Oregon University Ducks win 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- By himself, Galen Rupp would have tied for 10th at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Fortunately, he had a whole team of Ducks behind him.

Rupp won the 3,000 meters and Ashton Eaton won the heptathlon to lead the Men of Oregon to the first NCAA Indoor national title in school history Saturday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. Rupp became the first person in NCAA history to win the 5,000 meters, 3,000 meters and the distance medley relay in the same championship.

"This has been a fun experience," said Rupp, who joked that he was going on strike from running for a week following his taxing two-day performance. "One of the most fun meets ever. I just wanted to come out today and run well.

"I figured it was my last indoor meet in college, so I might as well go out strong and go for it," said the senior from Portland. "I might hurt tomorrow, but I’m on an adrenaline kick right now."

Rupp also added to his all sports school record with his 12th career All-America award, and in the process passed Matt Scherer and Leann Warren for the most All-America certificates won in track and field with nine.

Meanwhile, the UO women continue to rewrite school history as a clutch performance from Nicole Blood helped Oregon set school standards for the best finish at the Indoor Championships - a tie for ninth - and points with 21.

"It was a great day, a big day for the Ducks," said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna, who won his first NCAA Indoor championship. "(The men) had a chance to do something really special at this meet and executed the plan coaching staff developed just about as well as they could have.

"Our women got their first top-10 finish and took a fantastic step forward these past two days," Lananna added.

Entering the day with a commanding lead, the Duck men actually locked up the championship before Rupp set foot on the track, thanks to Eaton in the heptathlon and Andrew Wheating in the 800 meters.

Eaton used a personal-best 7.90 in the 60 meter hurdles to win that event and jump start his day in the heptathlon, building his cushion to 63 points over defending NCAA heptathlon champion Gonzalo Barroilhet of Florida State.

Eaton and Barroilhet then waged an entertaining contest in the pole vault, as both competitors posted a best clearance of 16-8.75, but not before Barroilhet just missed clearing the bar at 17-4.25, which would have tied the competition. That was Eaton’s indoor best and matched his outdoor top effort.

After that, the junior from Bend, Ore., just needed to stay within reach of Barroilhet in the 1,000 meters to win, and he did more than that by finishing fifth in 2:47.68.

"It was a great competition with (Barroilhet)," said Eaton. "It was a tough day, tougher than I expected.

"The hurdles just kind of kick starts you off," he said. "I had to establish that I was coming ready to compete."

Eaton posted the second-highest heptathlon total of his career, 5,988 points. Barroilhet was second with 5,879 points, while Nebraska’s Bjorn Barrefors took third with 5,795 points and Missouri’s Nick Adcock was fourth (5,719).

"I wanted to contribute my part to the team and I’m happy I did that," said Eaton, who scored 10 points for the Ducks.

At the time, Eaton gave the Ducks 33 points and a 13-point advantage over Nebraska, a 14-point edge on Florida State, a 19-point lead on Arkansas.

In the first men’s running event of the night, the mile, sophomore Matthew Centrowitz finished sixth in the mile, running 4:02.69 to add three more points to the Ducks’ total. Centrowitz earned the first All-America award of his career. Also in that race, Arkansas’ Dorian Ulrey took third, scoring six team points for the Razorbacks. That left Oregon with 36 points, 16 better than Arkansas and Nebraska, who were then tied for second with 20, and 17 better than Florida State.

Shortly after the mile, Kirkland Thornton finished fifth in the 60 meter hurdles (7.75) for Nebraska, cutting the Ducks’ lead to 11 points, 36-25.

Then Florida’s Christian Taylor won the triple jump with a leap of 55-8.5 to vault the Gators into second place with 30 points.

But then Wheating, tired from the 800 preliminaries and the distance medley relay a day earlier, fought to a second place finish in the 800 meters to give the Ducks what ultimately proved to be the decisive points of the championship. Wheating ran 1:48.54 to finish second behind Texas’ Jacob Hernandez who ran 1:48.04, as the two repeated their finish from the outdoor 800 meters NCAA Championships last June.

Still, it proved to be enough to ice the meet, as Rupp’s win at 3,000 meters in 7:48.94 merely added to the Ducks’ school record point total.

Oregon was victorious with 54 points, with Florida second with 36 points, Florida State third with 32 points, Louisiana State fourth with 29 points and Arizona State, Baylor and Nebraska tied for fifth with 25 points. Arkansas was eighth with 24 points.

"It’s the first time being part of a national championship team for me and I can tell you it feels pretty good," said Associate Head Coach Dan Steele. "I would like to do it again."

Oregon’s previous best men’s finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships was sixth in 2005 and 2006. The previous high point total was 29 in 2005.

Building on its solid first day, the women claimed points in the 400 meters, pole vault and 3,000 meters to climb into the top 10 and set a school record for points at the NCAA Indoor Championship.

Tennessee was a surprise winner in the women’s chase, scoring 42 points to edge Texas A&M’s 37.

