2010 Pepsi Invitational: Back at Hayward Field

Trafton B.

April 10, 2010 - 6:10 PM

The sun was shining on Historic Hayward Field this afternoon at the Pepsi Team Invitation as our Men's and Women's Track & Field teams both emerged with decisive victorious over a field of worthy adversaries.

The Ducks women, ranked second in the nation, finished with 212 points, ahead of first-ranked Texas A&M (179.5), Missouri (141) and Washington (129.5). Our distance runners showed up to play as usual today. Jordan Hasay, Nicole Blood and Mattie Bridgom swept the women's 5000 Meter. Blood and Alex Kosinski finished 2nd and 3rd in the 1500 Meter and Anne Kesselring finished 1st in the 800 Meter.

But, the women's sprinters took back the spotlight as Amber Purvis set school records in both the 100 Meter and 200 Meter dash. To give you a sense of the enormity of those numbers, Purvis previously set both records at the 2009 Pepsi Invitational . . . . as a FRESHMAN! Talk about talent. Plus, she did it today in the face of Texas A&M, who's known for their sprinters. Our team for the 4x100 Meter Relay - White, Purvis, Baker & Youngblood - set a school record at 44.13 seconds, and it would have been a new meet record if Texas A&M's team - Adeoti, Lucas, Duncan & Mayo - didn't put up a 43.89 second mark to beat it.

The Oregon Men's team, ranked third in the nation, was equally dominating in their performance. Ranked third in the nation, they scored 186 points which was good enough to beat second-ranked Texas A&M (151), Washington (132), Illinois (109) and Missouri (103).

Ashton Eaton, fresh off his World Record setting performance in the Indoor Heptathalon, won the Men's Long Jump, 110 Meter Hurdles and was a quarter of the Men's 4x400 Meter Relay team Eaton, Thompson, Ackley & Barlow - that finished second behind Texas A&M.

Head coach Vin Lananna summed up the day nicely saying, "We try to pick the best suited people to get the job done. Amber Purvis was great today. Also freshman Jordan Hasay and Mac Fleet stood out. And of course our Ashton Eaton, who scored 45 points."

Then again, Ashton might have captured the Oregon spirit a little better. "We thought we would win," Eaton said, "Maybe not dominate, but win."

The real story, at least for my roommates and me, happened on the hammer field. Remember, our roommate, Cam, as well as two good friends, Jordan Stray and Scott Penny throw the hammer for the team and they all had stellar days. Jordan won the Hammer Throw overall with a mark of 65.13 meters. On a side note, though, his first throw of the day (64.01 meters) would also have beaten the entire field. The victory was made even sweeter because today is Jordan's 21st birthday.

Scott finished in 6th with a throw of 57.79 meters and Cam finished just behind him in 7th with 54.96 meters. Cam actually beat his personal best mark with every throw. His goal for the meet was to reach 55.0 meters. Only four centimeters away! But he still had a great day, and he's only a few feet away from qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championships. I'll keep you all posted on that one.
Feels good to be back at Hayward Field.

Jordan won the Men's Hammer Throw with a mark of 65.13 meters