Oregon track and field will send a school record 26 entries to the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 11 and 12.
There are 16 Ducks on the women’s side and 10 for the men.
“The Ducks are absolutely excited, geared up and ready to go,” Oregon head coach Robert Johnson said. “We are 100 percent in championship season, which is always a big thing for us.”
The expectations are high for both teams. The men are looking for back-to-back NCAA Indoor titles while the women finished second last season after five consecutive championships.
This year the men are projected to win while the women are expected to place third.
“We will never know until we get there and run,” Johnson said. “The women have proven you don’t have to be ranked No. 1 to go in there and win.”
Johnson believes that several of his athletes on the women’s side should finish higher than predict. Brittany Mann, for example, is likely to top her expected 10th-place finish.
“I know the person and competitor she is — no one wants to do better than her, no matter how she performed to get there,” Johnson said.
Both teams have athletes who have competed on the big stage before, and that experience should help calm the newcomers and freshmen on the team. One of those veteran leaders is Annie Leblanc, who is entered in the women’s 800. She has been involved with two championship teams and finished second at last year’s indoor championships.
“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Leblanc said when asked how this group compares to previous teams. “We can’t predict what’s going to happen, so every person has a job they will focus on.”
Oregon will look to pick up big points in the women’s 800, with Leblanc running alongside Brooke Feldmeier and Raevyn Rogers — whose qualifying time leads the field by more than three seconds.
“Our group this year is really good and its been showing in workouts,” Leblanc said. “We are all really competitive runners but we use each other’s strengths in good ways.”
The men head to the meet top-heavy. Edward Cheserek (3000 and 5000), Devon Allen (60 hurdles) and Blake Haney (mile) all hold the top times in their respective events.
One of the difficulties for the coaching staff was deciding in which events to enter Cheserek, as the junior would place highly in multiple. They tried to balance the schedule and the fields to find the best fit.
“Most importantly, you look at what is best for Edward,” Johnson said. “Try to have him be successful and do what is best for our team.”
For Haney, the pressure of entering the meet with the top time and having a target on his back isn’t something he is worried about.
“I know where I’m at and what I can do,” Haney said. “I’ll just go in there and do my race.”
Click here for a complete list of entries.
Follow Christopher Keizur on Twitter @chriskeizur