Scoring for the Duck women on Saturday were Keshia Baker, Melissa Gergel and Nicole Blood.

Baker finished sixth in the 400 meters. Her time of 53.39 secured three team points, and also earned the junior from Sacramento, Calif., her first career All-America award.

Gergel, a sophomore from Glenwood, Ill., cleared 13-7.25 on her second attempt to tie for sixth and pick up two team points. She also grabbed her second straight indoor All-America honor and third career.

Then it was Blood, a junior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., capped the Oregon scoring by hanging on for sixth place in the 3,000 meters in 9:15.84. Those three points broke the previous mark of 18 in 1996.

"I just relaxed and wanted to have fun," said Blood. "I wanted to run well and get All-America, but I was a little tired from (Friday) and when you’ve got tired legs, you’ve just got to stay in your comfort zone."

Saturday marked the sixth career All-America award for Blood.

"I’m very pleased with our women’s team," said Steele. "They certainly didn’t back down."

There is little time to celebrate the weekend as Oregon opens the outdoor season next Saturday by hosting the annual Oregon Preview.

2009 NCAA Indoor National Championships RAP-UP

Great rap-up video from the hilarious crew at RunnerSpace.com:

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=9344

(sadly, I couldn't embed it)

Sex and Running: Is sex a new workout you should add to your weekly schedule? NO.

It is a truth universally disavowed that sport is all about sex. We prefer to think that there is some higher goal, but it is really an exercise in showing off and, later on, taking off. No sooner does a football match end these days than Cristiano Ronaldo is removing his shirt and smouldering into the camera with the air of a man for whom 4-4-2 holds only limited fascination.

Boxers, by nature, are poseurs. Athletes wear dental floss. Racing drivers are just classier versions of little boys driving around in Fiestas; when Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One world title he was only several steps removed from the teenager boasting about his new alloy wheels and stereo surround.

I have no problem with this. Sport is basically a nation's youth hooked up to a testosterone drip. I still recall the day I saw Maria Sharapova walk into the media centre at Wimbledon and a phalanx of middle-aged men disappeared down a whirlpool of their own dribble. In their defence, she could hardly complain given that she had spent that afternoon flashing her knickers and grunting like a rutting wildebeest in the name of being taking seriously.

I was also told recently by a football agent that a Premiership player had got himself into fantastic physical shape. I remarked how good it was to hear of a young man taking his job seriously. The agent then pointed out the regime was undertaken strictly with a view to looking good when he got his latest groupie into the penthouse suite at the Hilton. Anything else was a bonus.

This is sport. It is sex in socks. But what I find distasteful is the repeated claim by researchers that sex, in itself, is exercise. I resent the claim that sex is good for you and releases endorphins. It irritates me to think I am trawling through purgatory when all I really need is a good bunk-up and a post-match fag.

There are manifold studies (well, who wouldn't want to be a researcher on that one?) that have made wild claims on behalf of the lusty. Queen's University in Belfast announced that you can lose 300 calories an hour by having sex and that sex uses every muscle group in the body, while Dr Graham Jackson of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital said: "'In fitness terms, its equivalent is going for a mile-long walk."

Clearly, there are flaws in these arguments. For a start, while 300 calories an hour sounds notable, it actually equates to around 30 calories for most of us. That's a cream cracker but I prefer to get cream crackered standing up. I also dispute the idea that sex uses every muscle group as surely this depends on whether you are an apathetic lover or, say, Michael Douglas. The very idea that God has somehow disenfranchised that section of society not given over to bedroom gymnastics and leopardskin negligees also induces a crisis of faith.

But can sex help as part of a running programme? 'Runners' World' has attacked this thorny issue in the past and concluded women marathon runners benefit from having an orgasm the night before a race. Most of the positives are reportedly down to the feel-good hormones released into the brain. It is not known whether faking it achieves the same result, but we do know it will make no difference to her running partner either way.

The magazine editor claimed runners were sex gods and had a positive self-image, thus providing conclusive proof that, despite all the denials and Lycra, I am not a runner. A Canadian cardiologist added: "Running improves vascular health and vascular health is necessary for a male to have a proper sexual function." Again this could be contested by no end of lonely folk for whom a proper sexual function is a pause button.

The sad truth is that running is likely to improve your sex rather than vice-versa. There is no evidence that a French maid outfit will benefit you in the long run, and it is difficult to see how sex can toughen your legs, unless of course you are into S&M.

The entire debate seems confused, which reminds me of Joan Rivers' take on sex education. "I blame my mother for my poor sex life," she recalled. "All she told me was the man goes on top and the woman underneath. For three years my husband and I slept on bunk beds."

The general consensus seems to be that sex is better for women than men before competing in sport. The All Blacks abstained from special cuddles during the 2007 World Cup but were found to be curiously impotent against the Euro love gods of France. Dennis Mitchell, the American athlete, initially escaped a ban after testing positive for heightened levels of testosterone after claiming he had been at it with his wife four times the previous night. "It was her birthday," he protested.

