A step up, a step back.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Suddenly, the men's title at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships is up for grabs.

Despite crowning two individual champions at John McDonnell Field on Thursday night, meet favorite Oregon lost some steam in the team competition when freshman Matthew Centrowitz dropped off the pace late in the 1,500-meter semifinals and jogged across the finish line in last place.

Not only did Centrowitz fail to advance to Saturday's final, but as the national leader in the race with his early-season PR of 3 minutes, 36.92 seconds, the Ducks were denied his projected 10 points, and any margin for error in their quest for the triple crown.

When asked what happened after the race, Centrowitz declined comment, stating only, "not right now."

UO director of track and field Vin Lananna later said Centrowitz hurt the bottom of his left foot at the NCAA West Regional Championships.

"Matt's been a little dinged up. He got injured at the regional meet," Lananna said. "We've been trying to nurse it along the whole week. We thought we had him in good shape by playing around with his shoes, but he's got some pretty big inflammation on the third metatarsal of his left foot."

The loss of Centrowitz and its effect on the team race overshadowed two impressive accomplishments by the Ducks - senior Galen Rupp collected his fifth individual NCAA title of the season with a victory in the 10,000 at 28:21.45, and junior Ashton Eaton successfully defended his decathlon crown with a total of 8,241 points.

Rupp, who will double back in the final of the 5,000 tonight, was competing in his second race in less than 24 hours following Wednesday night's storm-delayed 5,000 semifinal.

"It's not that bad," said Rupp, who collected his 13th all-American award. "We were laughing last night, even though the race started at 12:40 in the morning, it was like 10 to us, and most of us college guys are just getting started at that point."

Rupp withstood the early challenges of Liberty's Sam Chelanga and Arkansas' Shawn Forrest, who went out hard together in an effort to sap the energy from Rupp's legs.

It didn't work.

Rupp reeled the pair in within a few laps, and the trio hit the midway point of the race in 14 minutes.

"I can't blame them," Rupp said. "They had to figure I would be tired (from the 5,000), so I was fully expecting that. It wasn't a big surprise. I just tried to bide my time, and when it was time to go, I made my move."

On this night, Rupp began his kick with about 650 meters left. Forrest gamely tried to hang on in front of the hometown fans, but it was readily apparent who would win the race. Rupp ran his final two laps in 1:58. Forrest took second in 28:24.53 and Chelanga third at 28:35.40.

UO freshman Luke Puskedra, who was projected to finish sixth in the 10,000, faded to 11th with a time of 29:20.18, and UO sophomore Daniel Mercado was 14th at 29:22.54. His twin brother, Diego Mercado, did not finish.

Although the Ducks put 20 points on the scoreboard Thursday, Rupp said they'll have to rally to make up for lost ground.

"It was disappointing not having Matt go on," he said.

"It's going to test our character. As with any great championship team, it's never going to be smooth sailing. We're going to have to come back and pick up some points where we weren't expected to. ...

"I think it might be good for us, a little kick in the butt to let us know we need to focus. We don't have any room for error now."

In the decathlon, Eaton had one major hiccup - a 14-5 1/4 mark in the pole vault - but he channeled his frustration into a PR in the 1,500 at 4:20.75 and finished with the best score of his life, even though it won't count as the school record because his mark in the 100 was wind-aided.

UO junior Marshall Ackley had seven PRs in his 10 events to earn all-American honors with a personal best of 7,470 points.

"It was a tough two days," said Dan Steele, UO associate director of track and field. "I'm really proud of both of those guys.

"With Ashton, we let one go in the vault, and that one stings a little bit, but when you score 8,241 with a 14-5 pole vault, you just kind of roll your eyes. Clearly, he's ready for a huge score."

Eaton's other marks were a PR of 13.85 in the 110 hurdles, the seventh-best mark in school history; a PR of 137-1 in the discus and 175-11 in the javelin.

In all, the decathlon lasted nine hours.

"For me, the title isn't so glorious as it was just finishing today," Eaton said. "Today was the longest second day of the multi I've ever had. We started at 2:30 and it's 11 o'clock now. That's unbelievable, but the experience is just awesome. Every time I do a multi, especially with the guys on this level, it's really cool."

UO junior Jordan McNamara made the 1,500 final as the 12th qualifier despite placing sixth in his heat at 3:42.09.

Besides Rupp and senior Shadrack Biwott in the 5,000, and two javelin throwers in Cyrus Hostetler and Alex Wolff, the Ducks still have some firepower left in the 800 as junior Andrew Wheating easily navigated his way into Saturday's final by winning his semifinal heat with a time of 1:46.21.

Wheating said there would be no holding back in the final.

"I'm ready to roll, absolutely," he said. "Especially with a day off. I know I can come back and be 100 percent."

Whether the Ducks can bounce back from Thursday's adversity remains to be seen.