University of Oregon
MPSF Indoor Championships
Men Win MPSF Title, Women Take Second
02/25/17 | Track and Field
THE MEN OF OREGON WON THEIR THIRD MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP AND MULTIPLE DUCKS MOVED INTO NCAA QUALIFYING POSITION ON SATURDAY
SEATTLE - The Oregon track and field team closed out the MPSF Championships with its third MPSF title on the men's side and six total individual conference champions, and multiple athletes moved into NCAA qualifying position on Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Center.
The Women of Oregon finished second overall to USC. The Ducks will now wait for the final qualifying lists for the NCAA Indoor Championships to be released on Tuesday to see how many Ducks and in which events will be headed to College Station, Texas, on March 10-11. The top 16 marks from each individual event will advance to the NCAA Indoors, and the top 12 marks in the relays.
How it Happened - Women: Freshman Katie Rainsberger, already the nation's leader in the 3,000 meters, put on a big performance in her first collegiate indoor mile, winning in a personal-best 4:35.60 for the top-ranked Women of Oregon. The freshman's mark slots into 14th in the nation based on the national rankings entering Saturday's competition, giving her a solid chance at advancing to NCAAs in two events. Frida Berge (4:44.75), Jessica Hull (4:40.66) and Kelly O'Neill (4:44.97) also hit PRs in the mile.
NCAA-leaders Hannah Cunliffe and Sasha Wallace each took the MPSF crowns in the 60 meters and the 60-meter hurdles, respectively, with Cunliffe winning in 7.15 seconds and Wallace in 7.95 seconds to each break the MPSF meet records. Ariana Washington hit a PR to finish second in the 60 meters in 7.25 seconds, which currently slots into the top-10 in the nation to put her in solid position to qualify. Makenzie Dunmore (7.28) and Deajah Stevens (7.33) finished fourth and sixth, respectively,
Alli Cash came away with the conference title in the 3,000 meters with a winning time of 9:09.18.
How it Happened - Men: Senior Mitch Modin came away with a huge performance in the heptathlon to move into qualifying position for the NCAAs, winning with a career-high 5,747 points and hitting a big PR in the pole vault (4.90m/16-0.75). Joe Delgado also set a PR with 5,408 points to finish fifth.
Senior Marcus Chambers won the 400 meters in a career-best 46.40 seconds, and he is currently in position to qualify in the 200 meters. Senior transfer Kyree King, seventh in the nation in the 60 meters, finished second in 6.72 seconds after winning the 200 meters on Friday.
Sophomore standout Matthew Maton finished third in the 3,000 meters in a PR time of 7:52.51 to put himself in position to qualify for the NCAAs, and Bryan Fernandez ran a career-best 8:07.12 in the 3K. Mick Stanovsek also hit a PR in the 800 meters (1:50.63) to finish third.
Cheserek in Boston: Fifteen-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek will run his first mile of the season on Sunday in Boston at the Boston University Last Chance Meet. The race is set to be run at 12:10 p.m. PT from BU's indoor track and will be streamed live on FloTrack with a premium subscription.
Quotable: Head Coach Robert Johnson
"Always good to get a total team victory on the men's side, and it was accomplished with a total team effort. A lot of PRs on the men's side, and those are always really good to get, as well as for the women. We got a lot accomplished and a lot done over this weekend and now we get into that time of the year where the Ducks really look towards attaining that ultimate prize."
Up Next: The Ducks will wait for the final NCAA qualifying lists to be released before heading to College Station for the NCAA Indoor Championships (March 10-11).
Players Mentioned
