Track & field notebook: Mike Berry and the UO men want to make some noise of their own at the NCAA Indoor

Mike Berry was the only Duck to score in the men's competition at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships.

EUGENE – The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships begin Friday in Fayetteville, Ark, and this year the Oregon men’s team wants to be part of the story.

“It’s hard sometimes watching the girls come home with all of this success,”

said. “Sometimes they forget about our men’s team. But we’re striving. We’re on the rebound.”

The UO women will be chasing a fourth consecutive NCAA indoor title. A team championship probably is out of reach for the men’s team. But a top four finish and a team trophy might not be.

The Ducks stumbled over the weekend when the men’s distance medley relay of Matt Miner, Boru Guyota, Arthur Delaney and Brett Johnson could do no better than 15th overall in a stacked DMR field at the Alex Wilson Invitational.

That bumped Oregon’s DMR down the NCAA’s descending order list and out of qualifying position for the NCAA Indoor. The top 16 individuals and top 12 relay teams qualify.

“It didn’t help,” UO coach Robert Johnson said.

But Oregon has potential scorers in Berry (400), Guyota and Elijah Greer (800), Jeramy Elkaim (5,000), Johnathan Cabral (60 hurdles) and Dakotah Keys (heptathlon). Milers Brett Johnson, Mac Fleet and Matt Miner aren’t in the top 10, but capable.

Fleet, coming off an injury-plagued 2012,

at Notre Dame, the fastest mile he has run in more than two years.

No matter what happens, the UO men should come away from Fayetteville with more than the six team points they finished with last year. Berry, who came in third in the 400, was the only Duck to score in the men’s competition.

“Our goal there is going to be to try to score between 25 and 30 points,” Johnson said. “If that gets us a trophy, we’ll be thrilled.”

Berry has plans of his own.

“I took third last year, so of course I want two spots better this year,” he said. “ I want to win it.”

Berry was sitting on the 400 bubble heading into the final weekend of qualifying. But

and has the NCAA’s fifth-fastest time heading into the weekend.

“After I crossed the finish line it was a relief,” Berry said. “Like, OK, I made my spot. Now I can focus on this week’s training and preparing for nationals.”

Fourpeat: The

, outscoring second-place Kansas by 19 points.

It doesn’t figure to be that easy this time. Johnson said he probably will slot Jordan Hasay into three events – the 3,000, 5,000 and distance medley relay.

Every point could be crucial in what figures to be a four-way battle with LSU, Kansas and Arkansas, which has home facility advantage.

The Ducks also figure to score with defending champion English Gardner (60), Phyllis Francis (400), Laura Roesler (800), Becca Friday (mile) Anne Kesselring (mile) and both relays, They have other individuals who could factor too.

“This is a national championship, so it’s always important for us to go out and compete at the highest level and win,” Johnson said. “That’s why we do the sport – to win.”

Most of the Ducks’ key performers haven’t gone to a NCAA Indoor and not won it.

“We haven’t been ranked first all season, but I think everything is coming together,” Roesler said. “I think we’re definitely in the hunt.”

Notes: The USTFCCCA named Francis the West Region women’s indoor track of the year, and UO distance Maurica Powell the women’s indoor track assistant of the year. … The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selected Johnson as women’s coach of the year.

Ken Goe: 503-221-8040

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