After coming off a successful season and making a short-lived run towards the Women’s College World Series, the Oregon softball team has begun practice to start off their upcoming season.

Last season, the team hosted the NCAA Super Regional at Howe Field, and lost 2-4 in the third and final showdown against Nebraska.

“What we plan to do differently is not take any moments for granted,” pitcher Cheridan Hawkins said. “You know, play every pitch, that’s our goal this year, and I definitely think that’ll help us get to where we want to be.”

Hawkins is coming off a strong freshman season. She made the First Team All-Pac-12 and the All-Pac-12 Freshmen Team. The left-handed pitcher had a record of 19-5 with a 1.55 ERA, she also ranked fifth in the NCAA with 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

Hawkins will battle out the top spot pitcher position with teammates Karissa Hovinga and Louisville transfer Jasmine Smithson-Willett.

The Ducks have lost three starters from last season, including star pitcher Jessica Moore.

However, head coach Mike White emphasized that he is excited for this year’s group, although it will be different with the loss of its four seniors.

Both White and Hawkins said that the major loss against Nebraska last season has been the fire under their belly to have an even more successful season this year.

“We don’t want to stay focused on the negative, we certainly need to work forward and take what happened last year to drive us and motivate us,” White said. “I think we proved a lot of things last year, we proved again that we’ve made four Super Regionals in a row, very few teams have been able to do that, but carrying it through to that World Series and being the championship team on the last day is really what we need to focus on.”

In particular, White said the team hopes to focus mainly on improving its pitching, getting a higher on-base percentage and driving more runs in.

The game against Oregon will be the first road game for Cal freshman Jared Goff, Helfrich reflects on his first road game.

Avery Patterson says even though his friends and coaches might not be Oregon fans, they’ll be watching him on Saturday.

The Oregon football team has been back at it this week after three days of relaxation. With a bye week this past weekend, Oregon now looks forward to its first conference game against California.

However, both quarterback Marcus Mariota and head coach Mark Helfrich emphasize that the team is not treating this game different just because it is the first conference game of the season for the Ducks.

“We’re continuing to take it one day at a time, the same as we have been,” Mariota said. “Just because it’s Cal, just because it’s conference doesn’t mean that we’re going to take this week of preparation any different.”

Oregon currently has a 2.3 turnover margin, the second best in the FBS, just behind Miami. The Ducks are the only team in the country that has yet to turn over the ball yet this season. Oregon hopes to continue the positive ratio this weekend.

“We can talk about the things that contribute to that. That’s a big deal. The turnover margin and scoring points off turnovers is the number one contributing factor of winning and losing,” Helfrich said. “That’s the biggest stat in football. There’s a couple more that are almost as important, that are weird, but turning the ball over or not, and scoring off of turnovers is key. And so we’re going to keep hammering what we’ve been hammering for sure.”

Another statistic that is a big factor for Saturday’s game is the amount of plays expected from California. In their first three games of the season they have had 284 plays, whereas Oregon has only had 216. Both teams have fast-paced tempos and are projected to have very little delays between plays.

The Ducks plan to handle California’s offense with a tight frontline in the pocket against freshman quarterback Jared Goff. Saturday will be Goff’s first road game and the Ducks hope to use that to their advantage.

“It’s tough to play quarterback. It’s the toughest position in each sport, and there’s the thread of guys that look like Arik Armstead tackling you,” Helfrich said. “Part of that is just our effort and how we run, and if we’re rushing three guys and it seems like four or five, then that’s a great job.

“But that’s the object of any defense against any player that’s any year in school. If the guy was a fifth-year senior, you still want to put pressure on him.”

University of Oregon quarterback, Marcus Mariota, doesn’t care whether a game is during the day or at night. However, he thinks playing under the lights and the energy fans have at night games makes for a unique experience.

Wildcat runner Lawi Lalang was named the national champion of the men’s 5,000-meter race, finishing in 13:35.19. Following in second was the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Paul Chelimo, who completed the race in 13:40.41.

Lalang took home the gold in the men’s 10,000 meter race Thursday when he crossed the finish line at 29:29.65.

In today’s race, Lalang led the pack for the entire run. Texas A&M’s Henry Lelei kept close with Lalang when there was eight laps to go but fell behind further into the race. Lelei finished in eighth.

