Have the Oregon men moved from a top-three contender into a NCAA championship favorite after an impressive weekend at the Pac-10 Championships? The Ducks’ 168.5 points is the most scored by any men’s team at the conference meet in 17 years.
The brilliance of Ashton Eaton — 39.25 points — and the re-emergence of A.J. Acosta may be two areas that the NCAA prognosticators are overlooking.
Eaton is everybody’s choice to win a third straight decathlon title, if he stays healthy. But it also now seems likely that he is capable of picking up additional team points — perhaps in the long jump, perhaps in the 110-meter hurdles, perhaps either of the sprints, or as part of a relay. After the Pac-10 weekend that saw him win three conference titles, it’s not impossible that Eaton could score someplace else. His 10.19 in the prelims of the 100 meters was nothing short of a revelation.
And Acosta, that on-again, off-again former prep sensation from San Diego has proved that he cannot be written off. He tripled at the Pac-10s and scored 19 points. It is conceivable that if he puts all of his energy into, say, the steeplechase, he could be a factor there. He also ran well in the 5,000 and 1,500.
Oregon may have dipped in the long distance races without Galen Rupp. The Ducks can no longer count on pulling big points out of the 5,000 and 10,000.
But there are point-scorers scattered throughout the mid-distances. Matthew Centrowitz, Andrew Wheating, Mac Fleet, Elijah Greer, Michael Maag, Jordan McNamara, Luke Puskedra. Lots of moving parts, some of them unpredictable, for the Ducks.
Wheating ran on the 4×400 relay on Sunday, and Vin Lananna has to be wondering what that unit can do with Eaton, Barlow, Wheating and …. who? David Klech? Matt Butcher?
Throw in Oregon’s three javelin throwers and the Ducks have more than enough parts to be a title contender against Florida and Texas A&M.
It may all go back to Eaton. If he scores more than 10, and Wheating doubles in the 800 and 1,500, and Acosta makes a slash, the Ducks could capture their first title since 1984.
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