WEEKEND PREVIEW: Oregon Pepsi Invitational

Sprints and Field Events

Women’s 200 Meters

7:47pm ET/4:47pm PT

Unfortunately a rematch of the NCAA indoor final with third-place Dezerea Bryant of Kentucky not slated to compete, but fans will get their first outdoor look at superstar Jenna Prandini – the national runner-up in the most recent indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships in this even – in individual competition.

Prandini missed out on the NCAA Outdoor title last year by thousandths of a second, and actually ran the fastest indoor time of the season in the NCAA Championships semifinal round, but ultimately lost out to Kyra Jefferson of Florida in the final. Her 22.52 was more than a tenth of a second faster than her NCAA outdoor runner-up time from a year ago.

(Prandini, along with teammate Jasmine Todd who is also in this race, are both entered in the long jump, as well. Prandini is a two-time NCAA Champion in that event, having taken the most revcent indoor and outdoor crowns. Kentucky did not enter top jumpers Sha’Keela Saunders and Kenyattia Hackworth, but both will also run this 200 meter race.)

She may not get the chance to deal with Bryant, but she’s slated to have another Wildcat challenger to contend with: indoor 60-meter hurdles champ Kendra Harrison. The senior has only run the 200 once in her career per All-Athletics with a 23.47 effort in February of 2014, but appears to be in superb form following a 54.94 400-meter hurdles race at the Florida Relays.

Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles

6:54pm ET/3:54pm PT

Assuming Kendra Harrison contests both events in which she is entered, she could be in line for a very fast 100-meter hurdles debut. Coming off a career-best 7.87 to win the 60-meter hurdles indoor national crown, this will be the first short race of her outdoor season. She ran 12.68w (+2.1m/s) in her first final of the year last season at the Texas Relays; can she go faster this year?

Providing the biggest challenge will be Oregon sophomore Sasha Wallace, who finished fifth in that 60-meter hurdles indoor final this season. Though not truly in a sophomore slump, Wallace didn’t have quite the same success as during her frosh indoor campaign. A strong showing against the country’s best hurdler in her outdoor debut could go a long way to change that this spring and summer.

Men’s Javelin

7:05pm ET/4:05pm PT

Kentucky’s Raymond Dykstra led five rounds of the 2014 NCAA Championships javelin final at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon’s Sam Crouser only led one, but he took the lead in the one that mattered: the sixth and final throw. Entering the fifth round, Dykstra had a two-foot advantage over Crouser at 251-8 (76.72m) to 249-11 (76.17m), with Crouser scheduled for the penultimate throw and Dykstra the final attempt.

Crouser came up big with a clutch 252-7 (76.98m) heave to take a lead he would not relinquish. Dykstra could only muster 229-2 (69.87m) in response, painfully having to settle for second.

Both men are back for this meet, competing on the same field as that dramatic showdown a year ago. Crouser is the early collegiate leader with a career-best 259-0 (78.94m) in his season debut at the Trojan Invitational, while Dykstra currently sits at No. 2 with his 252-1 (76.83m) have at the UTSA Texas Challege.

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