Cross County and Track Teams Add Transfers and NLI Signings

Cross County and Track Teams Add Transfers and NLI Signings

Jul 30, 2012 by FloTrack Staff
Cross County and Track Teams Add Transfers and NLI Signings

FOR IMMEDIATE USE

July 30, 2012

 

Cross County and Track Teams Add Transfers and NLI Signings

Transfers from Dartmouth and Virginia will bolster cross country rosters.

 

        EUGENE, Ore. -- The Oregon track and field and cross country teams bolstered their fall rosters with the addition of a pair of transfers, and also signed three high schoolers to National Letters of Intent.

        Alexi Pappas and Patrick Todd, both NCAA Championships qualifiers in track, will join the Duck cross country and track teams for their respective senior seasons. Pappas placed third in the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase for Dartmouth at the 2012 NCAA Championships, while Todd was a Championships qualifier in the men’s 1,500 meters for Virginia.

        Oregon’s latest high school additions include 2012 state 5A high jump champion Bradley Laubacher from Summit High School in Bend, Ore., as well as women’s middle distance runner Skylar Evans of Midlothian, Va., and thrower T.J. Brassil of Concord, Calif.

 

T.J. BRASSIL, CONCORD, CALIF./DE LA SALLE HS

Bests: Shot Put - 56-7.

        Brassil was a California state qualifier and NCS Meet of Champions runner-up in the shot put as a senior for De La Salle High School. He had a prep best throw of 56-7 to finish second at the 2012 NCS Tri-Valley Championships. Brassil also won the shot at the Sacramento Meet of Champions (56-2.75).

 

SKYLAR EVANS, MIDLOTHIAN, VA./MIDLOTHIAN HS

Bests: 800 Meters - 2:11.69.

        Evans was a 2011 NXN National cross country qualifier. She ran a personal best 18:26.4 over the 5,000 meter course at the NXN Southeast Regional to advance to the national meet.

        On the track, Evans was a two-time state qualifier in the 800 meters for Midlothian High School. She was third as a junior in 2011 (2:11.80) and fifth as a senior (2:12.60). She ran an all-conditions 800 personal best of 2:11.69 at the 2012 New Balance Indoors in New York.

 

BRADLEY LAUBACHER, BEND, ORE./SUMMIT HS

Bests: High Jump - 6-10/2.08m.

        Laubacher helped Summit High School win the 2012 Oregon 5A state title by claiming first in the high jump as a senior. His winning height was 6-10/2.08m. His final season at Summit, Laubacher improved nearly a foot over his junior year best (6-0), and set five personal bests, including the clearance at 6-10. He was also a state qualifier in the 400 meters and ran the third leg on Summit’s 4x400 meter relay team that placed third in the state in 2012.

 

ALEXI PAPPAS, ALAMEDA, CALIF./BISHOP O’DOWD HS/DARTMOUTH

Bests: 1,500 Meters - 4:18.31; Mile - 4:44.56; 3,000 Meters - 9:14.75; 3,000 Meter Steeplechase - 9:55.89.

        The national third place finisher in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the 2012 NCAA Championships, Pappas comes to Oregon as a Dartmouth graduate with one season of cross country and one season of indoor track and field remaining. The two-time NCAA all-American was third in the steeplechase at the 2012 outdoor meet in 10:01.20 and has a personal-best in the event of 9:55.89, a Dartmouth school record, from that season’s NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. She also won the 2012 Ivy League title in the steeplechase (9:58.80) and qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene.

        Pappas ran the lead leg on Dartmouth’s third place distance medley relay squad (11:06.29) at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. She was also a three-year member of the cross country team.

        Pappas is a graduate of Bishop O’Dowd High School  in Alameda, Calif., where she lettered in cross country and track and field for three years, and soccer for two. She served as captain of her soccer and cross country teams her senior year. From 2005-2007, she won six Hayward Area Athletic League Championships (HAAL), two cross country, three track and soccer.

        The aspiring filmmaker will pursue a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at Oregon, focusing on film, English, and entrepreneurial business.

 

PATRICK TODD, HIGHLAND PARK, TEXAS/HIGHLAND PARK HS/TEXAS/VIRGINIA

Prep Bests: 800 Meters - 1:49.93; 1,500 Meters - 3:40.91; Mile - 3:59.76.

        The well-traveled transfer from Virginia and Texas will conclude his college career at Oregon with a season of cross country and outdoor track and field. Todd was a 2012 NCAA Championships qualifier in the 1,500 meters and qualified for the USATF Championships at that distance in 2011.

        While at Virginia in 2011-12, he helped the Cavaliers distance medley relay team finish second at the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships. He ran a season-best 3:41.51 1,500 meters at the Virginia Challenge. During the 2012 Indoor season, Todd timed a 4:02.70 mile at the Husky Classic that was the seventh-best in school history.

        Todd ran some of the best times of his career during his redshirt season of 2011. He broke the 4:00 mark in the mile, going 3:59.76 at the Music City Distance Carnival. He later ran 3:40.91 in the 1,500 meters at the American Milers Club High Performance meet and competed at the 2011 USATF Championships, placing 16th in 3:41.92.

        He also ran two seasons of cross country for the Cavaliers.

        Todd began his college career at Texas where he was a two-time Big 12 indoor champion at 1,000 meters (2009-10). He also won the 1,500 meters at the 2009 Texas Relays.

        Indoors, he timed a personal-best 1:49.83 800 meters at the Alex Wilson Invite in 2009, when he also captured the college division of the 800 at the New Balance College Invite.

        Todd set the Texas state record in the 800 meters at Highland Park High School, running 1:53.90. He won the state title in 1:55.14 as a senior. He earned four letters in track and field and two in cross country. His father, Shawn, competed in track and field at Baylor.

 

- www.GoDucks.com -

 

 

Greg Walker

Associate Director, Media Relations

University of Oregon

Track & Field and Cross Country Contact

541-346-2252 (o)

541-954-8775 (c)