Women Open NCAA Championships to Mixed Results – GoDucks.com
by Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Photo: Eric Evans
EUGENE, Ore. — As Thursday’s session of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field championships ended, a rainbow appeared above Hayward Field. It was the product of steady rain falling over the facility, but also light breaking through clouds as the sun set in the West.
The contradiction of the weather was apt, given the day just experienced by the defending NCAA champion Ducks. Sunlight was provided by a series of personal bests from UO athletes, but like the rain falling over the meet, Oregon’s title hopes were dampened by some missteps over the course of the day.
The UO women came out of the day with four points toward their team score, thanks to a second straight fifth-place finish by Brittany Mann. She broke her own school record with a throw of 57 feet, 4 3/4 inches, scoring at the NCAA meet for the third year in a row.
The Ducks also saw Ariana Washington and Deajah Stevens establish PRs in the 200, and Washington advanced to Saturday’s finals as the top qualifier in the 100. Sasha Wallace provided another school record while advancing in the 100 hurdles, and the UO 4×100 relay reached the final.
But that group could be without sophomore Hannah Cunliffe on Saturday, after she pulled up and didn’t advance in her 100 prelim. And in the final event of the afternoon, the Ducks dropped the baton in the 4×400, eliminating them from that event.
“A tough day for the Ducks,” UO coach Robert Johnson had to acknowledge afterward.
It didn’t start out that way. The quartet of Danielle Barbian, Stevens, Cunliffe and Washington posted the fourth-fastest preliminary time in the 4×100, while team title favorite Arkansas finished ninth in qualifying, missing the final. Then, senior Annie Leblanc qualified for the 1,500 final, after barely missing finals at both the 2015 Outdoor and 2016 Indoor championships.
A short time later, Wallace ran the 100 hurdles in 12.95 seconds, becoming the first UO woman ever to reach the final in that event. She’s been pushed all season by teammate Alaysha Johnson, who also qualified for the NCAA meet.
“There is for sure some good competition going on there,” Wallace said. “Up through my junior year I had to be my own competition, so it’s great having someone on the team to compete with.”
The next event was the 100, however, and while Washington led the field by running 11.18, Cunliffe pulled up and didn’t advance. Washington wasn’t done, staying on the shoulder of Stevens in their 200 heat as the Ducks went 1-2, with Stevens crossing in 22.32 and Washington finishing in 22.61.
“With Deajah in my heat it kind of puts me in a comfort zone,” Washington said. “So I told her, I pull you, you pull me, so no matter what we’ll get one and two.”
Their 1-2 finish provided some of the sunlight that shined on the Ducks on Thursday.
“That time Deajah ran in the prelims of the 200 was a huge PR,” Johnson said. “Ari showed up well today in both the 100 and 200. So all those things are good.”
Both ran well enough to exceed pre-meet projections for how they might score Saturday. But without Cunliffe or the 4×400 team, the Ducks won’t be in great shape to win another team title.
“Not if I’m being really honest,” Johnson said. “I don’t think we have enough bullets. But we’re going to go out there and see what happens.”
The competitors Saturday will try to match the fortitude demonstrated by Mann in the shot put. By the time her competition began, Cunliffe’s 100 preliminary had been run. Mann knew the Ducks’ fate was dire.
She responded with her school record of 57-4 3/4, on the fifth throw of her series. That provided four team points, on a day team favorite Arkansas overcame a couple of slips by piling up 26 points on the strength of wins by Dominique Scott in the 10,000 and Alexis Weeks in the pole vault.
“The biggest thing is, one person goes down, the next person picks them up,” Mann said. “That’s what we do as a team. Stuff happens, so I was just trying to do as much as I could to even it out.”
Mann finished fifth for the second year in a row, after placing seventh as a freshman in 2014. She was rooted on as always by an adoring Hayward Field crowd.
“It was awesome,” Mann said. “They announced my name, and everybody cheered a little bit louder, which was kind of cool. But it’s always fun to compete here. We really do have the best fans in the world.”
