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QuickTake:
The men’s team is ranked second heading into the meet. The women’s team is currently No. 3.
Could the Ducks win NCAA track titles this weekend?
It’s possible for both the men’s and women’s teams. But everything would have to go perfectly — and a lot would have to go wrong for other teams — for Oregon to top the podium at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, which begin Wednesday, June 10, at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.
The meet was already off to a bizarre start on Tuesday, June 9, when a bomb threat forced the evacuation of Hayward Field at about 1:40 p.m. while some teams were going through their premeet warmups. About two hours later, campus police issued an all-clear.
No doubt University of Oregon officials are hoping that any additional excitement this weekend is in the form of athletic competition. Oregon is hosting the NCAA championship meet for the fifth time in the last six years.
The University of Arkansas is the favorite on the men’s side, with the Ducks ranked second in the latest coaches’ poll. Georgia is the favorite on the women’s side, with the Ducks ranked third.
The men compete primarily on Wednesday and Friday; the women compete on Thursday and Saturday.
Men’s competition
The first action on the track starts at 1 p.m. Wednesday, with the 100 meters of the men’s decathlon, a 10-event competition that spans two days. The field events begin with the hammer throw at 2:30 p.m.
Track competition gets underway in earnest at 5:05 p.m. with the semifinal round of the 4 x 100-meter relay. The Ducks’ quartet of Kai Graves-Blanks, PJ Ize-Iyamu, Grant Valley and Jaelon Barbarin, which finished second at the Big Ten championships, should advance to the final and score points for Oregon.
In track, first place scores 10 points, second scores 8, third scores 6, and fifth through eighth places score 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points, respectively. The team with the highest point total at the end of the meet wins. In all, 21 events are contested.
Oregon junior Simeon Birnbaum, who set a collegiate record in the 1500 meters in April, runs in the first heat of the 1500, starting at 5:21 p.m. Other Ducks in the event include Tomas Palfrey and Elliott Cook.
The only track final on Wednesday is the 10,000 meters, which is 25 laps of the track, at 7:56 p.m. Evan Burke runs for the Ducks.
The team competition will be decided on Saturday, when 14 of the 21 events have their finals. The 1500-meter final is at 5:12 p.m., and the 5,000 meters, which Birnbaum is also entered in will have its final at 6:55 p.m.
Women’s competition
The schedule for the women’s track and field events on Thursday and Saturday mirrors the men’s schedule on Wednesday and Friday. The exception is the heptathlon — a seven-event competition, which begins Friday at 11:45 a.m. The Ducks’ Liisa-Maria Lusti from Estonia is in the event and could be among the top eight.
Aaliyah McCormick, the NCAA defending champion in the 100-meter hurdles, begins her title defense at 6:08 p.m. Thursday. On May 30, McCormick set the Oregon record in the event, running 12.44, which makes her the fastest entrant in the competition.
Otherwise, the women Ducks are distance-heavy. They have three entrants in the 1500 meters and three in the 5,000 meters. Junior Juliet Cherubet is in both events.
How to watch
General admission tickets are available via Ticketmaster starting at $28, and at the Hayward Field box office. The meet will be televised on ESPN2.
