Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
T&F Preview: Men's Distance
01/05/18 | Track and Field
Previewing the Oregon track and field program by event groups entering the start of the 2018 indoor season (Jan. 13)
Head coach Robert Johnson: "After a strong finish to the cross country season this fall, I'm excited to see this group transition over to the track. Led by the leadership of Sam Prakel, Blake Haney and others, and the addition of a handful of newcomers, this is a deep and talented group that will be important to our success this year."
MEN'S MIDDLE DISTANCE (800m, 1,500m, Mile, Distance Medley Relay)
Who's back: It will be a different sight for Duck fans in the distance events in 2018, as 17-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek has graduated and moved on to the professional ranks. An NCAA champion in nearly every distance event, with multiple titles in many of them, Cheserek's production will be far from easy to replace, but the Men of Oregon have a good mix of returners and newcomers and are coming off a national sixth-place finish to the cross country season.
Seniors Sam Prakel and Blake Haney (below), mainstays for the Ducks in recent years, will be leaders both in competition and in the locker room. Prakel is a three-time all-American who has scored at the NCAA Championships both indoors and outdoors throughout his career, and he is one of the most impressive students academically to come through Oregon. The Versailles, Ohio, native was the 2016 indoor NCAA Elite 90 Award winner and 2017 Pac-12 men's scholar athlete of the year for cross country, just a couple in a long list of high-level academic achievements. Haney is a six-time all-American for the Ducks and the former school record-holder in the mile, and has been a consistent NCAA scorer outdoors in the 1,500 meters as well as indoors in the DMR.
Two-time all-American Matthew Maton is back for the Ducks, and has been one of their top competitors during his career when healthy. A versatile runner, Maton reached the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championship in both the mile and the 3,000 meters, but missed both the 2016 outdoor season and the 2017 cross country season. Maton also competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, and his return would be a big boost for the Men of Oregon after the loss of Cheserek.
Also back for the UO men are Mick Stanovsek, Austin Tamagno and Jack Yearian. Stanovsek and Tamagno both earned all-American honors last year after helping the DMR team to a fourth-place NCAA finish, and Stanovsek placed fourth at the Pac-12 Championships in the 800 meters before reaching the NCAA West Regionals in the 1,500. Tamagno was ninth in the 1,500 meters at the Pac-12 Championships as a freshman, and he ran well in cross country this fall for the Ducks as an NCAA Championships contributor. Yearian competed sparingly indoors last year before redshirting the outdoor season.
Who's new: Freshmen Cooper Teare (below) and Reed Brown both ran well for the Ducks during the cross country season in the fall. Brown won the high school boys mile race in 2016 at Hayward Field at the U.S. Olympic Trials, while Teare placed fourth in the Nike elite camp high school exhibition mile. Brown became just the 10th high-school runner ever to break the four-minute barrier in the mile with a 3:59.30 showing last June, and Teare was just over four minutes in high school. Both Teare and Brown could be impact performers in both the middle and long distance right away for the UO men.
The Men of Oregon also added a pair of transfers to help bolster this group. Redshirt junior James West is a transfer from Loughborough University in England, and he brings a wealth of international and high-level competition experience, specifically in the mile and 1,500 meters. West was the 2015 U20 National Indoor champion and British University Indoor champion in the 1,500. Jaxson Hoey also joins the Ducks as a sophomore transfer from Penn State. A Pennsylvania native, Hoey set personal-bests in the 800 and 1,500 meters last year for PSU as well as the indoor mile.
MEN'S LONG DISTANCE (3,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m)
Who's back: Tanner Anderson (below), a redshirt sophomore both indoors and outdoors, enjoyed a breakout season down the stretch last year and goes into 2018 as the top runner for the Ducks in the long distance events. Anderson scored for UO in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Pac-12 Championships, and then earned second-team all-American honors in the 10,000 with a 13th-place NCAA finish. Matthew Maton could also be a factor for the Ducks in the 3,000 meters; he was fourth at last year's MPSF Championships last year before advancing to the NCAA Championships.
Also returning for the Ducks in the long distance are redshirt seniors Travis Neuman and Bryan Fernandez, along with sophomore Jackson Mestler and redshirt freshman Levi Thomet. Neuman has scored in the 10,000 meters at the Pac-12 Championships in the past, while Fernandez reached last year's NCAA West Regionals in the 10,000. Mestler, a Eugene native, was a two-time Oregon state champion in the 3,000 meters for Sheldon High School, and he scored for Oregon in both the 5,000 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pac-12 Championships as a freshman. Thomet ran for the Ducks at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships, but did not compete on the track last season or this fall in cross country.
Who's new: Both Cooper Teare and Reed Brown (below) could be big additions for the Ducks in the long distance as well as the middle distance. Teare, the 2016 California state champion in the 3,200 meters, really thrived during the cross country season for the Ducks, placing eighth at the Pac-12 Championships to earn Pac-12 freshman of the year honors. Brown, a Grapevine, Texas, native, also claimed a state championship in the 3,200 meters as a senior, finishing in 8:50.43 to break a 32-year-old state record. James West is another newcomer who has the ability and experience to stretch out to longer distances.
2018 Oregon Track and Field Previews
Jan. 2 - Men's Sprints and Hurdles
Jan. 3 - Men's Jumps and Combined Events
Jan. 4 - Men's Throws
Jan. 5 - Men's Distance
Jan. 6 - Women's Sprints and Hurdles
Jan. 7 - Women's Jumps and Combined Events
Jan. 8 - Women's Throws
Jan. 9 - Women's Distance
Head coach Robert Johnson: "After a strong finish to the cross country season this fall, I'm excited to see this group transition over to the track. Led by the leadership of Sam Prakel, Blake Haney and others, and the addition of a handful of newcomers, this is a deep and talented group that will be important to our success this year."
