NCAA Championships

It was a windy second day at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. Many athletes have superstitions or rituals before they compete, and track is no different. KLCC’s Desmond O’Boyle went out in search of some of those stories and has this audio postcard.

copyright, 2014 KLCC

With the NCAA Track and Field Championships underway in Eugene, thousands of athletes and their fans will spend hours at historic Hayward Field in the thick of pollen season.  KLCC's Tiffany Eckert visited a leading allergist to learn just how bad it is out there and what allergic athletes can do.

Eugene is used to hosting big track and field events. But what does coming to Track Town mean to the thousands of visitors here for the NCAA Championships?

The first day of competition was sunny and warm. Most newcomers to Track Town USA complemented Oregon's natural beauty:

Mareno: "Lavonne Mareno, I'm from Corpus Christie Texas. We love the trees. Eugene is awesome."

Hamilton: "Fisher Hamilton from Lake Charles Louisiana. It's beautiful. I didn't know it was going to be this pretty I knew it was going to be awesome but it's unreal, it really is."

The best collegiate track and field athletes in the country are traveling to Eugene this week to compete in the NCAA Championships.  The 4-day meet opens Wednesday at Hayward Field. 

The University of Oregon Men’s track and field team got some big news last week.  The national rankings were released and the Ducks were on top for the first time since April.  Senior Trevor Dunbar is one of 21 U of O entries who hope to score points for the team.  Dunbar will be running the 5000 and 10,000 meters.   

Oregon schools sent dozens of athletes to the NCAA Western Preliminaries in Arkansas over the weekend, hoping to qualify for the national championships happening in Eugene in less than two weeks.  Perennial track and field powerhouse, the University of Oregon, qualified 39 individuals for the finals – 20 women and 19 men.