Kosinski (4.39,54) Sets Oregon Mile Record; Sellers (2.29m) Wins First Big-12 Indoor Title

Story written and edited by Eric.

Freshman middle distance runner Alexandra Kosinski continues to impress this winter after setting a University of Oregon indoor record in the mile run on Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships.

Kosinski, the 2007 Pac-10 Cross Country Newcomer of the Year, posted a winning time of 4.39,54 at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Facility, and locked an automatic qualifying time into the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships scheduled for March 14-15 at the the University of Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

Leann Warren, who holds the current outdoor school 1.500m record of 4.05,88 (1982), held the previous Duck indoor record of 4.40,6 set in 1985.

“She certainly was one of the high points today and she ran fantastic,” Associate Head Coach Dan Steele said.

“Nicole (Blood) deserves a lot of the credit for going out hard at the start of the race and taking Alex with her. But at the end, she really looked great and ran away from the rest of the field.”

Kosinski had become used to dispensing of quality fields whilst a talent at Oak Ridge High School, setting the USA National Prep Federation record in the 1.600m run at last year's Meet of Champions in Sacramento (4.38,15) in the first of two races where she set national-leading times.

Kosinski's finishing drive demolished Mission Prep sophomore Jordan Hasay's kick and has gone down in the prep history books as one of the greatest two-person battles ever contested during the regular season. Kosinski doubled back to set a three-second personal best in the 800m, clocking 2.07,84.

Hasay and Kosinski would likely have squared off at the USATF Junior Nationals had Kosinski not been forced to halt her prep campaign one week before the California State Meet due to injury. Hasay went on to run 4.16,98 in the 1.500m in Kosinski's absence, leaving many hard-core fans in want of what might have been.

Kosinski's prep stardom is a thing of the past, however, and the 18-year-old is capitalising on her speed, tenacity and drive to make a great impact on the Oregon Duck programme, and become a national indoor contender in the mile.

Kosinski, a two-time Footlocker National Cross Country Championships qualifier in high school, is equal to Minnesota's Jamie Cheever for the fifth-fastest collegiate mile time in the country - though the order may shake up as a few powerhouse conferences will have their mile finals contested later today.

Michigan senior Nicole Edwards holds the national lead with a superlative 4.33,23 - a time more than three seconds faster than runner-up Sarah Bowman of Tennessee (4.36,51).

Kosinski was the top freshman finisher in the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing in 13th overall over the 6.000m course to help Oregon finish runner-up to Stanford University for the national title.


Sellers Impressive at Big-12 Conference

Kansas State junior Scott Sellers, the reigning NCAA outdoor champion, is making a terrific push to win his first indoor title next month after earning his first career Big-12 indoor title on Saturday, and the second such honour of his career.

Sellers, the national prep indoor record holder at 2.26m (7-5.25), set a new school record of 2.29m (7-6) in adding a quarter-inch to the record he set at the ISU classic last season.

Sellers narrowly missed his third and final attempt at a would be personal best of 2.23m (7-7.25), but was excited to add an indoor conference title to the won he won last spring.

“It feels good to win another title and my first indoor,” Sellers is quoted as stating on the K-State website (link).

“It wasn’t feeling good early on in the competition. I was all over early and I’d fix one thing and something else would go wrong. But Coach Rovelto and I made some adjustments.”

Sellers, who cleared 2.19m (7-2.50) to finish ninth at his first NCAA competition two years ago, and improved one inch and six spots last season to finish third (2.22m/7-3.50), is now the second-best jumper in the United States this season behind IAAF World Championships qualifier Jesse Williams.

Sellers has high ambitions this season following the indoor campaign and defending his national outdoor title: he plans on making a go at the Olympic team heading for Beijing. By all accounts, Sellers has as good a shot at not just peaking and making the U.S. team, but winning his first national senior title as well.

Sellers, like Kosinski, was a much-discussed prep star, having set the sophomore national record of 2.18m (7-2) during 2003 indoor season - and clearing 2.21m (7-3.25) during the outdoor season. He also established the national junior class record in 2004, clearing 2.26m (7-05.25).

One of Sellers' biggest earlier claims to fame was being named to the to USA Today-All-USA Track & Field team in 2003 and 2004 whist a student at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, Texas.


Other Conference News Reports

The Stanford University men's distance medley team won the MPSF title on Friday with a time of 9.31,52. The team, composed of Hakon Devries (1.200m), Andrew Dargie (400m), Jacob Evans (800m) and Garrett Heath (1.600m) ran the fifth-fastest time ever recorded in the university's history.

