When Kyle Alcorn was a sophomore at Oregon in the spring of 2005, he helped the Ducks win a Pac-10 track and field championship by placing seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

But it would be one of his final races in a Duck uniform.

Alcorn decided to leave Oregon at the end of the year, in part because his former coach, Martin Smith, was forced to resign on the eve of the outdoor season, and Alcorn wasn’t comfortable with the program’s direction.

“It was too political for me to be there,” said Alcorn, now a fifth-year senior at Arizona State. “They’ve got a great vibe going on there, but it’s a double-edged sword. There’s a lot of outside pressure on the Oregon track team.”

After transferring to ASU, Alcorn redshirted the 2006 season.