Oregon Rolls Over UCLA in Track and Field

In his first 1,500 meters of the season, sophomore A.J. Acosta won in an NCAA regional time of 3:46.87.

Andrew Wheating's win in the 800 meters was one of 13 on the day for Oregon. Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE, Ore. - Mike Simmons led a sweep in the javelin to get Oregon off to a running start and the 4-by-400 meter relay team finished the win off in style as the Ducks defeated UCLA 94-69 Saturday before 4,451 at Historic Hayward Field.

Oregon never trailed in the meet, the first true dual contested between the two schools in 23 years. The Ducks’ 94 points were the most scored by Oregon in the 16-meet history of the series, and the margin of victory, 25 points, was also the Ducks’ widest.

Simmons, a junior from Happy Valley, Ore., led a sweep in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 226-08 that ranked fifth all-time on the Oregon lists. Sophomore Alex Wolf (Newberg, Ore.) was second with a PR throw of 214-05 and freshman Britton Nelson (Aurora, Ore.) took third (193-5). Both Simmons’ and Wolf’s marks were NCAA regional qualifiers.

In all, the Ducks won 13 of the 19 events.

Senior sprinter Marcus Dillon won two races and was on both winning relay teams, accounting for a meet-high 12.5 points. The senior from New Orleans, La., won the 100 meters in 10.87 and the 200 in 21.58. He also ran the lead leg on Oregon’s winning 4-by-100 meter (40.57) and 4-by-400 meter (3:12.25) teams.

Senior Colin Veldman won the hammer with a PR throw of 219-6 that ranked seventh all-time. Freshman Jordan Stray also tossed a season best in the event to take second at 215-8

In his first 1,500 meters of the season, sophomore A.J. Acosta won in an NCAA regional time of 3:46.87, while Jordan McNamara, running for the first time as a Duck, also got an NCAA time in the 1,500, coming in second in 3:46.87.

Junior Jared Huske won both hurdle races. The Topeka, Kan., native took the 110 hurdles in 14.58 and the 400 hurdles in 53.83. Huske was also on Oregon’s winning 4-by-100 meter relay team.

Freshman Vernell Warren PR’d in the high jump to win the event with a clearance of 6-7.5. Warren also PR’d in the long jump, taking second with a leap of 23-1.25.

Sophomore Ashton Eaton also had a hand in two wins. He took the 400 meters in a PR time of 46.74 and was the anchor leg on the Ducks’ 4-by-400 relay team. Fellow sophomore Chad Barlow also PR’d in the 400 meters with a time of 47.23.

Oregon went 1-3 in the 800 meters with sophomore Andrew Wheating running a PR 1:48.83 to win and garner an NCAA regional time. Senior Mike McGrath clocked a season-best 1:50.52 to finish third in the event.

In the final individual race of the day, Oregon’s Kenny Klotz held off UCLA’s Kyle Shackleton to win the 5,000 meters by less than two seconds. Klotz, a sophomore from Portland, Ore., came in at 14:10.70 to register an NCAA qualifying time.

UCLA was strong in the shot put, triple jump and discus, with Greg Garza (195-3) leading a Bruin sweep in the discus. UCLA also swept the triple jump as Jonathan Clark won with a mark of 49-0.75.

In the shot put, the Bruins’ John Caulfield won (62-5.25), but Oregon’s Mark Lewis broke up the sweep by taking third with a throw of 56-7.25.

The Bruins also won the 3,000 meter steeplechase with Henry Hagenbach crossing the tape in 8:56.31. But Oregon had a couple of nice runs on the event, with Chris Winter clocking a season-best 8:58.14 to place second and Isaac Stoutenburgh picking up an NCAA regional time in a fourth-place 9:02.37 finish.

Source: goducks.com

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