Eugene, Ore. – The University of Arizona Wildcat No. 16 men’s and No. 9 women’s track and field teams will square off against the Ducks of Oregon in a dual meet on Saturday. The meet will take place at Oregon’s Hayward Field. The field events will commence at 11:35 a.m. MST/PDT and the track events will begin at 11:40 a.m. MST/PDT. The scoring format for individual events will be 5-3-1 while relay scoring is 5-0. The meet will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks from 1-3 p.m. MST on Saturday.
The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) released the week one rankings for the 2014 outdoor season on April 8. The men’s team is ranked 16th and the women are ranked ninth. In the men’s rankings, Oregon is fourth, UCLA is ninth, USC is 13th, Arizona State is 22nd, Stanford is 23rd and California is 24th. On the women’s side, Oregon is No. 2, USC is No. 7, UCLA is No. 13, Stanford is No. 15, Washington is No. 19 and Arizona State is No. 21.
For the women’s field events on Saturday, Arizona will start with senior Amber Passalaqua and freshman Aleah Hurst. The heptathletes will throw the javelin at 1:06 p.m. PDT. Passalaqua, Hurst, sophomore Traci-Lynn Hicks and sophomore Ali Rodseth will long jump at 12:38 p.m. Freshmen Myriah Sujansky and Savannah Whitehead will compete in the pole vault competition at 1:35 p.m. At 1:43 p.m., junior Shakayla McEaddy will high jump. Rodseth and McEaddy are both entered in the triple jump at 2:09 p.m. Senior Julie Labonte, senior Omotayo Talabi, Passalaqua and Hurst will compete in the shot put at 2:12 p.m. Labonté will also throw the discus at 1:30 p.m.
On the men’s side in the field events, Saturday’s competition will begin with redshirt freshmen Jordan Young and Aaron Castle in the discus at 11:35 a.m. Sophomore decathlete Harrison Ivie will pole vault at 12:15 p.m. Young and Castle are also entered in the hammer throw which is set to begin at 12:17 p.m. At 12:20 p.m., senior Nick Ross and freshman Avery Mickens will high jump. Ross, Mickens, junior Mohammad Alhasan and Ivie will long jump at 12:35 p.m. Young, Castle and junior Daniel Whitham will also compete in the shot put at 1:18 p.m. Ross and redshirt Jovon Cunningham will triple jump at 1:58 p.m. Ivie will also throw the javelin at 2:05 p.m.
For the women’s team on the track, junior Stephanie Bulder, redshirt junior Elvin Kibet, senior Amanda Russell will run the 5K at 11:58 a.m. Junior Clea Formaz and senior Erin Menefee will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 12:33 p.m. The women’s 4x100-meter relay will consist of senior Tamara Pridgett, senior Shapri Romero, Hicks and senior Germe Poston. They will compete at 1:04 p.m. with freshman Aaliyah Haggard as an alternate. Redshirt sophomore Kate Penney, junior Molly Callahan and freshman McKenna Gaffney will run the 1,500-meter race at 1:16 p.m. in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Hicks, sophomore Nnenya Hailey, sophomore Morgan Struble and Passalaqua will run at 1:31 p.m. Romero, freshman Jasper Gray, freshman Lizzie Smith and freshman Alex Gilbert will run the 400-meter race at 1:41 p.m. Poston and Haggard will represent Arizona in the 100-meter dash at 1:51 p.m. Senior Meg Bellino, Penny and freshman Gia Trevisan will run the 800-meter race at 2:01 p.m. Hailey and Struble will also run the 400-meter hurdles at 2:13 p.m. Romero, Poston, Haggard, Gray, Gilbert, and Hurst will run the 200-meter sprint at 2:23 p.m. The women’s 4x400-meter relay will consist of two Arizona teams; the “A” team will be Hailey, Gray, Pridgett and Romero while the “B” team is Smith, Gilbert, Trevisan and Struble. They will run at 2:51 p.m.
On the track for the UA men, sophomore Jonas Legernes and redshirt sophomore Thomas Valente will begin the day with the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 12:20 p.m. The quartet of Mickens, Alhasan, freshman Bryce Houston and junior Branden Helms will run the 4x100-meter relay at 1:00 p.m. Senior Lawi Lalang will make his outdoor debut in the 1,500-meter race. He will run at 1:09 p.m. along with sophomore Sam Willis. Ivie will run at 1:25 p.m. in the 110-meter hurdles. Houston and freshman Miles Parish will compete in the 400 meters at 1:37 p.m. Alhasan and Helms will also run the 100-meter sprint at 1:46 p.m. Lalang and junior Dylan Hopper will compete in the 800 meters at 1:56 p.m. Junior Neil Houlihan will compete in the 400-meter hurdles at 2:08 p.m. Alhasan, Helms and Houston will compete in the 200 meters at 2:19 p.m. Juniors Sam Macaluso and Kenji Bierig are set to run the 5K at 2:27 p.m. The men’s 4x400-meter relay will consist of Houston, Helms, Houlihan and Parish with Mickens listed as an alternate. They run at 2:45 p.m.
The last time Nick Ross competed in three events at Hayward Field was the 2012 Pac-12 Championships. Ross took first place in the high jump with a clearance of 7-2.5 (2.20m). He finished in third place in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 25-4.5 (1.7 wind). He triple jumped 52-5.5 (15.99m), a wind-aide mark (3.7 wind) that was good for third place overall. Ross’ personal-best clearance of 7-5.75 (2.28m) also came at Hayward Field when he took third place at 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Lalang has taken quite a few victory laps at Historic Hayward Field. At the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Lalang won two individual titles, the 5K and 10K. He has also won an individual title at the Pac-12 Championships, claiming first in the 1,500-meter race. Lalang also earned a third-place finish in 5K at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships. This meet will be Lalang’s 2014 outdoor debut. He holds the fastest time in collegiate history in the 1,500-meter race at 3:33.20. It does not count as the collegiate record since it did not take place during the collegiate season. He clocked that time at the Paris Diamond League Meet on July 6, 2013. Also in 2013, Lalang had the fastest time collegiate time in the country for the 1,500 meters at 3:38.53. However, he chose not to run the race at the NCAA Championships.
The weather forecast for Saturday’s meet, per the Weather Channel, says the high is set for 53 degrees and there is a 50% chance of precipitation.
Lawi Lalang moved past Florida’s Jeff Demps to became the all-time leader in career Men’s The Bowerman Watch List appearances with 20 in its Post-NCAA Indoor Championships edition. It was released by the USTFCCCA on March 19.
The Wildcats competed at the ASU Invitational in Tempe on March 28-29. The women’s team took first place in six events on the day. Shapri Romero earned first-place finishes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Her personal-best time of 11.60 in the 100-meter dash was good for No. 6 in UA history. Romero’s personal-best time of 23.29 in the 200 meters is ranked No. 3 in Arizona history. Julie Labonté took first place in the shot put with a toss of 56-6.75 (17.24m). She also won the discus competition with a personal-best mark of 186-6 (56.84m), the No. 4 toss in school history. Nnenya Hailey won the 400-meter race with a time of 54.08. Kate Penney’s time of 4:21.87 was good for first place in the women’s 1,500-meter race.
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat men’s and women’s track and field, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow @ArizonaTrack on Twitter.
