Due to limited scholarships in collegiate track and field, the trend of balanced and well-rounded teams competing in dual meets are out, and specialized squads competing in large invitationals are in.

Each year fewer and fewer dual meets are scheduled as teams continue to shy away from these competitions, competing in the larger events where it is less crucial to have great team depth.

But not all teams have forgotten their track and field roots. Arizona will battle with Oregon tomorrow at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in its only scheduled dual meet of the season.

"Oregon is one of the top dual-meet teams in the country, and we take pride in being a good dual-meet team as well, so this will be a good challenge for both teams," UA head coach Dave Murray said.

The Ducks have traditionally been a Pacific 10 Conference track power and it is no different this year. OU's men's and women's teams are predicted by Track and Field News to finish second in the conference, just ahead of Arizona, who was picked third.

Arizona should match up well with Oregon in the distance events on both the men's and women's side, Murray said. One of the best matchups that Murray foresees is the women's 3,000-meter race. Freshman Amy Skieresz, who finished second overall in last fall's NCAA Cross Country Championships, will run against the Ducks' Melody Fairchild. Fairchild won the 3,000 at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8.

"Both are capable of automatically qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships," Murray said.

The UA men lack depth in the sprint events due to the absence of junior Saki Middleton, who is still out nursing a pulled hamstring. The Wildcats hope to make up for that lack of depth in the throwing events.

In those events, Arizona is led by junior Chima Ugwu. Ugwu has already automatically qualified for the NCAA outdoors in the shot put and discus. Ugwu also finished fourth at this year's NCAA indoors in the shot put, which earned him All-American honors. UA is also counting on strong performances from freshman Tapio Kolunsarka and senior Aaron Corcorran in the hammer throw.

On the women's side, senior sprinter Michelle Johnson will compete in the 100-meter high hurdles and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays for the Wildcats. Johnson set an NCAA provisional mark in the 100 hurdles last weekend at the Jim Click Wildcat Shootout with a time of 13.53 seconds.

The Wildcat women have also been plagued by the injury bug with senior long jumper Veronica Burton and junior hurdler Dee Dee Buzzi out of action because of pulled hamstrings.

Tomorrow's meet is the last in a three-meet homestand. Next weekend, Arizona travels to Tempe to compete in the Sun Angel Classic.