Walker's Pace: Four Ducks Earn Regional Honors, Final Poll

Monday,June 8, 9:30 p.m. PDT

The USTFCCCA released their regional awards, and four Ducks, Ashton Eaton, Galen Rupp, Dan Steele and Robert Johnson, were among the honorees. Here are the write-ups on the Oregon winner from the coaches' association, or you can click on this link to read the entire release:

Men’s Track Athlete of the Year

West Region – Galen Rupp – Oregon
Rupp, a senior from Portland, Oregon, will cap his storied Duck career at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as he seeks a distance double in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Rupp qualified for three events at the national meet (1500, 5,000, and 10,000) but will focus on two. He was the runner-up in the 1500 meters and the 10,000 meter champion at the Pac-10 conference meet. Rupp is ranked sixth overall in the 10,000 meters and 12th overall in the 5,000 meters entering the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Men’s Field Athlete of the Year

West Region – Ashton Eaton – Oregon
Eaton, a junior from Bend, Oregon, is the defending NCAA Champion in the decathlon and currently owns the nation’s best decathlon score at 8,091. He was the Pac-10 champion in the decathlon, winning the event for the second straight year. He became the first Oregon Duck to complete back-to-back Pac-10 championships in the decathlon since Pedro daSilva in 1990-91. The junior has surpassed the 8,000 point barrier in his last four decathlons.

Women’s Head Coach of the Year

West Region – Dan Steele – Oregon
In his seventh season in Eugene, Steele guided Oregon to its first Pac-10 title since 1992 as the Ducks scored a school record 165.5 points, led by individual titles in seven events. The Duck women have set seven school records in 2009, and Steele coached Brianne Theisen to the nation’s No. 1 ranking in the heptathlon. Oregon has spent much of the last month of the season ranked number one in the USTFCCCA poll.

Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year

West Region – Robert Johnson – Oregon
In his fourth year with the Ducks, Johnson played a key role in Oregon’s first Pac-10 title in 17 years by guiding Keshia Baker to a win in the 400 meters and Jamesha Youngblood to wins in both the long jump and triple jump. Johnson oversaw five school records in his event areas in 2009, and he helped Baker notch the second-fastest 400 time in school history (51.74) and win the NCAA West Regional title. Baker is seeded third in the 400 for the NCAA Championships. .

Also Monday, the USTFCCCA released its final poll. The Duck are ranked second in both the men's and women's top 25. Texas A&M was No. 1 in both polls, as the Aggies now get to wear the title of NCAA favorites. On the men's side, Florida Arkansas, Louisiana State and South Carolina followed the Ducks and A&M. For the women, it was LSU Arizona State and Tennessee.

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