May 13, 2012

Final Results

Eugene, Ore. - The University of Arizona Wildcat No. 14 men's and No. 9 women's track and field teams wrapped up competition at the Pac-12 Championships on Sunday. The Wildcats finished in third place on the men's side and the women earned a third-place finish as well. The Wildcats won four titles on Sunday and a total of six at the Pac-12 Championships.

On the men's side, Oregon won their sixth-straight conference title with 140 points. Arizona State took second with 116.50 points. Arizona finished third with 94 points. UCLA had 86 points in fourth place. Stanford took fifth place, scoring 78 points.

For the women, Oregon won their fourth-straight conference championship with 200.50. Stanford took second, scoring 124.50 points. Arizona finished in third with 94.50 points. USC finished in fourth, scoring 91 points. Arizona State took fifth with 85 points.

"I love what we did," head coach Fred Harvey said. "We came back and fought really hard, they came out today and fought like Wildcats and got this thing done. We had some tremendous performances and ended up third on both sides, which is always a good showing in the best conference that there is in the country. As a team, collectively, we did really a good job of keeping everybody accountable, supporting one another and giving us some momentum going into the NCAA Championships."

Junior Georganne Moline won the Pac-12 Championship in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.12. Moline broke her own school record for the second time this year. Her personal-best time is the top collegiate time in the country and sits at No. 5 in the world. She holds the second-best time in the U.S. for any level of competition. Her time also stands as the fifth-best time in Pac-12 history. Moline scored 10 points for Arizona and earned her third-straight all-conference accolade in the 400-meter hurdles. Moline has met the Olympic "A" Standard in the 400-meter hurdles.

"The times and things are important," Harvey said. "But what it did for her confidence-wise moving forward is huge. I'm really excited about where she's at."

"I was actually pretty nervous," Moline said. "But the more I talked to coach Harvey, the more confident I became. He just said `go out there and do what you've been doing.' There was nothing I had to change or anything like that, I just had to compete and worry about myself and that's exactly what I did."

The women's 4x400-meter relay team consisting of sophomore Shapri Romero, senior Echos Blevins, sophomore Tamara Pridgett and Moline won the race with a season-best time of 3:31.85. That is the second-best time in UA history and the No. 6 time in the country this year. Romero had a split of 53.2, Blevins had a split of 52.4, Pridgett split at 54.2 and Moline anchored with a time of 51.66.

"I just went out there running confident," Moline said. "There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to (catch) her because it was Oregon, we had to get them. I had a personal best on my split and we had a personal best (as a team) and we did amazing so it was exciting."

Sophomore Lawi Lalang won the Pac-12 Championships in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:47.33. Lalang clocked a time of 53.91 in the last 400 meters to seal the victory and add 10 points to the team total. This marks Lalang's second-straight all-conference performance in the event. In the 5K, Lalang took third place with a time of 13:41.45. Senior Stephen Sambu earned a second-place finish with a time of 13:38.88. That is the second-straight year Lalang and Sambu earned all-conference accolades in the event. For the weekend, Sambu scored a total of 18 points for the UA men while Lalang scored 16 points. On the women's side, sophomore Elvin Kibet took fourth with a time of 16:20.46. Junior Jen Bergman took eighth with a time of 16:33.47. Bergman earned all-conference honors for the straight-year while Kibet earned all-conference honors in the 5K for the first time of her career. Overall, Kibet scored 10 points and Bergman scored nine points for the UA women.

Junior Brigetta Barrett won the Pac-12 Championship in the high jump for the second-straight year. She cleared 6-4.25 (1.94m), which is the sixth time this year Barrett has cleared 6-4 or better. She added 10 points to the women's total and earned her third-straight all-conference honor. In the men's triple jump, junior Nick Ross finished third with a wind-aided mark of 52-5.5 (15.99m). Ross finished third or better in all three competitions this weekend, scoring a total of 22 points for the UA men. Ross also earned his second-straight all-conference honor in the triple jump. Freshman Jovon Cunningham took fourth in the triple jump with his best mark coming at 51-9 (15.77m). Cunningham added five points to UA total.

In the women's discus, junior Alyssa Hasslen set a personal-best mark of 180-9 (55.09m). That mark was good for second place in the competition and eight points for the women. It was also the fifth-best mark in school history. Hasslen was an all-conference performer in the event for the second-straight year. Junior Taylor Freeman finished third in the discus, throwing 171-7 (52.30m). Freeman earned all-conference honors in the discus for the third time in her career. In the men's hammer, junior Tyler Johnson took fourth place with a mark of 204-8 (62.38m). He scored five points for the UA men and earned his second-straight all-conference honor in the event. In the men's discus, sophomore Bozidar Antunovic finished in seventh place with a throw of 167-2 (50.95m), good for two points. Antunovic earned all-conference honors in the shot put and the discus for the second-straight year.

In the men's 4x100-meter relay, freshman Thomas Moronta, junior Chris McSwain, freshman Garic Wharton and junior Clifton Leake clocked a time of 40.77, good for fifth place. They added four points to the men's total. On the women's side, sophomore Tamara Pridgett, sophomore Germe Poston, junior Shale' Garland and senior Dahlys Marshall clocked a time of 45.80, finishing in seventh place. They tacked on two points to the women's score.

Junior James Eichberger took fourth in the men's 800 meters with a time of 1:48.96. He earned his second-straight all-conference accolade. Blevins took fifth in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 53.80. Blevins tacked on four points for the UA women and earned her first all-conference accolade in the event. Marshall took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.48. She scored three points for the women's squad and earned the third all-conference honor of her career. Sophomore Alex Weatherly cleared 13-0.75 (3.98m) in the women's pole vault. She tied for eighth place and scored .5 points for the UA women.

The Wildcats will be back in action on May 17th and May 19th for the Tucson Elite Classic at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.