Links to pass along...

With this time of the year the slowest time for news from the track and field world, here's some links for some recent news:

Colorado's Jenny Barringer and Oregon's Galen Rupp (left/photo by Paul Merca) were the winners of The Bowerman, the honor bestowed by the USTFCCCA to the top collegiate track & field athlete of 2009. The award was presented to the duo at the USTFCCCA convention in Orlando on Wednesday night.

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is the non-profit professional organization that represents men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members, including 93% of NCAA track & field coaches.

Not only did Rupp pull off an individual double-double at the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships in 2009, he posted a new indoor American and collegiate record at 5000 meters in running 13:18.12 at the Tyson Invitational in February. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Rupp helped Oregon to a national team title, accounting for 22½ team points, garnering national titles at 3000 meters and 5000 meters and as anchor leg of the Ducks’ distance medley relay. Rupp overcame near-disaster in the 5,000 meters at the outdoor national championships as he was stepped on early in the race and had to stop to put his shoe back on. In spite of the setback, Rupp came back to win the event by three seconds.

Barringer (left/photo by Paul Merca) had an amazing 2009, setting two indoor and three outdoor collegiate records on the track while adding two NCAA and two Big 12 crowns. Indoors, Barringer set all-time collegiate bests in three events over the span of five weeks. On February 14, it was a 15:01.70 clocking at Washington’s Husky Classic over 5000 meters that was the fastest time ever run by a collegian, all-conditions, indoors or outdoors.

Two weeks later at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas, Barringer blazed a 4:25.91 clocking in the mile to earn the conference title in the event. In another two weeks, she returned to College Station to win the NCAA 3000 meters in a collegiate record time of 8:42.03. Outdoors, Barringer broke her own collegiate 3000-meter steeplechase record twice and defended her NCAA title in the event while also recording an outdoor 5000-meter collegiate record.

The full story can be read here…

The NCAA announced that Oregon will host the 2013 and 2014 NCAA track & field championships at Hayward Field.

Oregon will host the 2010 NCAA championships this coming June.

"With the commitment from University President Richard Lariviere and Athletic Director Mike Bellotti for not only this June's NCAA Track & Field Championships, but also for 2013 and 2014, we are poised to create a truly spectacular experience for the student-athletes, the fans and the national television audience at Hayward Field," said University of Oregon associate athletic director Vin Lananna.

The full story can be read here…

Finally, here's a link to a press release we received from Martin Bingisser of the Evergreen Athletic Fund announcing that it has partnered with RunnerSpace.com to put together a new and improved version of its popular CollegeHammer.com and HSHammer.com websites. While the Evergreen Athletic Fund was only founded last year, CollegeHammer.com and HSHammer.com have been providing the nation with news, rankings, results, and other information about prep and collegiate hammer throwing for the past decade. None of that will change with the move.

Evergreen Athletic Fund President Martin Bingisser says the move will allow both sites to increase their interactivity and better promote the niche sport. "By allowing users to share video, pictures, news, and more, the EAF will emerge as moth than just a content provider," said Bingisser. "Getting our users more involved will only help the sport grow more."

The full story can be read here...

NOTE: The USTFCCCA, the University of Oregon, and the Evergreen Athletic Fund all contributed to this report.