Wheating, Baker Lead Ducks to a Pair of Second Place Finishes at the NCAA Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The Oregon track and field teams fought to their best showing at the NCAA Track and Field Championship in a quarter century as Andrew Wheating won the men’s 800 meters and Keshia Baker scored in the women’s 400 meters Saturday at the 2009 national meet at John McDonnell Field.

The Duck women scored 43 points, trailing only Texas A&M’s 50. Arizona State was third with 41 points and Florida State was fourth with 40. It was the best finish for the University since winning the title in 1985 and the first trophy since 1992.

Oregon’s men’s tied for second with Florida and Florida State at 46 points in a wild finish that saw Texas A&M score 18 points in the triple jump and grab second in the 4x400 meter relay for 48 points and a two-point victory. Still, the Men of Oregon notched their best finish since 1984 and won their first trophy since 1991.

"The women were absolutely fantastic," said Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. "I never thought in a million years that we would actually be in a position to contend for the title with such great teams out there, so it was really great for the women. On the guys’ side, obviously we would have liked a different outcome, but they competed well and they competed with class.

"And to have both teams going home with a trophy is fantastic," said Lananna. "When the dust all clears, I’ll be enthusiastic about the performances and the accomplishments of a very special group of student-athletes who represented Oregon so well this week."

Wheating gutted out a victory in the 800 meters for his first career NCAA Championship. The junior from Norwich, Vt., ran 1:46.21 to clip Tevan Everett of Texas at the line by .06. Everett ran 1:46.27.

"I had to work for that one," said Wheating, who became the first Duck to win the NCAA 800 meters since Joaquim Cruz in 1984. "That was really hard. But more importantly, we got the 10 points."

In the first race of the day, Baker set the school record by running 51.29 in a fifth-place finish in the women’s 400 meters.

"I’m proud of myself, the team and everybody," said Baker. "I ran my race as if it was just me out there. I wasn’t paying attention to anybody else."

Baker became the first Duck to score in the 400 meters since Camara Jones in 1994. Baker also broke Jones’ 1995 school record of 51.44.

"I’m glad to follow in the footsteps of Camara Jones, who was an excellent runner, so I’m proud."

Also on Saturday, Jordan McNamara ran 11th in the men’s 1,500 meters in 3:42.42,

For the meet, Oregon produced six NCAA champions: Galen Rupp in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, Rachel Yurkovich in the javelin, Ashton Eaton in the decathlon, Brianne Theisen in the heptathlon and Wheating.

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