Samie Parker will look for the upset victory in the 100 meters (Oregon sports photo) |
This coming weekend (May 17th) the Championships pick up where the Decathlon left off. Starting at 10:00 am the field events initiate the day. The returning Stanford will be up a huge task of repeating the 151 points that gave them the win last year. Stanford at this point is ahead of where they were last year but as the meet progresses they will be strained to sweep the 5000m and score additional points in the longer distances, as there are new comers this year that have an equal shot at winning and scoring points.
Stanford leads the 5000m, 10,000m, 1500m in depth which makes up for the graduated stars Gabe Jennings’s (who won the 1500m) and Riley whose double victory in the 5000m and 10,000 were essential for their win. Stanford though is not omnipotent in these events; Robert Cheseret (Ariz) in the 5000m is a close second which tears away at their sweep of the top 3 spots from last year; the 10,000m sees Jason Hartmann(Ore), Ryun Andrus (Ore), Girmay Guangul (Cal) and Fasil Bizuneh mixing in a Stanford group which took 4 out of 5 top spots last year; the 1500m lead by Robinson sees the closest competition from Aragon (UCLA) and a possible Robert Cheseret appearance, Stanford lacks their national champion Sage though replaced by Fox leaves Stanford consistently deep in the event.
The closest challengers for the Championships this year range from University of Southern California (USC) and University of Los Angeles (UCLA) whom have on April 26th squared off with UCLA striding out a narrow victory. USC is the favorite this year, with depth in the sprints, field and jumps the Trojans look to rake in many points, and with the addition their recruits this year they have a solid line of attack for the win.
Leading the 200m, 400H, 110H, 4*100m, High Jump, Long Jump, and Triple Jump their athletes with depth in some of these events will probably outshine their 3rd place from last year. UCLA remains an underdog and a possible odds-on favorite after Stanford (seeing they bet USC on their track) additionally UCLA has been a top 3 performer consistently at PAC-10’s with the exception of last year’s black stain of 6th.
UCLA packs a punch leading the 800m (three of the top four times), Pole Vault, Shot, Discus, and second in the 1500m and Steeple. Besides being another battle between Stanford, USC and UCLA, the PAC-10 championships have become a seesaw of points, with every school slugging it out for every possible point and win. With that said every year the winner on paper does not necessarily win, and the underdogs have been known to steal the show.
Oregon who was runner up last year with 125 points has seen a few key performers leave but remains with a core group of athletes, and will an obstacle to anyone seeking a top 3 finish. Already winning the decathlon they remain leaders in the steeple, javelin, and hammer. Though not leading as many events as USC, and as many as UCLA (UCLA has more potential point scorers; besides leading they also place 2nd in 2 events) Oregon looks to crack into the top 3 with many valuable points elsewhere in the distances, sprints and field, where they also have potential point scorers.
The key for Stanford will be sweeping the distances which have become increasing hard in some aspects. The key for USC will be the jumps, throws, and sprints. The key for the underdogs UCLA and Oregon will be performing most of their athletes at their best on race day.
The 10,000 remains a valuable asset for Stanford to assert itself with its depth of distance runners who had no trouble winning the cross country championships. Though not usually pushed the slow possible pace of the race could play into other runners who like last year disrupted Stanford’s dominion. Additionally a lot of the athletes in the race will be doubling in other distance races making things more complicated. Watch for a core of three to five Stanford guys intermixed with other runners. Stanford has Dobson, Luichini, Tenforde, Hejny, with Jason Hartmann(Ore), Ryun Andrus (Ore), Girmay Guangul (Cal) and Fasil Bizuneh (ASU).
The 5000m which is another valuable event for the defenders contains again a number athletes doubling from the 10,000m. The pace in the past has been slow and with many other championship distance races most runners don’t push the pace, leading to a more of a kickers race. The favorite for the race is Robert Cheseret who at Mt Sac ran a 13:45 behind Luichini’s 13:31, but unlike Luichini who will probably also run the 10,000m, Cheseret will be fresh.
Another runner Eric Logsdon who will also probably not run the 10,000m (as he didn’t last year) has the tools also to compete with Luichini. Not to be left out Hartmann has run 13:53i and could play a factor in the outcome for Oregon while and Dobson of Stanford (13:52.9i) may run if in the steeple or not. But if all these athletes double then Luichini is left as the favorite being the fastest in the event.
The 1500m remains a valuable area for Stanford to gain a lead itself once again, but at this point with prelims and final more athletes from other schools have potential to score points. Grant Robinson leads the event with a 3:43 and 3:58i, followed by Aragon (UCLA) 4:00i and Fox (Stan) 3:44. All three athletes like any other in the meet will pull double duty and run other events, with the latter Aragon and Fox in the 800m.
