Ducks take businesslike approach to meet.

Byline: Curtis Anderson The Register-Guard

The UO coaching staff is not overly enthusiastic about the regional qualifying concept for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

But given no other choice, the coaches are more than willing to make the best of the situation by hosting the two-day meet.

With that in mind, nearly 40 Ducks are set to join 655 declared athletes at the fifth annual NCAA West Regional Championships, which open at 1 p.m. today at Hayward Field.

`I'm not a fan of the regional meet,' Oregon assistant coach Dan Steele said. `When you have a great team and you're trying to win a trophy at the national meet, regionals are a disaster.

`But when you have a young team and you're just trying to get them to the NCAAs so they can experience what their future is going to be like, regionals make a lot of sense, especially when we're hosting it, and we know we can get a lot of people through precisely because it will be at Hayward Field.'

It's hard to determine which category the Ducks fit into this year.

They have their share of NCAA title contenders on both the men's and women's sides with Galen Rupp (10,000 and 5,000), Tommy Skipper (pole vault), Ryan Brandel (javelin), Brian Richotte (hammer), Rebekah Noble (800), Rachel Yurkovich (javelin) and Britney Henry (hammer).

However, Skipper, a four-time NCAA champion, has competed in only one outdoor meet in his senior season after tearing a calf muscle in February. Noble, the reigning NCAA 800-meter champion, didn't compete at the Pac-10 championships two weeks ago because of sore hamstrings.

In addition, junior Phil Alexander strained a hamstring in the 100 at the Pac-10 meet. His regional workload will be limited to both relays, with no individual events, but there is no guarantee he can survive the rounds.

UO director of track and field Vin Lananna said Skipper remains `day-to-day,' a status he doesn't expect to change for the rest of the season.

He is optimistic that Noble, a sophomore, who will not run the 1,500, should be able to qualify in the 800 for the NCAA meet, June 6-9, in Sacramento. If healthy, Noble also is a candidate for the UO women's 4x400 relay.

`We decided to stick with the event she has mastered,' Lananna said, `and that's the 800. We'll treat (regionals) for what they are, the first round of the NCAAs, and we'll take Sacramento as it comes.'

The good news for Oregon is that Rupp, whose breakthrough season has been highlighted by a U.S. collegiate record of 27 minutes, 33.8 seconds in the 10,000, and a PR of 13:30.49 in the 5,000, is ready to go.

The UO junior will lead a parade of Ducks in tonight's 5K, joined by Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Scott Wall, Kenny Klotz, Carlos Trujillo and Jonathan Thomas. Rupp is already an automatic qualifier in the 10K, and Kiptoo-Biwott and Wall, along with freshman Keara Sammons in the women's 10K, are provisional qualifiers.

Oregon's throwing contingent of four Pac-10 champions also appears to be peaking at the right time, but there are several events where the Ducks might need a boost from the hometown fans in booking their tickets to Sacramento.

Those include junior Marcus Dillon in the 400, freshman Andrew Wheating in the 800, freshman A.J. Acosta and junior Mike McGrath in the 1,500, sophomore Chris Winter in the 3,000 steeplechase, sophomore Jared Huske in the hurdles and freshman Ashton Eaton in the long jump.

On the women's side, look out for sophomore Ashley McCrea in the javelin, freshman Zoe Buckman in the 800, senior Emily Enders in the pole vault, and the trio of freshmen Nicole Blood and Sammons and sophomore Zoe Nelson in the 5,000.

`We're hoping to get a good crowd out there,' Lananna said. `It's important for our athletes. We have a lot of events where we're ranked right outside the qualifying window, and we'll need some help.

`I expect good performances from everybody. This is an opportunity for those who didn't shine at the Pac-10s to do something effectively this weekend and get on to Sacramento, and those who did shine at the conference meet, I expect them to continue and be poised to get to the NCAAs.'

It takes a top-five finish to earn a spot at the NCAA meet in individual events, and a top-three finish in relays. Those who make it into the top 12 are eligible for at-large berths when competitive fields are completed next week.

`We decided to stick with the event she has mastered,' Lananna said. `and that's the 800. We'll treat (regionals) for what they are, the first round of the NCAAs, and we'll take Sacramento as it comes.'

`We'll treat (regionals) for what they are, the first round of the NCAAs, and we'll take Sacramento as it comes.'