Ducks Set to Open Outdoor Season

Thursday, March 30

Gainesville, Fla.

All Day

University of Oregon

Florida Relays

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

03/28/17 | Track and Field

Notes Florida Relays schedule Stanford Invitational tentative schedule

OREGON TRACK AND FIELD WILL OPEN UP THE OUTDOOR SEASON THIS WEEKEND AT THE FLORIDA RELAYS AND THE STANFORD INVITATIONAL

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon track and field team will open its outdoor season this weekend at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., and the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Ducks are coming off yet another successful indoor season that saw the Women of Oregon claim their seventh indoor national championship in the last eight years while setting the meet record for points scored and fielding four individual championships. Coupled with the cross country title from the fall, the women are now positioned to take a run at the historic triple crown (cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field), which no women's team has ever completed.

The Men of Oregon enjoyed another strong indoor campaign as well, led by multiple historic accomplishments by Edward Cheserek, who became the winningest athlete in cross country/track and field NCAA history with two more titles to run his career total to 17. As a team, the men came away with a third-place finish at the Indoor Championships.

Coverage: The Florida Relays will be broadcast live Friday (9:10am-1:10pm PT) and Saturday (11:35am-4:10pm) on the SEC Network, and will also be available on the WatchESPN app, and the Stanford Invitational will be available on FloTrack with a premium subsription. . Links to live results for both meets will be available on the track and field schedule on goducks.com, and live updates will be provided on Twitter via @OregonTF and @Run4Ducks.

Entries – Florida Relays: The Ducks will send their sprinters, jumpers and throwers to Gainesville this weekend, traveling 38 total athletes – 21 for the women and 17 for the men.

For both the men and women, the majority of the student-athletes who competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships a few weeks ago will ease into the outdoor season by running only in relays, with a few exceptions.

On the women's side, Sasha Wallace will run the 100 hurdles along with Alaysha Johnson, Hannah Waller will run the 200 meters and Brooke Feldmeier will compete in the 1,500 meters. For the men, Braxton Canady will run both the 110 hurdles and the 200 meters, and Mitch Modin will also go in the 110 hurdles.

In the jumps, Chaquinn Cook and newcomer Kiare Tanner will both compete in the long jump and the triple jump, and freshman Rhesa Foster will also join them in the long jump in addition to running the 100 hurdles.

Ryan Hunter-Simms will lead a big group in the throws for the men, participating in both the shot put and the discus along with Sebastian Barajas and Drake Brennan. Cullen Prena is also entered in the discus, as well as the hammer throw. Cody Danielson and John Nizich, who finished 1-2 at last year's Pac-12 Championships, will get their first opportunity in the javelin this season. For the women, Ronna Stone and Kiana Phelps will each throw the shot put and the discus, and Maddie Rabing will compete in the shot put before joining Madeline Middlebrooks in the hammer. Phelps and Rabing will each be making their collegiate debuts.

Entries – Stanford Invitational: The distance runners for the Men and Women of Oregon will head to Palo Alto this weekend for the Stanford Invitational. Seventeen-time national champion Edward Cheserek leads a group of four men in the 10,000 meters, while Matthew Maton, Tim Gorman, Blake Haney and Sam Prakel highlight a contingent of seven Ducks in the 1,500 meters. Maton will also run the 5,000 meters.

For the Women of Oregon, freshman sensation Katie Rainsberger will run the 800 meters, while Lilli Burdon leads four Ducks in the 1,500. Senior Maggie Schmaedick will open her final outdoor season as the lone entry in the 10,000 meters, and Brianna Nerud will run the steeplechase. Samantha Nadel, who took fourth in the 3,000 at NCAA Indors, will open her outdoor season in the 5,000.

NCAA Champs! Women Win 7th Indoor Title in Record Fashion: The Women of Oregon won their seventh NCAA Indoor Championship in the last eight years, breaking the all-time meet scoring record while doing so, and four Ducks claimed individual national titles. Overall, the Ducks earned their ninth national championship in track and field, and 13th total including cross country. Coupled with the women's national title in cross country in the fall, the women are now positioned to take a run at the triple crown (cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field).

The Ducks scored 84 points to shatter the 29-year-old scoring record of 71, set by Texas in 1988. Hannah Cunliffe (60 meters), Sasha Wallace (60-meter hurdles), Raevyn Rogers (800 meters) and Ariana Washington (200 meters) each hauled in individual titles to lead the Ducks to the historic win. The Ducks dominated the short sprints, with Cunliffe, Washington and Deajah Stevens going 1-3-5 in the 60 meters and Washington and Cunliffe securing the first 1-2 finish in the 200 meters since 2010.

King Ches Takes His Throne: In winning the 3,000 and the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Edward Cheserek ran his career national title total to 17 and became the winningest athlete in NCAA track and field/cross country history. Cheserek passed Suleiman Nyambui (1979-82) for that honor, and is also now has the most national titles of any male athlete in the history of NCAA Division I athletics. The King trails only Jenna Thompson (Stanford, swimming), who won 19 total national titles, for the most national championships in NCAA DI history. Cheserek made even more history in College Station, Texas, adding a second-place finish in the mile to his two titles to set the meet record for points scored with 28. He also became the all-time NCAA Indoor leader in career points scored with 91. Adding to his incredible career and final season, Cheserek broke the indoor collegiate mile record at the Boston University Last Chance Meet on February 26 in a blazing 3:52.01.

Rankings: After holding the top spot throughout the entire indoor season, the Women of Oregon open up outdoors as the top-ranked team in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings. The Men of Oregon slot in at No. 2 behind Florida entering the start of outdoors.

Bowerman Watch: The Women of Oregon have a record five athletes on the latest Bowerman Award watch list, with Hannah Cunliffe, Raevyn Rogers, Deajah Stevens, Sasha Wallace and Ariana Washington earning recognition for the top award in the sport. On the men's side, Edward Cheserek remains on the watch list for the 25th time in his career, giving him the most appearances in history.

Up Next: After competing at Florida and Stanford this weekend, the Ducks will next head to the Mt. SAC Relays (April 12-15), the Beach Invitational (April 13-15) and the Bryan Clay Invitational (April 13).

Additional Interview - Kyree King