Probably Robinson will push the pace again and hope for the win, either it’s possible he will set the event up for Fox or Loughin hoping they out kick Aragon. From another perspective Aragon who’s a kicker could sit on Robinson and pass him at the last moment and another other runner; he’s the fastest 800m runner among the bunch.
The 800m will be UCLA’s chance to score a large amount of points; they hold three of the top four times with Ben Aragon, Nick Thornton, and Martell Munguia at 1.48, 1:49.42 and 1:49.73 respectfully, with Raphael Asafo-Agyei at 1:49.46 in the mix. Aragon is doubling in the 1500m and 800m, Thornton and Munguia who aren’t doubling have an advantage here while Raphael is probably doubling in other sprint events.
In the past its been a from the gun kind of race but with the close spread from athletes a kick down the straight at the right time could easily swing the race. The sub 1:50 group does look to take the race; watch for UCLA to take it with USC and Stanford in the mix. But followed closely Stanford and USC each have runners at 1:50 which can easily swing things for either of them. Stanford: Fox who’s in the mile field has gone 1:50.39 and Justin Romaniuk at 1:50.9 is in the mix. USC; Anthony Heckman, 1:50.79.
The 3000 steeplechase is a match between UCLA's Erick Emilsson (8:50.32, PB 8:47) and Oregon’s Brett Holts (8:48.81). As this pair of competitors is pretty evenly matched this race will be one to watch.
The 400m is a swing now towards Arizona State University (ASU), having 3 among the top 4 this is their event to shine, watch for Lewis Banda, Jason Barton and Seth Amoo. For the overall championship USC’s hopes rest on Brandon Matlock, while UCLA puts Craig Everhart into the mix for points.
In the 200m, USC leads the event with Wes Felix at 20.79 followed by Seth Amoo from the 400m and also a fellow Trojan Brandon Matlock. Wes the favorite will be running the 100m also and probably the 4*100 and 4*400m.
The 100m is again lead by a Washington State runner; Bennie Chatman. WSU which was powerful in this event has been weakened substantially with only Chatman who will be going for the win after finishing 4th last year. Additionally another asset to USC, the 100m remains a place for them to pick up points with Wes Felix challenging with 10.24 to Chatman’s 10.19. Also kindling in third is Samie Parker (10.34) of Oregon whom was an All-American in the 60 meter dash this past indoor season.
The 110 hurdles and 400m Hurdles are lead by Ryan Wilson of USC running 13.50 and 49.67 respectfully. Wilson will be defending again Jeff Hunter of Arizona (13.86), and Eric Mitchum of Oregon (13.87). Wilson in the 400 hurdlers face his strongest challenge from UCLA’s Kyle Ericson (50.05) who was 49.62 last year and WSU's Eric Dudley (49.70) .
As for the relays, in the 4x100m relay USC (39.90) will strive for the win against WSU (40.14) and Stanford (40.15). In the 4*400m the ASU squad which are the relatively the same runners from the open 400m are the favorite; leading with 3:02.81. ASU is followed by USC and Stanford which will be battling for key points.
On the infield the action is just as intense. High jumper David Jaworski of USC the defending champ from last year faces Teak Wilburn of Cal, something out of the ordinary, each is just as good as the next; both have jumped 2.20m. The pole vault finds the national indoor champion and returning PAC-10 winner Brad Walker of Washington at 19-0 ¼ the clear favorite followed by Yoo Kim of UCLA at 18-0 ½ and Jeff Reynolds at 17-8 ½. Which again find a mustang for the following year followed by a Bruin and Trojan.
Another indoor national champ, Allen Simms of USC (8.02m), will be top seed in the long and triple jumps. In the long jump he is followed by Juaune Armon of UCLA who’s jumped 7.84 (8.00m PB) and Milton Little 7.90m (Stanford). In the triple jump probably the best pair of jumpers from one school Allen Simms 17.26m and Julien Kapek 16.98m lead the event by over a meter ahead of Foluso Akinradewo (15.86).
The shot put finds three of the top four from UCLA. Scott Wiegand, (19.89m) the defending champ from last year leads his teammate Dan Ames (19.73m) who’s also the leader in the discus (61.20m). Following the UCLA pair in the shot are Sean Shields (19.58) of Arizona and another Bruin Jeremy Silverman (18.57m).
In the Discus following Dan Ames is Omer Inan of Stanford (59.13m) who finished second last year and fellow Bruin Scott Wiegand at 58.42m who also finished third last year. In the hammer Oregon thrower Adam Kriz (66.99m) defending champion, faces runner-up from last year Nick Welihozkiy (Stan) 65.33m and a pair from USC. In the javelin fellow Ducks Adam Jenkins (67.47m) is followed by John Stiegeler (67.07m) and Joe Berro (66.38m) of Cal.
Summary:
Rankings:
1. USC
2. Stanford
3. UCLA
4. Oregon
5. Arizona State
6. Washington
7. Arizona
8. Washington State
9. California