Making tracks at Oregon
Oregon’s track and field team will have an NCAA-record 75 entries this weekend at the NCAA West preliminary rounds in Austin, Texas.
Two key members are Castro Valley alums Sasha Wallace, a sophomore, and freshman Nate Moore.
Both had breakout performances at the Pac- 12 Championships, May 15- 17 at UCLA, helping the Ducks to a sweep.
Wallace and Moore combined for four runner- up finishes.
The lone Bay Area native to take home a Pac- 12 title was USC freshman Marquis Morris ( De La Salle- Concord), who won the 110- meter high hurdles in 13.95 seconds.
Wallace, a four- time state champion, and Jasmine Todd were the top point-earners for the Oregon winners. Wallace placed second in the 100 hurdles in a school- record 13.00 seconds, edged at the line by USC freshman Dior Hall ( 12.99).
She also took second in the triple jump ( lifetime- best 42 feet, 3 ¼ inches) to Todd ( 4211 ¾ ) , who is also a sophomore. The two ran legs on the Ducks’ second- place 4x100 relay team.
Wallace, who attended Holy Names- Oakland before transferring to Castro Valley her senior year, was one of nine Ducks who received the team’s year- end Coaches Award for dedication and determination.
Moore, who won California long- and triple- jump titles his junior and senior years — the only athlete ever to do so — was second in the long jump at Pac- 12s though he tied the mark of champion Adoree Jackson, a USC freshman and projected NFL player.
These two had quite a rivalry at the 2013 state meet. Moore overtook Jackson on his final jump to defeat the defending champion, 24- 11 ¾ to 24- 7 ½ .
At Pac- 12s, each leaped 25- 3 ½ , but Jackson won a second- best- jump tiebreaker.
Moore also placed sixth in the triple jump at 51- 0. His top prep competitor as a senior, Cal’s Karsten Wethington ( James Logan- Union City), was 10th at 48- 0 ¾ .
Morris, who won the state high hurdles as a junior and the 300 intermediate hurdles as a senior at De La Salle, came from behind at the Pac- 12s to set a personal record.
More Pac- 12 track: Among other Bay Area natives, Cal junior Thomas Joyce ( Campolindo-Moraga) was second in the 1,500 ( 3: 46.46). … Cal junior Noel Frazier ( California-San Ramon) had the second- best high jump ( 7- 1), but placed fourth because of misses. … USC freshman Gabrielle Cantrell ( San Leandro), one of six Trojans in the 100 final, placed ninth in 11.72 and was sixth in the 200 ( 23.55). … Stanford freshman Marisa Kwiatkowski ( Wilcox- Santa Clara) was fifth in the triple jump ( 41- 3). Softball College World Series: Annie Aldrete, a sophomore from Santa Catalina-Monterey, a catcher and infielder for Tennessee, has started 57 of the 58 games in which she has played. She’s hitting .297 with 45 RBIs. As a freshman, she hit .361 with 65 RBIs. She’s the niece of former Giants and A’s player Mike Aldrete. … Starting outfielder Kylee Perez ( Alhambra-Martinez), who was hitting .358 through Wednesday, and No. 2 pitcher Johanna Grauer ( Amador Valley-Pleasanton), who was 10- 1 with a 3.46 ERA, helped UCLA to the final eight.