Oregon Preview: McCrea delivers the goods with javelin toss

by Ken Goe, The Oregonian

Saturday March 21, 2009, 8:06 PM

EUGENE -- Oregon's Ashley McCrea muscled the javelin 172 feet 2 inches Saturday in a breakthrough performance, while Arianna Lambie and Grant Lindsey opened the outdoor season in style on a mostly sunny afternoon at the Oregon Preview track and field meet.

Lambie of the Nike Oregon Project cruised to an easy win in the 3,000 meters in 9 minutes 30.26 seconds, and unattached high jumper Lindsey cleared 7-2 1/2 to win the competition by seven inches before a crowd of 4,326 at Hayward Field.

McCrea, a senior from North Bend, has spent her career in the shadow of teammate Rachel Yurkovich, the reigning NCAA champion.

Yurkovich sat out this meet, and McCrea took over. She opened with a throw of 167-3, a personal record, then bettered that on her third attempt with the event winner. The mark is third in UO history with the new implement, behind only Yurkovich and Sarah Malone, a three-time All-American.

"I just wanted to come out today and have fun," McCrea said. "I had a little bit more than I anticipated."

Lambie moved to Portland and joined Alberto Salazar's Nike Oregon Project after a dominating career at Stanford in which she was a 14-time All-American. She figured to be the class of the field in the 3,000, and was.

She bolted past pace-setting Amber McGown with....