SOU Track and Field chases a win in California
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon track and field program will take its third straight trip to California this weekend, chasing the sunny weather to Chico for Saturday's Chico State Wildcat Invitational.
“We're excited about heading down to Chico State and having some big showings down there,” SOU head coach Grier Gatlin said. “It'll be our third weekend in the row with good weather.”
Southern Oregon will focus on the sprinters, jumpers and throwers this weekend, with the Raiders looking to head into Spring Break on a high note. A couple of distance runners will also make the trip for the team, and Gatlin believes Saturday will present another great opportunity for strong early-season performances.
“This is always a really good meet heading into our spring break for everyone to get some really good marks,” Gatlin said. “We'll have transitioned nicely into the outdoor season having two meets under our belts and five or six weeks of really solid training heading into this meet.”
The Raiders picked up four NAIA qualifiers last weekend in Sacramento. Eric Avila (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista) won the men's 1,500-meter race and Zach Boyd-Helm (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) placed second in the event as both runners hit the automatic qualifying marks.
Sullivan Stevens (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs) and Alexandra Rudd (North Bend, Wash./Mount Si) each hit provisional qualifying marks as well on Saturday. Stevens surpassed the 'B' mark in the 110 hurdles, while Rudd posted a personal-best time in the 5,000-meter run to earn the qualifier and her first career Cascade Collegiate Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week honor.
Those four runners join Amelia Maguin (Fernley, Nev./Fernley) as national qualifiers, as Maguin qualified for the 400-meter hurdles two weeks ago at the UC Davis Aggie Open. Gatlin expects last weekend's performance to set a strong foundation as the Raiders go forward this week and in the coming months.
“It was a great meet for us. We got off on the right foot with the whole team in our first big meet of the year. We hope that transitions this weekend.”
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Scores & Schedules
May 17, 2013 10:02 GMT
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - BEST OF SEVEN
Thursday's ScoresNew York 85, Indiana 75 -- Indiana leads series 3-2
San Antonio 94, Golden State 82 -- San Antonio wins series 4-2
Friday's GamesNo Games Scheduled
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE - STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
CONFRENCE SEMIFINALS - BEST OF SEVEN
Thursday's ScoresBoston 3, N.Y. Rangers 2, OT -- Boston leads series 1-0
Los Angeles 4, San Jose 3 -- Los Angeles leads series 2-0
Friday, May 17Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m. -- Pittsburgh leads series 1-0
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Thursday's ScoresSeattle 3, N.Y. Yankees 2
Boston 4, Tampa Bay 3
Texas 10, Detroit 4
Chicago White Sox 5, L.A. Angels 4
Friday's GamesHouston (Lyle's 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Seattle (Maurer 2-5) at Cleveland (U.Jimenez 3-2), 7:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Hellickson 1-2) at Baltimore (Hammel 5-1), 7:05 p.m.
Toronto (Buehrle 1-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Kuroda 5-2), 7:05 p.m.
Detroit (Porcello 1-2) at Texas (Tepesch 3-3), 8:05 p.m.
Boston (Buchholz 6-0) at Minnesota (Worley 1-4), 8:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Sale 4-2) at L.A. Angels (C.Wilson 3-2), 10:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Shields 2-3) at Oakland (Parker 2-5), 10:05 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Thursday's ScoresN.Y. Mets 5, St. Louis 2
Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 1
Cincinnati 5, Miami 3, 10 innings
San Francisco 8, Colorado 6
Washington 6, San Diego 2
Friday's GamesN.Y. Mets (Harvey 4-0) at Chicago Cubs (E.Jackson 1-5), 2:20 p.m.
Cincinnati (Cingrani 2-0) at Philadelphia (Lee 4-2), 7:05 p.m.
Houston (Lyles 1-1) at Pittsburgh (J.Gomez 2-0), 7:05 p.m.
Arizona (Cahill 2-4) at Miami (Slowey 1-3), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Ryu 4-2) at Atlanta (Maholm 4-4), 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee (W.Peralta 3-3) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 4-2), 8:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Bumgarner 4-1) at Colorado (J.De La Rosa 4-3), 8:40 p.m.
Washington (G.Gonzalez 3-2) at San Diego (B.Smith 0-0), 10:10 p.m.
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