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Oregon coach Robert Johnson won't address why the Pepsi Team Invitational is not on Oregon's 2014 track & field schedule.
(Motoya Nakamura/The Oregonian)
The Pepsi Team Invitational, the quadrangular meet that has been a centerpiece of Oregon's home track & field regular season since 1987, has disappeared from the 2014 schedule.
Don't expect an explanation.
In an interview yesterday, Oregon track coach coach Robert Johnson refused to discuss why the meet isn't being held at Hayward Field this year.
In what became a contentious exchange, Johnson variously said it was indoor season and he wouldn't talk about the outdoor schedule, and that he didn't have his notes and wasn't prepared to speak about it.
Responding by text message, associate athletic director Vin Lananna pointed out that the April 5 dual meet with Arizona will be sponsored by Pepsi. When asked what happened to the scored, multi-team meet Oregon had staged and Pepsi sponsored for 22 of the previous 25 years, Lananna responded that he didn't have an answer other than "RJ wanted to have this schedule."
That makes the reasoning as transparent as a brick wall.
What is clear is that Oregon isn't providing much of a
for one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in college track & field.
The Ducks will play host to four regular-season meets, the Oregon Preview on March 22, the Arizona dual, the Oregon Relays on April 17-19 and the Oregon Twilight on May 9.
The UO coaches often have chosen to rest many of their top performers for the Preview, understandable since it takes place a week after the NCAA Indoor Championships.
But you have to wonder what kind of team commitment the Ducks will make for the Oregon Relays, since they also list the Mount SAC Relays on their schedule for the same dates. And in recent years the Oregon Twilight has been a last-chance meet for athletes who need NCAA qualifying marks.
There still will be plenty happening at Hayward Field this year. The Prefontaine Classic takes place May 30-31, followed by the NCAA Championships in June and the IAAF World Junior Championships in July.
But for local fans of regular-season college track & field, and in particular of scored meets in which teams battle for every point and the third-place finish in the triple jump sometimes is as important as the win in the 5,000, the pickings are slim.
And getting slimmer.
OK, links:
Alexa Efraimson is
by USA Track & Field.
Flotrack analysts
in this video.
OTC Elite's
at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix and his first year of training under the direction of Mark Rowland.
Elite javelin thrower
from five weeks of training in Germany.
Oregon
about his transition from football to track.
Long Beach Poly sprinter
with Oregon.
Prep distance runner
after signing her letter of intent with Oregon.
Genzebe Dibaba
DyeStat's
for college track & field.
The experts from Lets Run.com
touching on a number of subjects, among them Efraimson, Alan Webb, Oregon's two, swift men's DMRs, Genzebe Dibaba and the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
USA Track & Field apparently
by accepting the Los Angeles bid for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials over the Houston bid.
Arizona's
among the world's elite high jumpers.
UCLA
in mid-distance runner Kelsey Smith.
The IAAF previews
which takes place Saturday in Boston.
Pro athletes
to Spikes Magazine about what they would change the sport.
Marathoner
his 2011 race in Boston was not a fluke.
London's Diamond League meet
or this year.
The
from the Daily Relay.
The
from LetsRun.com.
The House of Run guys cover a number of topics,
and Efraimson in their latest podcast.
Mitch Kastoff's
for Flotrack.
The
roundup.
The
from Track & Field News.
Runner's World's
of racing news.
RunBlogRun's
about track & field and running.
The
Duck Sports Now.
-- Ken Goe