A Stanford foursome of Gabe Jennings, Evan Kelty, Michael Stember and Jonathan Riley set the school record of 9.28,83 eight years ago - a time which still stands as the current American record and third-fastest collegiate clocking ever recorded.

Arizona State's Ryan Whiting set a MPSF conference and stadium record in the shot put in recording a personal best of 21.47 metres (70-5.25). The previous meet record of 20.00m was set 13 years ago by Olympian John Godina of UCLA. The University of Idaho's Russ Winger set the stadium record of 20.28m two weeks ago (16-February).

Whiting also recorded the second-best mark in Pac-10 history, trailing only Stanford's Terry Albritton, who tossed the shot 21.50m (70-6.50) in 1977.

Another field event of note at the MPSF conference was Norris Frederick's winning long jump of 8.12m (26-7.75) - a mark which is a personal best, leads the NCAA and is second-furthest in the U.S. this season (Brian Johnson, 8.13m/26-8.25).

Frederick, who holds the University of Washington record as the only athlete to jump 7-0 (2.13m) in the high jump and long jump 25 feet (7.62m), had a previous indoor best of 7.79m (25-6.25) set three years ago.

Ole Mississippi's Brittney Reese, a 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Championships qualifier in the long jump, broke her own American collegiate record at the SEC Indoor Championships at the University of Arkansas, leaping 6.87m (22-6.50).

Reese, a junior, set her first collegiate record two weeks ago at the Tyson Invitational in the same facility, jumping 6.81m (22-4.25).

Liberty University's Josh McDougal was named the 2008 Big South Conference Men's Track Performer of the Year after notching wins in the 3.000m (7.54,85) and mile (4.05,73) and adding 20 points towards Liberty's team victory.

McDougal, who is the fastest in the United States indoors this season at 5.000m (13.45,16), won the 3.000m by nearly 30 seconds, and had a six-second margin of victory in the mile.

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2008 MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships
2/29/2008 to 3/1/2008
Dempsey Indoor
Women 1 Mile Run Results

1 Alexandra Kosinski, Oregon 4.39,54. 2 Amanda Miller, Washington 4.43,41p. 3 Nicole Blood, Oregon 4.43,77p. 4 Lauren Centrowitz, Stanford 4.43,94p. 5 Arianna Lambie, Stanford 4.44,15p. 6 Alicia Follmar, Stanford 4.45,47p. 7 Andrea Brown, Washington 4.47,70p. 8 Lindsay Allen, Stanford 4.48,33. 9 Lauren Jirges, UCLA 4.49,12. 10 Karen DeMartini, Washington St. 4.54,02. 11 Shannon Murakami, UCLA 4.54,55. 12 Shelly Splittberger, Arizona 4.55,81. 13 Bailey Schutte, Washington 4.56,16. 14 Anna Fero, Washington 4.56,72. 15 Mackenzie Edwards, Arizona 4.57,06. 16 Missy Barclay, Long Beach St. 4.58,77. 17 Kailey Campbell, Washington 5.04,43. 18 Angelina Cabrera, Arizona 5.10,94.

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Big-12 Indoor Championships
Lincoln, Nebraska
3/1/2008
Men's High Jump Results

High jump_1, Scott Sellers, Kansas State, 2.29 meters, NCAA
automatic qualifier, 7 feet, 6 inches. 2, Dusty Jonas, Nebraska, 2.26,
NCAA automatic qualifier, 7-5. 3, Raymond Harris, Texas, 2.18, NCAA
provisional, 7-1 3-4. 4, Paul Hamilton, Nebraska, 2.13, 6-11 3-4. 5,tie,
Kevin Snyder, Oklahoma; Lyle Leong, Texas Tech; Jason Miller,
Missouri, 2.08, 6-9 3-4. 8, Paul Gill, Oklahoma, 2.08, 6-9 3-4.
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Big South Conference
2/29 - 3/1/2008
Men's Mile

1 Josh McDougal, SR Liberty 4.05,73. 2 Matt Elliot, SR Winthrop 4.11,62
3 Anthony Harris, SR Va. Military Institute 4.13,04.

Men's 3.000m

1 Josh McDougal, SR Liberty 7.54,85. 2 Tamas Kovacs, JR High Point
8.22,66. 3 Jarvis Jelen, SR Liberty 8.25,21.
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Visit www.trackshark.com for all conference results in entirety.