Cougars promise fireworks with aerial show
Jack Thompson, Washington State's golden-armed quarterback, will
bring a pass-orientated offense to Autzen Saturday in a clash between
two Pac-8 cellar-dwellers. Both the Cougars and Oregon carry 0-3
conference records.
-Sportfolio—- —
Cycling club to compete
Seniors Terry Green and Kim Carlson will lead the
Oregon Cycling Club into the State Championships for
Cyde-Cross in Sunriver Saturday.
The competition indudes cross-country bicycle riding
over grass, mud and sand surfaces, running with a bicyde and
jumping over logs.
Paddlers meet PSU Saturday
The Oregon Table Tennis Club will meet Portland State at
noon Saturday in 350 Gerlinger Annex.
Soccer teams host games
The OISA soccer team will host Linfiefd Saturday at 7
p.m. in Autzen Stadium. The Oregon women s team will also
play Saturday against visiting Padfic University.
Skydivers set competition
Area parachutists will get a chance to join in some high-flying
competition this weekend.
The Webfoot Sport Parachutists are sponsoring a sky-diving meet
Saturday and Sunday at Daniel's Field, off Interstate 5 at the Harrisburg
exit. The contest is open to anyone who has a log book, and has made at
least one sport parachute jump.
Starting time for the meet is 8 a.m. (fog permitting) and it will
continue until dark. Participants may compete in either of two
categories—a beginning class for those who have made from one to
fifty jumps and an advanced class for those who have made over fifty
jumps.
Contenders in the first category may compete in hit-and-run and
flour-bombing contests. In the hit-and-run event, jumpers will be judged
on how close to a target they can land and, if they miss the target, how
guickly they can run between their landing point and the target. In the
flour bombing event, jumpers have to hit a target with flour as the
landing is made.
Advanced competitors may participate in five-man and two-man
scrambles. In scramble, parachutists join hands during the jump.
An admission fee of 25 cents per event will be charged. Laurie
Jones, coordinator of the meet, expects a good turnout and excellent
competition at the meet. For more information, contact Jones at
344-2537.
By JEFF NIELSON
Emerald Sports Editor
The Wide Open Game is finally
coming to Autzen Stadium Satur
day.
It could be Oregon breaking it
open, but when Washington State
gets on the field for the 1:30 p.m.
conference game, it’ll be bringing
its own brand of put-it-in-the-air
football that has caused some
consternation lately for opposing
teams.
Coach Jackie Sherrill's squad
has had some squeakers in the
last couple of weeks. Although
they sport a dismal 1-6 record for
the season, the Cougars took
Southern California to the wire
three weeks ago in a game that
was tied 14-all in the fourth quarter
until USC finally pulled it out,
23-14. Then, last weekend, WSU
lost to Stanford, 22-16, when the
Cardinals scored a last-minute
touchdown.
One big reason the Cougars
have remained a threat is their
quarterback, 6-3 213 lb. Jack
Thompson. Third in conference
passing behind Stanford s Guy
Benjamin and California's Joe
Roth, Thompson is the obvious
leader in WSU's aerial
attack—one that has made the
Cougars tops in Pac-8 passing
with a 277.1 per-game average.
‘Thompson is one of the best, if
not the best, passer in the confer
ence,” said Oregon assistant
coach Don Cortez. “You can rank
him right up there with the Benja
mins and the Roths as far as pas
sing.”
WSU triggerman Thompson, a
native of Samoa, has several
prime targets for his bullets.
Flanker Brian Kelley is a short 5-9,
yet he cought passes for a total of
101 yards against Stanford even
though he was often double-and
triple-teamed. Split end Mike
Levenseller, the nation s leading
pass reciever, is questionable for
the game because of a bruised
thigh, but would be quite a worry
for the Ducks if able to play.
And yet another receiver, Dan
Doornick, is second in Pac-8 re
ceptions with 31 caught this sea
son. Altogether, the Cougars have
Homecoming is a big deal.”
Much will depend on the
Oregon defense. The Ducks
stopped Washington twice inside
the two-yard line last weekend,
and it took a 72-yard run by the
Huskies’ Joe Steele to give the
hosts a 14-7 victory, in Seattle.
But the Duck secondary has
suffered damaging injuries. Sec
ond team strong safety Bruce
Jenson is lost for the season with
upcoming knee surgery, and start
ing defensive end Larry Williams
is still doubtful because of a se
vere foot strain.
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four receivers among the top nine
in the conference.
WSU is one-sided, however.
Dead last in conference rushing
offense, the Cougs have their
number two rusher, Harold Gil
lum, on the sidelines with an im
pacted tooth.
