UCSON, Ariz. - So much for the form charts for the Pac-10 track and field championships.

Oregon's men capped a near wire-to-wire victory with wins from Mike Berry in the 400 meters and Matthew Centrowitz in the 1,500 meters, while the women overcame the disqualification of its top-seeded 4x100 meter relay team to rally from a 57.5-point deficit, and both teams emerged victorious Saturday night at Drachman Stadium.

The men won their fifth straight Pac-10 title, while the women captured their third in a row. The Duck men won with 129 points, followed by Arizona with 111 and USC, UCLA and Arizona State all tied with 99. They are the first team to win five straight league titles since UCLA in 1992-96.

"We have a great staff, a great team and we have veterans who know how to win," said Oregon associate men's head coach Andy Powell. "We didn't have a lot of wins individually, but we fought for a lot of points all over the place."

The women's title chase came down to the final event, the 4x400 meter relay, which the Ducks won to finish with 154.5 points. Arizona, which led by as much as 57.5 points early in the day, was second with 150 points. Arizona State was third with 121 and USC finished fourth at 103.

"Today, the Oregon women learned something about their character," said Oregon associate head coach Robert Johnson.

Centrowitz kick-started the men's day by winning his third consecutive Pac-10 title in a season-best 3:41.73. He outraced Arizona freshman Lawi Lalang as the two swapped the lead three times on the final lap. At the bell, the two broke from the pack with Lalang leading. The junior from Arnold, Md., then forced the issue by surging ahead with 300 meters to go and Lalang sprinted to recapture the lead.

Centrowitz then tucked in behind the Wildcat runner and made his big move with 150 meters remaining, taking the lead to win going away. He became just the fourth man to win three straight at that distance, joining Gabe Jennings of Stanford (2000-02), Bernard Legat of Washington State (1997-99) and Hailu Ebba of Oregon State (1972-74). Ebba's three straight came in the mile.

"I know how important and special winning a conference title is," said Centrowitz. "That's why we were out there scrapping for every point."

Berry took the 400 meters by storm, winning in a school record 44.91. The freshman from Seattle, Wash., got out of the block quickly, sat back in the middle of the race and then shifted into overdrive with 150 meters remaining to hold off Trojans Joey Hughes (45.05) and Bryshon Nellum (45.56).

Berry's time broke one of the oldest records in Oregon history, Otis Davis' 1960 time of 45.07. He also ran the fastest time in the nation at all levels this season.
"I really like good competition," said Berry. "I had to score as many points as I could for my team."
The women meanwhile fell way back after the disappointment in the 4x100 relay, combined with Arizona's 22 points in the discus.

But the rally started with Jordan Hasay, who won the first of her two Pac-10 titles in the 1,500 meters. It was basically an all Oregon final as Hasay crossed in 4:19.18 and Oregon State's Laura Carlyle was second in 4:20.98. Oregon's Anne Kesselring was third in 4:21.36, fellow Duck Becca Friday was fourth in 4:25.03 and freshman Megan Patrignelli was sixth in 4:28.22 as Oregon collected 24 points in the event.

"I didn't feel great in the 1,500, but obviously I'm very happy I could help our team," said Hasay.

English Gardner continued the rally with arguably the performance of the meet. She won the 100 meters in 11.03, but that was only half the story. She broke two fairly significant marks. Her time was an American junior record, bettering the 11.04 run by Angela Williams of USC in 1999, and she broke the meet record of 11.05 by UCLA's Gail Devers in 1987.

"She simply beasted it," said USC's Jessica Davis, who was second in 11.19.

The freshman from Voorhees, N.J., broke her own school record of 11.30, set earlier this season. The Ducks also got huge performances from junior Amber Purvis, who was third in a personal-best 11.21 (No. 2 on the Oregon list) and senior Mandy White, who was fourth in a personal-best 11.57 (No. 3 on the UO list), for 21 points total in the 100.

"I wasn't expecting the time I ran, but we're starting to see a pattern here," said Gardner. "It definitely all came together today."

Senior Jamesha Youngblood gave the Ducks six points with her third-place finish in the triple jump at 42-3.5/12.89m.

The Ducks picked up another six points from Chizoba Okodogbe, who finished fourth in the 400 in a personal-best 52.71. That moved the freshman from Antioch, Calif., to No. 4 on the UO top 10.

Oregon continued to chip away at the Arizona advantage in the 800 meters, where freshman Laura Roesler finished in a seasonal-best 2:04.24 (No. 6 on the UO list) and Kesselring was fifth in 2:07.41. Those 10 points left the Ducks 11.5 points back of the Wildcats going into the 200 meters.

Oregon moved into the lead for the first time in the meet in the 200 meters, where Ducks finished second, third and sixth. Purvis clocked a season-best 22.97 to place second, Gardner was third in a personal-best 23.02 (No. 2 on the UO list ) and White took sixth in 23.76.

That pushed the Ducks ahead by 2.5 points.

"The 200 was the swing event for us," said Johnson.

The Ducks and Wildcats then traded 11 points in the 5,000 meters, with Hasay taking the title in 16:24.10 and Claire Michel grabbing a point with an eighth-place finish in 16:54.44.

That set the stage for an exciting 4x400 meters with the title on the line. Oregon's team of Okodogbe, Purvis, Phyllis Francis and Roesler won in a meet record 3:29.63 to seal the victory. That was the second-fastest time in school history.

The men, meanwhile, kept adding on the points to keep potential challengers at bay.

Jordan Stray got the day off well in the field with a third-place finish in the hammer. The senior from Centralia, Wash., had the No. 8 throw in achool history at 219-7/66.93m.

Oregon's football players then came through with a fifth-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay. The team of Dior Mathis, Berry, Kenjon Barner and LaMichael James ran 40.09, which was the seventh-fastest time in school history.

In addition to Centrowitz in the 1,500, senior A.J. Acosta earned two points with a seventh-place finish in 3:39.42.

David Klech and Eric Hersey added to the team total in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing fifth (13.97) and sixth (14.06) respectively.

The Ducks then extended their lead in the 800 meters, where sophomore Elijah Greer was second in a season-best 1:47.70 and freshman Boru Guyota was fifth in 1:49.34.

The Ducks also counted eight unexpected points in the pole vault from Austin Ouderkirk. The sophomore from Newport, Ore., finished second at a personal-best 16-9.5/5.12m.

Oregon then put the meet out of reach in the 5,000 meters, where junior Luke Puskedra was fourth in 14:02.62 and senior Danny Mercado was eighth in 14:18.73.

The Ducks added another five points from the 4x400 meter relay team, which placed fourth. The group of Hersey, Bryan Harper, Greer and Berry ran 3:07.21, which was the seventh-best time in school history.

Brian Schaudt then wrapped up the scoring with a third-place finish in the triple jump. The junior from Philomath, Ore., jumped a legal-best 51-8.25/15.75m to move to No. 8 on the UO list.

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