Beavers off to Pac-12 meet

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State track & field team concludes its regular season this weekend at the Pacific-12 Championships at Husky Track in Seattle.

The Beavers will send 22 competitors to the meet, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. They hope to improve upon last year's finish, when they took 11th place with six points.

“We have put a lot of work, time and sacrifice into this season; we've been working hard,” coach Kelly Sullivan said. “It doesn't matter what event you're in, you've been preparing for it for the last 10 months.

“We have a number of events we can score in, and that's exciting. Adding more event-areas has given us more flexibility, and more opportunity” to score than in the past, when OSU was top-heavy with distance runners and not the comprehensive program of the past two seasons.

“We have throwers, jumpers, hurdlers, middle distance, distance and relays that can score. That's what we've been working toward,” and that progress should be manifested this weekend. “I'm proud of where we are right now.”

Two Beavers scored at the 2015 championships. Junior Melissa Ausman placed eighth in the discus; then-freshman Sam McKinnon, who is redshirting this spring, placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

OSU prospects for points this year are much brighter. Twenty-five Beavers rank in the season top-25 in their respective events and could possibly break into the top eight and score with a strong performance.

Following is a list of competing Beavers in the top 25 in their respective events:

· 100 HURDLES: 5. Devin Collins (13.46).

· 400 HURDLES: 6. Collins (58.64). 12. D'Arpino (1:00.20).

· HIGH JUMP: 6. Sara Almen (5-9.25). 21. Allison Jackson (5-5.75).

· POLE VAULT: 11. Helen Ann Haun; Annie Sidor; Gillette Field (12-5.50).

· LONG JUMP: 17. Jasmin McKenzie (19-4.25).

· TRIPLE JUMP: 14. Michele Turney (39-9.75). 20. Bethany Imperial (39-0.25).

· DISCUS: 6. Melissa Ausman (176-10). 10. Rachel Picknell (158-4). .

· HAMMER: 17. Picknell (173-4). 23. Ausman (163-1).

· JAVELIN: 7. Byrd (143-0), 11. Kindel Bailey (138-6).

Almen (high jump), Collins (100, 400 hurdles) and Ausman (discus) have already qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary, set for May 24-26 at Lawrence, Kan. Several other Beavers are close to posting qualifying marks or times.

“We have a number” of competitors on the cusp of advancing, Sullivan said. “There are a couple who could get big throws, a couple who could get big jumps or run faster.

“We are as optimistic. There are just more opportunities than we've had in the past. There is a lot more sense of pride, and the opportunity for us to represent ourselves [on the track] better than we have in the past, and to come home with points and the chance to move on into regional competition.”

The top 12 finishers in each event at the two national regionals advance to the NCAA championships, scheduled for June 8-11 at Hayward Field.

The Beavers have set 14 school records and have posted 54 all-time top-10 times or marks since starting the outdoor campaign at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Invitational on March 19.

The heptathlon was held last weekend. USC leads the team standings with 14 points, followed by Arizona (11), Washington State (6), Colorado (6), Arizona State (4) and Washington (2).

For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@beavers_track.

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Friday's projected entries:

1500 METERS (prelims): Morgan Anderson; Juliana Mount; Kristiane Width; Holly Cavalluzzo; Emily Weber.

10,000 METERS (finals): Samantha Lewis.

100 HURDLES (prelims): Devin Collins.

400 HURDLES (prelims): Devin Collins, Kerissa D'Arpino.

400 RELAY (prelims): Oregon State (Jasmin McKenzie, Venessa D'Arpino, Kerissa D'Arpino, Devin Collins, Michele Turney).

JAVELIN (finals): Kindel Bailey, McKenzie Byrd.

HIGH JUMP (finals): Sara Almen, Allison Jackson.

LONG JUMP (finals): Jasmin McKenzie.

Saturday's projected entries:

1500 METERS (finals): TBA

5000 METERS (finals): Samantha Lewis, Morgan Anderson, Emily Weber.