Acosta Heads Quartet of All-America Entries with 3rd-Place Mile Finish

Friday, March 14

Fayetteville, Ark.

TBA

University of Oregon

NCAA Indoor Championships

Acosta Heads Quartet of All-America Entries with 3rd-Place Mile Finish

03/16/08 | Track and Field

By: GoDucks.com

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? University of Oregon sophomore A.J. Acosta was unable to catch the leaders down the stretch despite running a final 200-meter split of 27.41 seconds to finish third in the men's mile run on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday in Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center.

The Ducks accumulated points from each of their three men's entries on the final day of the national collegiate championships, finishing with 11 team points and tie for 19^th in the team race with Baylor and Idaho. Arizona State was the winner with 44 points, followed by Florida State (41) and Texas (34).

The Oregon women benefited from a three-way tie for eighth in the pole vault to score .33 points and a tie with UCLA for 62^nd. The Sun Devils also captured the women's team championship with 51 points, with LSU second (43) and Michigan third (39).

Acosta, who finished 13^th in the event a year ago, posted a time of 4:04.90, but was unable to keep Texas from claiming the top two spots in the race. Senior Leonel Manzano recorded a winning time of 4:04.45 for the Longhorns, followed by junior teammate Jake Morse's second-place effort of 4:04.88.

The Ducks' Oceanside, Calif., standout earned indoor All-America honors for the second time in as many years.

“A.J. ran a very impressive race, he ran like a veteran,” Oregon Associate Head Coach Dan Steele said. “He ran a smart race but wasn't able to outkick the Texas kids at the end. He didn't give anything away to them, he just got beat.”

Acosta broke into the early lead, completing the initial 200 meters in 31.83, and remained ahead of the pack through the first two laps. He was overcome by Manzano during the third lap, with the pair remaining one-two throughout the majority of the race. The winner built a slight cushion over the final 200, turning in a split of 27.0 seconds, while Morse moved into second with a 27.18 clocking over the final lap.

After encountering a disappointing day Friday, Eaton bounced back in record fashion, accumulating a personal-best second-day total of 2,689 points to finish sixth (5,676) and contribute three points to the Ducks' scoring cause.

Beginning the day in 12^th place, the Bend sophomore accounted for personal-bests in all three events Saturday. That came after he was unable to match any of his previous PRs in Friday's four events.

He encountered his greatest success in the 60-meter hurdles, scoring 992 points by posting the day's second-best mark of 7.96, cleared 15-7 in the pole vault and finished the 1,000 meters in 9:40.90. In that final event, the former Mountain View High School standout found himself in 11^th place after the first 800 meters before he was clocked in 29.28 over the final lap to improve his finish by four places.

“It is really hard to bounce back from a tough day like Ashton went through Friday,” Steele said. “But we had a talk before the day began and refocused and decided that today would be the start of his road towards a national championship in the outdoor championships. I was really proud of his effort and he certainly showed a lot of character coming back from 12^th place to capture sixth.

“I take a lot of the blame for yesterday,” Steele added. “With his success he enjoyed indoors this year, it's hard to remember that this was his first time completing indoors at national. “I coached him like a veteran when I should taken a different approach with him. We did that today and the results showed a difference. I'm glad he is still able to leave here feeling good about himself.”

The men's 4x400 relay overcame a near-mishap on the track on their third leg of the race to finish second in their heat and seventh overall with a time of 3:07.89.

Eaton and Chad Barlow ran splits of 47.64 and 46.24 seconds, respectively, on the opening two legs to run behind heat-winner and overall runner-up Texas Christian. Phillip Alexander had the baton on the third leg when a South Carolina runner fell to the ground right in front of Alexander, who was forced to avoid the collision. He still was clocked with a split of 46.93 seconds. Marcus Dillion ran the final leg in 47.08 as Oregon, Florida and Florida State all finished within 55 one-hundredths of a second of one another.

The Oregon women were unable to fare quite as well, despite a solid performance from pole vaulter Melissa Gergel. The Glenwood, Ill., freshman finished in a three-way tie for eighth place with a successful clearance of 13-5.25.

Gergel cleared her opening height of 12-9.25 on her first attempt, took two tries to navigate 13-1.50, and was successful on her first attempt at 13-5.25. She was unable to get over the bar at 13-9.25, which would have represented her personal best.

“Any time you come into your first national championships and are able to come away with All-America honors, that's impressive,” Steele said. “Her keys were that she was able to clear most of her heights on her first attempt.

“She is still evolving as a pole vaulter and as she gets older, she will be able to become more consistent with the longer poles she will need in order to go higher.”

