The 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships started out in typical Eugene fashion.  Windy, wet with some occasional breaks of sunshine.  When I say typical, I mean the kind of weather one would expect when visiting in March, not the first full week of June.

Despite the less than ideal conditions, the first final of the competition, the men’s discus, provided a great way to start off the NCAAs at historic Hayward Field.

There was not shortage of drama in flight one of the men’s discus.  The current NCAA leader, BYU’s Leif Arrhenius, fouled his first three throws and was out of the competition.  The two remaining favorites, Arizona State’s Ryan Whiting and Kansas’s Mason Finley, were only able to advance on their last of the three preliminary throws.  Finley’s third toss of 191-5 was good enough to assume the lead, going into the nine man final.

Finley held his lead until the fifth round when Whiting was able to unleash a toss of 193-9 and take the lead.  Whiting did not improve with his sixth round throw and Finley’s final attempt went wide ride to finish with a foul.

After having finished second last year by the slimmest of margins, Whiting was happy about his first NCAA discus title.  ”I was just hoping that I wasn’t going to lose by an inch again.  I’d prefer a meter.”  Whiting looks forward to defending his NCAA shot put title on Saturday.  ”I’ve been the favorite before and I’m ready to do it again.  I’ve been throwing far in practice and I’m healthy.”

Finals                                                                           
  1 Ryan Whiting              SR Arizona State           59.06m     193-09  10   
      52.05m  FOUL  54.93m  FOUL  59.06m  FOUL                                   
  2 Mason Finley              FR Kansas                  58.35m     191-05   8   
      FOUL  FOUL  58.35m  58.22m  FOUL  FOUL                                     
  3 Julian Wruck              FR Texas Tech              58.03m     190-05   6   
      53.75m  58.03m  56.97m  FOUL  FOUL  55.47m                                 
  4 Adonson Shallow           SR SE Louisiana            56.60m     185-08   5   
      56.60m  FOUL  54.29m  53.19m  56.14m  FOUL                                 
  5 Aaron Dan                 SR Southern California     56.14m     184-02   4   
      54.01m  56.14m  55.74m  52.58m  55.36m  56.11m                             
  6 Michael Putman            SO Florida State           56.03m     183-10   3   
      50.65m  55.22m  47.28m  51.56m  54.99m  56.03m                             
  7 Jason Lewis               SR Arizona State           55.72m     182-10   2   
      55.58m  55.66m  55.61m  53.88m  FOUL  55.72m                               
  8 Jake Deiters              JR Southern Illinois       55.23m     181-02   1   
      54.54m  53.82m  53.66m  54.40m  FOUL  55.23m                               
  9 Colin Boevers             JR Kentucky                54.88m     180-01       
      54.88m  54.83m  FOUL  FOUL  FOUL  54.21m