Based on performances thus far, Oregon, USC, Stanford and UCLA should dominate the women’s competition of the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships this weekend at Stanford while Arizona will battle rival Arizona State for fifth place.
The UA women have an added incentive: They could make a big difference in the year-long competition with ASU — the Territorial Cup series — by earning a higher team score than the Sun Devils. UA has won nine sports so far and ASU has captured an equal number with only baseball, women’s track and men’s track to be counted.
Predicting the outcome of the Pac 12 competition is as dubious an endeavor as predicting the monsoon rain total for Tucson, but that never stopped the weather forecasters. So, like them, we push on.
ASU ranks fifth among Pac-12 schools in outdoor track while the UA women are sixth.
The outcome, as always, will come down to which athletes perform to the best of their ability. For example, will UA’s Karla Teran win or take second in the high jump by equaling or exceeding her personal record? Will the Wildcats’ relay teams establish PRs, the athletes’ term for “personal records?”
Asked about keys to his team performances, coach Fred Harvey said: “Where we have legitimate opportunities to score and we’re expecting our athletes to score, we can’t have failures.”
The Arizona women go into the conference championships with an advantage. Alyssa Thompson placed third in the Pac-12 heptathlon last weekend to post six points for the Wildcats. The Sun Devils counter with an advantage in Maggie Ewen, who leads the nation in the hammer throw, discus and shot put.
This meet also represents the final opportunity for athletes on the bubble to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif. Only athletes with the 48 best marks in the West will be in the running at that meet.
One Wildcat runner whose dream is to qualify for that meet is Kayla Ferron, a redshirt senior from Redondo Beach, Calif. She ran her P.R. in the steeplechase last month — 10:40.16 — beating her old record by 13 seconds. To make it to the top 48, she might have to cut another 12 seconds to her time, a difficult task.
Here’s a look at UA athletes expected to make a mark this weekend.
Karla Teran: The sophomore high jumper from Nogales, Sonora, has cleared 5-10½ this season. She will duel with UCLA’s Kendall Gustafson, whose best jump is one-quarter inch higher than Teran.
Alyssa Thompson: After her heptathlon performance, the Salpointe Catholic graduate and UA honor student will compete in the long jump. She set a P.R. last weekend at 20-10½, which ranks second in the Pac 12.
Karolina Pahlitzsch: The Berlin-born senior ranks third in the Pac’s 400-meter hurdles, at 57.88, and Harvey says she has a good shot at finishing second.
Claire Green: An All-American in cross country and indoor track, the Colorado native faces tough competition in the 5,000 meters. Her time of 15:45.52 ranks sixth in the conference.
Addi Zerrenner: The Santa Barbara senior’s time of 35:59.63 ranks sixth in the punishing 10,000-meter run. In German, her surname means “the runner.”
Tatum Waggoner: The redshirt junior from Phoenix boosts the Pac’s fifth-best time at 400 meters in 52.60.
400-meter relay: Tatum is expected to team up with Savaughn Christman, Pamela White and Brena Andrews in this event. Their time of 44.72 ranks fourth.
1,600-meter relay: The conference’s third-ranked team of Waggoner, Pahlitzsch, Andrews and Katelin Warren has run 3:35.68 and will attempt to end the meet strong for the Cats.
