel was barely a foot off his personal best (214-3) that placed him sixth in the 2006 Pac-10 Championships in Eugene.

The Duck sprint crew was also busy racking up four wins – courtesy of junior Marcus Dillon (400m, 47.55), sophomore Jared Huske (100m hurdles, 14.35), the 4x100m of Dillon, freshman Ashton Eaton, junior Phil Alexander and Huske (40.74), and the 4x400m of Alexander, freshman Chad Barlow, Eaton and Dillon (3:16.88).

Other notable Oregon men’s marks were turned in by Alexander (400m, second, 47.93) and Barlow (400m, third, 48.14), sophomores Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (3,000m, third, 8:20.20) and Jack Jensen (high jump, third, two-inch PR 6-7 1/2), and freshmen Colin Witter-Tilton (pole vault, second, 16-0 3/4) and Jamie Slade (javelin, fourth, 197-2).

Saturday’s lone men’s meet record came from unattached post-collegiate high jumper Eugene Hutchinson (first, 7-4 1/2) who was just off his personal best (7-5) that ranked him in a tie for seventh last season on the U.S. season best list.

Additional noteworthy non-UO men's marks were turned in by Oregon Track Club Elite distance runners Brandon Shaw (800m, first, 1:49.10) and Tom Brooks (3,000m, first, 8:11.13).

Complete meet results are available at the www.GoDucks.com website.

Looking ahead, the Duck men and women will send a large unit of sprinters, jumpers and throwers to the Arizona State Invitational, scheduled for Fri.-Sat., March 23rd-24th in Tempe, Ariz.

The following week, a corps of distance runners will compete in the Stanford Invitational, Fri.-Sat., March 30th-31st in Stanford, Calif.

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