Over the last couple of months, FishDuck.com has honed in on both the Ducks’ basketball and football teams. We have provided tons of articles recapping, analyzing and predicting players and/or games that allowed us as Duck fans to be well aware of what’s going on with both of these sports. With that being said, one sport that has not been heavily discussed is the Oregon’s track & field team. The month of January for the women’s collegiate indoor track & field team proved to be eventful as reflected by two Oregon women being featured in The Bowerman Watch List for February.
Prandini in last year’s NCAA Track & Field Championship match.
If some of readers are confused on what exactly this award is all about, it’s basically one of the most prestigious awards in track & field. Similar to The Heisman for collegiate football, The Bowerman is awarded each year to both the top male and female athletes in the entire NCAA track & field. A list ranking the top ten women that The Bowerman Watch List Committee is considering was announced on Thursday February 5th. The two Ducks that were part of this well-recognized list are redshirt junior Jenna Prandini and redshirt sophomore Jasmine Todd. Coming from Clovis, California, Prandini participates in sprints/jumps and is currently ranked third among collegiate females in the long jump at 6.46 meters. Plus, she’s ranked sixth in 60-meter sprints at 7.24 seconds. Meanwhile Todd, who attended high school in Chandler, Arizona, is the current collegiate leader for the 60-meter sprint in 7.15 seconds. Her performance in the long jump has landed her at No.13th in the NCAA.
Although both Prandini and Todd are not at the top of this outstanding list, they are still considered a force to be reckoned with. Prandini sits at No.7, while Todd is at No.8. One significant aspect of February’s list is that all the other female track & field stars have made a previous appearance on this list in January except for Todd. Another interesting fact of this month’s list is that the Ducks and Georgia Bulldogs are the only collegiate teams that feature two athletes on the list.
The ultimate dream for any track & field star at the collegiate level is to win The Bowerman award. In order for either Prandini or Todd to win this outstanding accolade, they will need to continue appearing on the list in the future months. There’s no doubt in my mind that they will be featured on more lists as Oregon coaches will be keeping them on track (literally and figuratively).
Top Photo by Gary Breedlove
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Hey! My name is Austin Willhoft and I’m currently a freshman at the University of Oregon studying Journalism. I lived my whole life down in sunny and beautiful Laguna Beach, CA where I completed all of my prior education. I always have been into sports writing/reporting mostly due to the fact that I love watching, analyzing, and playing all kinds of sports. However, if I were to narrow it down between two sports, it would be basketball and football, both of which I played heavily in high school. I’m thrilled to be working for FishDuck.com and most importantly being a third generation to attend the UO. Sko Ducks!