MEN'S MIDDLE DISTANCE (800m, 1,500m, Mile, Distance Medley Relay)
Who's back: It will be a different sight for Duck fans in the distance events in 2018, as 17-time NCAA champion Edward Cheserek has graduated and moved on to the professional ranks. An NCAA champion in nearly every distance event, with multiple titles in many of them, Cheserek's production will be far from easy to replace, but the Men of Oregon have a good mix of returners and newcomers and are coming off a national sixth-place finish to the cross country season.
Seniors Sam Prakel and Blake Haney (below), mainstays for the Ducks in recent years, will be leaders both in competition and in the locker room. Prakel is a three-time all-American who has scored at the NCAA Championships both indoors and outdoors throughout his career, and he is one of the most impressive students academically to come through Oregon. The Versailles, Ohio, native was the 2016 indoor NCAA Elite 90 Award winner and 2017 Pac-12 men's scholar athlete of the year for cross country, just a couple in a long list of high-level academic achievements. Haney is a six-time all-American for the Ducks and the former school record-holder in the mile, and has been a consistent NCAA scorer outdoors in the 1,500 meters as well as indoors in the DMR.
Two-time all-American Matthew Maton is back for the Ducks, and has been one of their top competitors during his career when healthy. A versatile runner, Maton reached the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championship in both the mile and the 3,000 meters, but missed both the 2016 outdoor season and the 2017 cross country season. Maton also competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, and his return would be a big boost for the Men of Oregon after the loss of Cheserek.
Also back for the UO men are Mick Stanovsek, Austin Tamagno and Jack Yearian. Stanovsek and Tamagno both earned all-American honors last year after helping the DMR team to a fourth-place NCAA finish, and Stanovsek placed fourth at the Pac-12 Championships in the 800 meters before reaching the NCAA West Regionals in the 1,500. Tamagno was ninth in the 1,500 meters at the Pac-12 Championships as a freshman, and he ran well in cross country this fall for the Ducks as an NCAA Championships contributor. Yearian competed sparingly indoors last year before redshirting the outdoor season.
Who's new: Freshmen Cooper Teare (below) and Reed Brown both ran well for the Ducks during the cross country season in the fall. Brown won the high school boys mile race in 2016 at Hayward Field at the U.S. Olympic Trials, while Teare placed fourth in the Nike elite camp high school exhibition mile. Brown became just the 10th high-school runner ever to break the four-minute barrier in the mile with a 3:59.30 showing last June, and Teare was just over four minutes in high school. Both Teare and Brown could be impact performers in both the middle and long distance right away for the UO men.
The Men of Oregon also added a pair of transfers to help bolster this group. Redshirt junior James West is a transfer from Loughborough University in England, and he brings a wealth of international and high-level competition experience, specifically in the mile and 1,500 meters. West was the 2015 U20 National Indoor champion and British University Indoor champion in the 1,500. Jaxson Hoey also joins the Ducks as a sophomore transfer from Penn State. A Pennsylvania native, Hoey set personal-bests in the 800 and 1,500 meters last year for PSU as well as the indoor mile.
MEN'S LONG DISTANCE (3,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m)
Who's back: Tanner Anderson (below), a redshirt sophomore both indoors and outdoors, enjoyed a breakout season down the stretch last year and goes into 2018 as the top runner for the Ducks in the long distance events. Anderson scored for UO in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Pac-12 Championships, and then earned second-team all-American honors in the 10,000 with a 13th-place NCAA finish. Matthew Maton could also be a factor for the Ducks in the 3,000 meters; he was fourth at last year's MPSF Championships last year before advancing to the NCAA Championships.
Also returning for the Ducks in the long distance are redshirt seniors Travis Neuman and Bryan Fernandez, along with sophomore Jackson Mestler and redshirt freshman Levi Thomet. Neuman has scored in the 10,000 meters at the Pac-12 Championships in the past, while Fernandez reached last year's NCAA West Regionals in the 10,000. Mestler, a Eugene native, was a two-time Oregon state champion in the 3,000 meters for Sheldon High School, and he scored for Oregon in both the 5,000 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Pac-12 Championships as a freshman. Thomet ran for the Ducks at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships, but did not compete on the track last season or this fall in cross country.
Who's new: Both Cooper Teare and Reed Brown (below) could be big additions for the Ducks in the long distance as well as the middle distance. Teare, the 2016 California state champion in the 3,200 meters, really thrived during the cross country season for the Ducks, placing eighth at the Pac-12 Championships to earn Pac-12 freshman of the year honors. Brown, a Grapevine, Texas, native, also claimed a state championship in the 3,200 meters as a senior, finishing in 8:50.43 to break a 32-year-old state record. James West is another newcomer who has the ability and experience to stretch out to longer distances.
2018 Oregon Track and Field Previews
Jan. 2 - Men's Sprints and Hurdles
Jan. 3 - Men's Jumps and Combined Events
Jan. 4 - Men's Throws
Jan. 5 - Men's Distance
Jan. 6 - Women's Sprints and Hurdles
Jan. 7 - Women's Jumps and Combined Events
Jan. 8 - Women's Throws
Jan. 9 - Women's Distance
Players Mentioned
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