The contest will mean a lot to
both teams, for the winner will
dimb out of the Pac-8 cellar. The
Ducks espedally don't want to fail
down in front of a homecoming
crowd.
"Sure, if we win, morale goes
up,” remarked Cortez. “We’ve
been on the road the last three
weeks without a victory, and we’d
like one Saturday. Obviously, if we
win, we ll be feeling better.
Returning to action, however,
will be defensive end John Reed,
who sat out the Washigton game
because of illness.
While it hasn’t carried the impor
tance of years past, there are still
events to mark Oregon’s
Homecoming. Former Marching
band members will perform at
half-time, and about 400 students
are expected to sit in a special
“card section" at the game.
The Ducks hold a 24-23 edge in
the series between the two
schools, in a rivalry that dates
back to 1901.
KUGN will start its live broad
cast at 1 p.m. with the pregame
show.
The big one: Ducks, Cougars favored in
Northern Division CC championships
By DAN UNDAHL
Of the Emerald
Along with the battle between Washington State
and Oregon for supremacy at the Northern Division
Cross Country Championships Saturday, will be the
equally poignant conflict of foreigner versus Ameri
can.
Lower Woodland Park in Seattle will be the setting
for the tandem of confrontations which are practically
knotted. On the one hand is the simple affray bet
ween the Cougars and Ducks for the Northern Divi
sion cross country crown. Oregon State and
Washington will also be on hand, but for all p actical
purposes, they will serve only 45 spectators to what
boils down to a dual meet between the two long
established cross country giants
But equally interesting is the question of who’s
running and whether it's fair.
Cougar cross country coach John Chaplin bristles
at the suggestion that his program-being almost to
tally reliant upon imported athletes-is unfair. The
topic of what is or isn't fair, especially when applied to
world-class Kenyans Henry Tono, Samson
Kimambwa and defending Pacific 8 champion
Joshua Kimeto, is a sore spot Chaplin admits.
“That's not even an open subject,” said Chaplin.
“Oregon built its reputation on Australian milers and
Norwegian runners. It's been using foreign athletes
for years. You never hear Dellinger (Oregon cross
country coach Bill) saying anything. When you live in
glass houses, you don’t throw rocks."
Chaplin is correct on that count. Dellinger, al
though expressing his displeasure with current rules,
admits the necessity for overseas recruiting in some
instances.
“I have no hard feelings," remarked the former
cross country coach of the year. “As long as the rules
stay as they are, you have to win however you can,
and you can win by going overseas for runners.”
But that doesn’t mean Dellinger approves of the
current situation.
“What I would like is a rule like we used to have
which said that a foreign runner has to be the same
age as the people he’s competing against in the
states," said Dellinger, whose team has no runners
from outside of North America in its top 10. "It used to
be that a foreign runner lost a year of college eligibil
ity for each year he ran in his own country after the
age of 19. But that was changed by a court decision
so now our kids are running against 25,26,27.who
knows how old they are?”
And to Dellinger, the future doesn't appear bright.
“I see things getting worse before they get better,"
he said. ‘The real problem is that the NCAA people
just aren’t really concerned about the problem. If it
was football or basketball they'd get something done
quick, but since its a non-revenue sport, they don't
care.”
Chaplin, meanwhile, has some pretty definite
ideas about what has been the root cause of alt the
commotion.
“When you say Kenyan you might as well say
nigger because that is what you really mean,” lashed
Chaplin. “It is just a matter of color. Nobody said
anything when it was English or German or Au
stralian runners. Just Kenyans.”
One thing the coaches can agree on is that
Saturday's meet should be extremely competitive,
although neither coach places an over-abundance of
importance on the outcome.
Chaplin, who will be sending a squad of eight
runners to Seattle including five who have finished in
the top 10 at the Pac-8 meet sometime in their
career, is almost complacent about the champion
ship.
“It’s a race, so sure we’ll hope to win," lie said. “But
it's really just a race to see where we are. It has
nowhere near the importance of the Pac-8 meet."
Dellinger also does’t feel it's a must situation.
However the Duck mentor thinks it would be nice if
his 10-man contingent of Dave Taylor, Terry Wil
liams, Alberto Salazar, Rudy Chapa, Matt Cen
trowitz, Don Clary, Steve McChesney, Art Boiieau,
Peter Spir and Don Beckwith can handle WSU.
"We’d like to use this meet as a stepping stone to
the Pac-8 championships, and then to nationals,"
said Dellinger.
And the Duck boss likes the outlook at this point.
"We re a lot better at this time this year than at the
same time last year," he said “we're better depth
wise and better talent-wise. I know that all sounds
very positive, and it is. But other teams are improved
too. To beat WSU, we’ll have to run like the devil."
Or perhaps, run like a Kenyan.