05/10/2009 - GoDucks.com

EUGENE, Ore. -- Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen led a 1-2 Oregon sweep of the Pacific-10 Championships combined events Sunday at Historic Hayward Field. It was the first time in history that one school had claimed the top two spots in both the league’s men’s and women’s combined competitions.

Oregon went 1-2-8 in both the heptathlon and the decathlon to tally 19 points in each competition and bank a solid lead for next weekend’s Pac-10 Championships, which will be contested at Hayward Field.

"Today was great; we had PR’s all over the place," said associate director of track and field Dan Steele. "I’m so proud of all of our men and women out there, they really came to compete today and there’s nothing more I could ask of them.

"We take 19 points on both the men’s and women’s side into next week and that helps out tremendously."

Eaton easily defended his Pac-10 decathlon title by scoring 8,091 points -- the fourth straight decathlon that the junior from Bend, Ore., has gone over 8,000 points.

He opened the day with a personal best in the 110 meter hurdles, winning in 14.01 seconds. That was the eighth-fastest 110 hurdle time in school history and also an NCAA Regional qualifier.

Eaton then took second in the discus with a throw of 130 feet, 7 inches that was just four inches off his personal best. In the pole vault, Eaton was third with a clearance of 15-11. He cruised to the finish with a 163-0 throw in the javelin and a fourth-place showing in the 1,500 meters in 4:36.87.

"Back to back Pac-10 titles is nice but I’m happier about getting those points for my team," said the defending NCAA decathlon and indoor heptathlon champion. "I’m so overly proud of my teammates and I can’t wait to see what next weekend brings."

While Eaton was becoming the first Duck to win back-to-back Pac-10 titles since Pedro daSilva in 1990-91, Oregon’s Marshall Ackley fought to the finish to hold off Washington’s Jeremy Taiwo for second place.

The junior from Nyssa, Ore., opened the day with a decathlon-best 14.95 in the 110 meter hurdles that was good for third place. That set him off on a string of personal bests, throwing 124-11 in the discus (fifth), clearing 15-3 in the pole vault (tied for fourth), throwing 176-0 in the javelin (fourth, with a 7-7 PR) and finishing second in the 1,500 meters (4:25.64).

All of which added up to 7,337 points and a 404-point PR.

"Being in the level of competition that we had today really helps raise my game and in turn makes me a better competitor," said Ackley, who now ranks 14th in the nation in the event. "I can’t wait to see what we can do coming into the next week."

After the two Ducks, Taiwo was third with 7,299 points, followed by California’s Kyle Mills-Bunje (7,007), Stanford’s Corey Dysick (6,864) and Chris McGovern of Arizona (6,829).

Oregon’s Aaron McVein was eighth with a personal-best 6,664 points. The junior from Eugene, Ore., had PRs in the 110 hurdles (17.42), discus (127-7) and javelin (161-1).

In the men’s team race, Oregon led with 19 points, followed by Washington with six, California with five, Stanford with four, Arizona with three and UCLA with two.

On the women’s side, Oregon scored 19 points, getting 10 from Theisen, eight from Kalindra McFadden’s second-place finish and one from Erin Funkhouser’s eighth-place mark. USC was second with 10 points, UCLA was third with five, followed by Stanford’s three and Arizona’s two.

"This is huge; exactly what we wanted to do," said McFadden. "I knew I had to have a good day."

Theisen became just the second Pac-10 champion from Oregon, joining Kelly Blair who won in 1993 and 1994.

The sophomore won by scoring a personal-best 5,986 points, which leads the NCAA in 2009 and kept her at second on the UO all-time list. McFadden was next with personal-best 5,780 points -- third on the UO career list and third in the nation this season -- followed by Nia Ali of UCLA (5,681) and Ryann Krais of UCLA (5,606) who all met the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. Funkhouser was eighth with a personal-best 4,881 points. Theisen’s score was the sixth-best in Pac-10 history, while McFadden had the 10th-best score in league annals.

Theisen maintained her first-day lead throughout, finishing third in both the long jump, with a leap of 19-4.75, and the javelin throw (133-8). She then brought the championship home by taking second in the 800 meters in a lifetime-best 2:14.57.

"I’m really more excited we went one, two and eight in the heptathlon than I am about winning it," said Theisen, who recorded a 221-point PR. "Going into the 800, I was nervous at the start but in the end I felt good, and I feel awesome right now.

"The plan was to do well and get the team pumped up and score early points for the team," said the Humboldt, Sask., native. "It was awesome having teammates that support you. We feed of each other’s energy and we help each other stay relaxed."

McFadden, who began the day in third place, had a leap of 18-9 in the long jump, before putting on a charge in the final two events to catch Ali.

The senior from Bozeman, Mont., took second in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 134-3, and then passed Ali on the final event by running a personal-best 2:13.82 to win the 800 meters and record a 198-point PR.

"I surprised myself with a PR in to 200," said McFadden. "I knew I had to run my heart out. That’s probably the best kick I’ve ever had. People have seen me freak out like eight times this year, but it’s exciting. I want to continue doing this."

Funkhouser came from nearly 200 points back with an impressive performance in the 800 meters. She nipped Liz Fuller of Washington by 37 points to grab a team point for the Ducks.

The junior from Grass Valley, Ore., had a personal bests in the long jump (18-0.25) and 800 meters, where she placed fourth in 2:15.43 for a 23-point PR.

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