Duck men prepared to begin trophy bid.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

SACRAMENTO - By most projections, the Oregon men's track and field team isn't expected to be in the trophy hunt at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships that open today.

But don't include the Ducks in that category.

With senior Tommy Skipper favored to defend his title in the pole vault, and junior Galen Rupp coming into the four-day meet as the U.S. collegiate record-holder in the 10,000 meters, the UO men already have a solid foundation.

Based on the NCAA scoring system (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 through eight places), if those two can perform up to their abilities, the Ducks should bank 20 points, and just how far up the national ladder they can climb depends on the supporting cast.

And there are some top-notch athletes in that group.

Senior Ryan Brandel is seeded fifth in the javelin, and senior Brian Richotte is ranked eighth in the hammer throw. Both throwers claimed Pac-10 titles this season, and they have a sense of urgency in their final season.

`For Ryan and I, this is our last go-round,' Richotte said. `We're going to be fighting for as many points as we can to get us on the podium. That's a big motivator ... there are no clear-cut favorites in our events this year.

"Going out there and knowing you have a chance makes all the difference in the world.'

`Nobody really expects us to do anything,' Brandel added. `We want to go out and prove people wrong.'

It takes a top-four finish in the team standings to earn an NCAA trophy.

The Oregon men haven't been able to accomplish that feat since placing third in 1991 with 36 points when the meet was held at Hayward Field.

The Ducks have finished ninth three times in the past six seasons (2001, '04 and '05).

According to the latest Trackwire predictions, Florida State is a prohibitive favorite to claim its second straight NCAA title with 59 points, followed by Auburn at 38 and LSU with 35.

The fourth spot appears to be up for grabs, with Tennessee and USC expected to finish in a tie with 31 points.

That's certainly not out of the reach of the Ducks, who are projected to finish in an eighth-place tie with North Carolina at 24.

`I think there a lot of places where we have some potential to do some exciting things,' UO director of track and field Vin Lananna said. `But we're still a young team that had to replace a lot of great athletes who graduated.

`We're just like our cross country team this past fall. We wanted to see if we could vie for a title at the Pac-10s, which we did, and see if we can be in the top 10 at NCAAs, and those are the same goals we have now.'

One area where the Ducks could exceed expectations is the sprints.

Both relays qualified for the the third straight season, and while they are each seeded 18th out of 18 teams, the Ducks always compete well on the national stage, with both school relay records set at the 2005 NCAA meet.

The 4x100 relay consists of junior Marcus Dillon, freshman Ashton Eaton, junior Phil Alexander and sophomore Jared Huske. Freshman Chad Barlow replaces Huske on the 4x400 relay.

The other UO qualifiers and their national seeds are junior Marcus Dillon in the 400 (24th), freshman A.J. Acosta (15th) and junior Mike McGrath (26th) in the 1,500, sophomore Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott (23rd) in the 10,000 and freshman Ashton Eaton (26th) in the long jump.

On the women's side, the Ducks would love to improve on last year's 11th-place finish with 23 points, which represented their best showing at the NCAA championships since placing fourth in 1993.

They do have some impressive firepower.

Sophomore Rachel Yurkovich is the top-ranked collegian in the javelin, and senior Britney Henry is ranked third in the hammer throw.

Sophomore Rebekah Noble, the defending champion in the 800 meters, is seeded fifth in that event.

Noble suffered a minor setback when a pair of tight hamstrings kept her out of the Pac-10 meet, but Lananna said she has made steady improvement.

He expects her to be in the mix in the 800 final.

`Becca was very fortunate to win NCAAs last year,' he said. `That will be a much taller order this year.

"She can't sneak in there because everybody will be ready for her. ... The 800 may very well be the most competitive field out there, and it will make for an exciting race ... but I think her best is yet to come.'

The rest of the UO competitors are sophomore Ashley McCrea in the javelin (17th), freshman Keara Sammons in the 10,000 (15th), freshman Nicole Blood in the 5,000 (18th) and freshman Zoe Buckman in the 800 (27th).

Trackwire points to Arizona State as the heavy team favorite with 62 points, followed by LSU (37), Texas A&M (37), South Carolina (33) and Texas (33).

Oregon is predicted to finish tied for 13th with 20 points.