FOR IMMEDIATE USE

May 1, 2009

Half Dozen Ducks Head to Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational

Rupp, Buckman to run the 800.

THIS WEEK

While most of the second-ranked Oregon track and field teams will take the weekend off, a half dozen Ducks are entered in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, which will be held Saturday at Cobb Track and Angell Field in Stanford, Calif. Galen Rupp and Zoe Buckman are entered in the men’s and women’s 800 meters, respectively, while Matthew Centrowitz and Nicole Blood follow suit in the men’s and women’s 1,500 meters. Senior Chris Winter is slated to run the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, while freshman Luke Puskedra is entered in the men’s 10,000 meters. The men’s steeplechase goes off at 6:53 p.m., followed by the women’s 800 (7:13 p.m.), men’s 800 (7:21 p.m.), women’s 1,500 (7:31 p.m.) and men’s 1,500 (7:45 p.m.). The men’s 10,000 is scheduled for 10:45 p.m.

RESULTS

Live results for the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational can be found at: http://www.sml1.com/recordtiming/stanford/pjc09/. Final results will also be posted on www.goducks.com.

DUCKS APPROACH 70 NCAA QUALIFIERS

Heading into the first weekend in May, Oregon has already amassed 68 NCAA qualifying marks, 33 for the men and 35 for the women. By comparison, at the same point last season, the Ducks had 51 NCAA marks. That list includes NCAA Championships automatic marks by Galen Rupp, Shadrack Biwott and Luke Puskedra in the men’s 10,000 meters, Ashton Eaton in the decathlon and Brianne Theisen and Kalindra McFadden in the heptathlon, as well as NCAA provisional marks by Mattie Bridgmon in the women’s 10,000 meters, Diego and Danny Mercado in the men’s 10,000 meters and Marshall Ackley in the decathlon.

TUESDAYS IN TRACK TOWN

Tuesday, May 5 will mark the next date in the popular series of “Tuesdays in Track Town” town hall meetings. This coming Tuesday, competitors from the University of Oregon and the Oregon Track Club Elite will discuss the four-mile relay college and American record attempt at the upcoming Twilight Meet. The 60-minute session runs from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be held at the Bowerman Building. The final town hall will be June 2.

Team to Challenge Four-Mile Relay Records at Twilight Meet

Oregon will attempt to break the collegiate and American records in the four-mile relay at the Twilight Meet on May 9. The Ducks will be joined by a team from Oregon Track Club Elite, among others, in an effort to break Michigan’s 2005 collegiate mark of 16:04.54 (Andrew Ellerton, Mike Woods, Nick Willis, Nate Brannen), and the American record of 16:08.54, set by Athletics West (Dan Aldridge, Doug Padilla, Tom Smith, Chuck Aragon) at Hayward Field in 1984. Oregon’s pool of milers includes Galen Rupp, Matthew Centrowitz, Andrew Wheating, Shadrack Biwott, Scott Wall and James Withers. The world four-mile record, 15:49.08, was set by Ireland in 1985.

ALUMNI INVITED TO SPECIAL RECEPTION AT THE PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Oregon track and field programs are inviting all track and field alumni to a reception that will be held Saturday, May 16 in conjunction with the upcoming Pacific-10 championships. The reception will be held at Historic Hayward Field following the completion of the first day of the Pac-10 meet, which runs May 16-17. Oregon staff will join alumni for the reception, which will include food and beverages, bringing together generations of  Duck track and field athletes. Alumni are encouraged to take advantage of this special opportunity to reconnect with teammates, coaches, and friends. To order both homecoming reception and meet tickets, download the reservation request form available on www.goducks.com. (Contact Info: Patrick Werhane, 541-346-2260, email: [email protected]).

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