Everyone has an opinion. I even saw one headline that claimed 'Walking Is Better Than Sex'. I thought it was a misprint. We are getting pre-occupied. The fact is sex is not the answer. It's just a good question.

Nike Indoor Nationals 2009 RECAP

2009 Nike Indoor Nationals Distance Recap

 
A great weekend of action wrapped up today at Nike Indoor Nationals, taking place at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, MA. Here are some recaps of the distance races from Sunday, March 15, 2009. 

Girls Mile Final (Seeded Heet)
The Girls mile was taken out at a fast pace, as Cory McGee of Missouri led the pack through an opening split of 33 second at the 200m mark. Soon after, though, New York’s Emily Lipari, the state champion in the 1500m took to the front. She led until the 800m mark, where Massachusetts state 1000m champ Camille Murphy decided to pick up the pace. They passed the half mile in 2:22. 

"I wanted to keep the pace up, cause it seemed like in the middle it slowed for a bit," said Murphy. 

With 200m to go, McGee again took the lead, and held off New Jersey’s Melanie Thompson around the final turn. But, with 50 meters left, Lipari came out of nowhere, like she was shot from a cannon. Moving from fourth to first on the final stretch, Lipari crossed the tape first in 4:47.44, a new personal record. Thompson, McGee, and Murphy followed finishing two, three, four. 

"I just told myself I was almost done, and that I was still in it. I wanted to break 4:50, and that was my goal coming in, no matter what place, I wanted to break 4:50."

She did, and took home her first Nike Indoor National championship.

Boys Mile Final (Seeded Heet)
The guys mile also had a stacked field, as 3 men in the race had already broken 4:10 this season. Led by Boston Indoor Games champ Mac Fleet and runner up Andrew Springer, the pace was fast early, as 61.11 was the first quarter split. Through 800 in 2:03.9, Fleet kept the lead safe until the 1000m mark. Their, Springer came up beside and challenged for the lead. The lead pack of five runners were still all close together, and as they were jockeying for position, Brett Johnson of New Jersey ended up taking a spill. Luckily, he got right back up and sprinted back, just off the tail end of the lead group. But by then Springer, Fleet and Pat McGregor (Hoover, AL) had made their move. Springer ended up kicking home in an unbelievable 28.6 last 200, to set the leading time in America this year, 4:08.47. McGregor and Fleet also came in under 4:09, placing two-three. 

Remarkably, after the race, Fleet took his shoe off to reveal four spike wounds, which had bloodied his whole calf and ankle. Yet, he still managed to set a personal record and afterwards said he would be ok. 

Girls Two Mile Final (Seeded Heet)
This was truly the Jordan Hasay show. The two-time Foot Locker Cross Country national champ didn’t think twice about taking the lead, as she did right from the gun. Attempting to break Melody Fairchild’s record of 9:55.92 from 1991, Hasay took the mile out in 5:01. By then, she had created a sizeable gap between herself and 2007 FLCC National Champ Ashley Brasovan and the nation’s leading two miler in Emily Jones. Despite slowing a little bit down mid-race, Hasay proved that she was in a class of her own, averaging about 37 second laps around the 200m track. She broke the tape in 10:10.89, all alone and 14 seconds ahead of second place finisher Shelby Greany. 

"Indoor is a lot different than outdoor," said Hasay, "More turns and I felt like I wanted to be done half way. But I am happy with it."
 
Boys Two Mile (Seeded Heet)
Lukas Verzbicas continued to add on to what has already been an impressive weekend: he set a national high school record of 14:18.42 on Friday, and won the two mile today in a freshman record 8:57.44. That shatters the previous mark by 19 seconds (Sintayehu Taye 9:16.65, 2005)! After staying in the back of the pack for the first 800m, Verzbicas went to the front. He led the doubling Andrew Springer and Mason, Ohio’s Zach Willis through the mile in 4:31.5, and from that point on began to distance himself from the pack. With 800 to go and passing the clock in 6:46.2, Verzbikas went to a second gear. He crossed the line with his second record in three days, and was followed in by Wes Rickman and Bill Matthews. 

After this weekend, Verzbikas said he would give some thought to committing himself solely to running, as he is a highly touted triathelete. But for now, he said he would be gearing up for the World Junior Triathlon Championships. Only a freshman, Verzbikas has an extremely bright future ahead of him. 
 
4x800 World Junior Record 
In the 4x800, Albemarle, VA set a national record of 7:36.99. This ranks #13 all time amongst all junior 4x800’s indoor OR out. The team, comprised of Garrett Bradley, Zach Vrhovac, Luke Noble, and Anthony Kostelac, was pumped with the win. Their goal was to set a record from the start, as a birthday present for their coach Buzz Male. Male easily got the best present a coach could ever receive. When asked what their first thought was after the win, the team jokingly replied, "We are going to Chinatown!" (They planned on going out to dinner after the meet, eating in Boston’s Chinatown district.) They all agreed that they were surprised by how much they beat the record by, and were happy to end their indoor careers on a special note (all but Kostelac are seniors).