Sophomore Nicole Blood ran strong from the outset in the 3,000 meters but was unable to maintain the pace as she faded late to finish 14^th with a time of 9:38.04.

Blood ran among the leaders for the first two-thirds of the race, remaining in fourth place at the 1,000 and 2,000-meter marks. She put together a 2:59.59 split after five laps and was clocked in 6:06.52 with 1,000-meters remaining in the race. However she was unable to keep up with the rest of the pack down the stretch.

“She ran a tough leg yesterday on her (1,600) leg of the distance medley relay and might have been a little fatigued,” Steel admitted. “She could have run a safe race and maybe finished sixth but that's not the way Vin (Lananna) coaches or the way she wants to run. She runs to win. That may have cost her when she went out strong at the beginning of the race.”

Oregon opens its outdoor season this Saturday with the Oregon Preview at Hayward Field.

Saturday's Results

MEN

Heptathlon Final Scores

1. Gonzalo Barroilhet, Florida State, 5951; 2. Josh Hustedt, Stanford, 5836; 3. Mike Morrison, Florida, 5792; 4. Nick Adcock, Missouri, 5776; 5. Jangy Addy, Tennessee, 5683; 6. Ashton Eaton, Oregon, 5676.

Heptathlon 60 Meter-Hurdles

1.Jangy Addy, Tenn., 7.86 (1017); 2. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 7.96 (992); 3. Gonzalo Barroilhet, Fla. St., 7.98 (987); t4. Josh Hustedt, Stan., 8.10 (957), Nick Adcock, Mo., 8.10 (957), Justin Johnson, CS North., 8.10 (957).

Heptathlon Pole Vault

1. Mike Morrison, Fla., 16-10.75 (957); t2. Josh Hustedt, Stan., 16-6.75 (926), Raven Cepeda, No. Iowa, 16-6.75 (926), Gonzalo Barroilhet, Fla. St., 16-6.75 (926); 5. Chris Dickman, Wich. St., 15-11 (865); 6. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 15-7 (834).

Heptathlon 1000 Meters

1. Mateo Sossah, N. Car., 2:32.64 (957); 2. Chris Dickman, Wich. St., 2:35.03 (929); 3. Mat Clark, No. Iowa, 2:35.26 (927); 4. Moritz Cleve, Kan. St., 2:36.03 (918); 5. Rok Derzanic, Kan. St., 2:38.04 (895); 6. Nick Adcock, Mo., 2:39.56 (878); 7. Ashton Eaton, Ore., 2:40.90 (863).

Mile Run Finals

1. Leonel Manzano, Tex., 4:04.45; 2. Jake Morse, Tex., 4:04.88; 3. A.J. Acosta, Ore., 4:04.90; 4. Garrett Heath, Stan., 4:05.04; 5. Sam Bair III, Pitt., 4:05.50; 6. Jake Watson, Notre Dame, 4:05.51.

4x400-Meter Relay Finals

1. Baylor (Harts, M. Boyd, J. Boyd, Betters), 3:05.66; 2. Texas Christian (Chavez, Guy, Henry, Love), 3:06.19; 3. Arizona State (Gordon, Elston, Kremer, Phillip), 3:06.34; 4. Texas A&M (Oliver, Dykes, R. Robinson, A.C. Robinson), 3:06.37; 5. Florida (Anderson, Davis, Middleton, Smith), 3:07.34; 6. Florida State (Buchanon, Navarette, Byrum, Clark), 3:07.47; 7. Oregon (Eaton, Barlow, Alexander, Dillon), 3:07.89.

WOMEN

3,000-Meter Finals

1. Susan Kuijken, Fla. St., 8:58.14; 2. Brie Felnagle, N. Car., 9:00.31; 3. Arianna Lambie, Stan., 9:05.41; 4. Lauren Centrowitz, Stan., 9:11.06; 5. Marisa Ryan, Boston U., 9:12.83; 6. Nicole Bush, Mich. St., 9:13.48; 14. Nicole Blood, Ore., 9:38.04.

Pole Vault

1. Ellie Rudy, Mont. St., 14-1.25; 2. April Kubishta, Ariz. St., 14-1.25; 3. Kate Sultanova, Kan., 13-11.25; 4. Alica Rue, Minn., 13-11.25; 5. Denise vonEynatten, So. Fla., 13-11.25; 6. Mallory Peck, Purdue, 13-9.25; t8. Stephanie Bagan, San Diego St., Melissa Gergel, Ore., Tori Anthony, UCLA, 13-5.25.