Lalang made a big break from the pack in the final laps to guarantee his second win of NCAA Track and Field National Championships.

“Actually, it really wasn’t that much easy. It was kind of odd, that I could win it from the start,” he said.

Lalang said this year he felt more prepared and had the drive to win compared to last year, even though he did take home the championship in the 5,000 meters in 2012.

“This year I was out, I trained really good, so I knew it was going to end well,” he said.

Now that the NCAA National Championships have come to a close, Lalang is looking forward to training for the cross country season.

Ameer Webb of Texas A&M took first in the men’s 200-meter dash at 20.10, ahead of Mississippi’s Isiah Young, who came in second at 20.17.

Webb and Young led the six other runners competing for the title throughout the entire race.

“I felt great. I put my heart and soul in that push, and it kind of just put me in the lead a little bit,” Webb said. “And it was just playing catch up for everybody else.”

This win is Webb’s first NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Last season, Webb took home the silver medal in the 200-meter dash, so this win was something he needed to feel accomplished. The California native has won the 200 twice for the NCAA Indoor National Championship.

Webb’s win has helped Texas A&M maintain the men’s first place lead with 53 points. They are currently tied with Florida.

Florida’s Antwan Wright, Hugh Graham Jr., Leonardo Seymore and Dedric Dukes were crowned champions of the men’s 4×100 relay race with a time of 38.53, just a hair quicker than runner-up Alabama, who finished in 38.54.

Florida and LSU claimed the front of the pack for the first three legs of the race until the final stretch when Alabama’s Dushane Farrier pumped the gas to catch up with Gator runner Dukes. In the last few meters, it was a battle for first and second until Dukes jerked his head forward to cross the finish line just a millisecond before Farrier.

Dukes wasn’t aware his team had won until the final score appeared on Hayward Field’s board.

“It was kind of shaky though. Like for me, coming from behind, I didn’t know who had won, like who was the first or second, so it was kind of crazy when I saw that first pop up on the board,” Seymore said. “It was kind of exciting though.”

This is the first NCAA championship for the four Florida runners, two of whom are freshmen.

Although the Gator runners were excited about their victory, they don’t feel finished at the NCAA Championships.

“It (national championship) has been on our mind since we got here. That’s the goal. We came here to get a national championship; we came to compete,” Wright said. “For us to come out with the victory, that’ll be really sweet. We are defending champions, and we want to defend our championship.”

Last season the Florida men’s track and field team took home the overall gold as first-time champions. The men’s team is currently in second place with 48 points.

USC’s Bryshon Nellum finished the men’s 400 meter race as a national champion when he crossed the finish line at 44.73. This also beats his career best for the 400 meter, which was previously 44.80. Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore was just a nose behind at 44.94.

Nellum was the second Trojan to earn the gold in today’s finals after Reggie Wyatt finished first in the men’s 400 meter hurdles.

Nellum is in his sixth and final athletically eligible year at USC, so the win was a big accomplishment for the Los Angeles native.

“It’s a beautiful feeling. You know, this was actually one of my goals, that’s the reason I came back for my sixth year; to win a national championship,” he said. “I did; I came back and reached my goal by making the finals, and it came even better by winning. That’s what I came back for.”

Florida’s Arman Hall, who finished the race in third, led the pack for most of the race until the final 100 meters when Nellum and Lendore pushed themselves ahead to cross the line before Hall.

However, Nellum’s journey at the NCAA National Championships is not over. He will compete in Saturday’s 200 meter race along with Trojan teammate Aaron Brown.

“This is just half the journey,” he said. “Three down, one to go.”

The men’s 200 meter race will take place Saturday at 2:50 p.m.

Trojan runner Reggie Wyatt pulled out the victory in today’s men’s 400 meter hurdles at 48.58. Kansas’ Michael Stigler was close behind but took the runner-up position with a time of 49.19.

Wyatt made room from the other seven runners before the final two hurdles and pulled away for the win. As he crossed the finish line, the senior from Riverside, Calif., threw up his hands with a smile and pulled at his USC jersey to represent his school as he turned to the crowd that applauded the national champion.

“This whole year I put in a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights, just thinking about this one race,” he said. “It just all came down to it today. This was it — I just wanted to have no regrets.”

Wyatt was in disbelief taking home his first NCAA national championship to close out his final season as a Trojan.