-sports
‘Animal’ instinct shows in confident Amaral
Photo by Kurt Krause
Animal' Amaral is nothing if not confident.
Same old story: Ducks
drop verdict to Vikings
By DAN LINDAHL
Of the Emerald
Coach Mel Krause best sum
marized his Oregon baseball
team's effort Tuesday against
Portland State when he sighed
and said, “It was just the same old
story.’’
Indeed it was. Once again
Oregon didn't have enough hit
ting, pitching or defense. The in
evitable result was the Ducks' 7-5
loss to the Vikings at Howe Field.
After falling behind 6-0 after
three and one half innings, the
Ducks rallied to draw to within one
run at 6-5 after five frames.
Oregon couldn't come any closer,
and PSU added an insurance
marker in the seventh to push the
score to its final resting place.
Even in the comeback, Oregon
was unimpressive, as was its en
tire effort. PSU pitcher Mike
Oregon loses
Dan Ainge in
recruiting war
Part of the big question of who
Oregon will get when the basket
ball recruiting season winds down
will be uncovered today, but the
basketball program has already
received one answer — and it
wasn’t to the Ducks’ liking.
The University learned Tues
day that perhaps its largest possi
ble catch, Dan Ainge, a senior
from North Eugene High School
who is touted as the best prep
basketball player in the state has
elected to take his talents to Salt
Lake City, Utah and Brigham
Young University.
“I wish Dan Ainge every suc
cess at BYU," said Oregon coach
Dick Harter after he had received
the disappointing news.
While perhaps the biggest fish
of all has gotten away from
Oregon, the rest of the catch will
start coming in today, the first day
that national letters of intent can
be signed,
Oregon reportedly is close to
signing a top high school center,
although when questioned, Harter
replied, “we re looking at players
of all sizes.”
Announcement of the signing of
those players will begin this morn
ing.
Finigan single handedly pulled the
Ducks back into the contest by giv
ing out five walks and hitting one
batter in two innings of work.
Oregon’s inablilty to gain runs
on its own initiative spelled its
doom, however. And when the
charity acts ended, so did
Oregon's scoring. Coach
Krause s club collected just four
hits on the day.
Portland State wasted no time
in making its presence known as
Viking lead off hitter Steve Par
melee stroked Craig Fetzer’s
opening pitch over the left field
wall. Ron Wantland did the same
thing one inning later and the Vik
ings were on their way.
Coach Jack Dunn s club upped
its lead to 6-0 when Gary McGraw,
Parmelee, Jeff Dunn and Chris
Pearson collected consecutive
singles off Fetzer in the fourth in
ning.
Finigan replaced Vik starter
Bob Krieger in the fourth and im
mediately allowed Oregon to get
back in the game.
Mike Connolly and Steve Elam
walked and Tom Dodd reached
base on error to start the fourth
inning uprising. Tim Stack earned
an rbi with his walk, and Elam
scored on Mike Carr’s double play
ground ball.
Finigan fared no better in the
next inning as he walked Jeff
Heaton and hit Mike Ritchey to get
himself in trouble with no one out.
Paul Kirsch scored Heaton with
his single and Ritchey scored on a
fielder's choice situation. Connolly
tallied the final run of the inning
when he scampered home on a
wild pitch.
Portland State came back to
add one more run in the seventh
when Pearson singled and, after
moving to second, scored when
Carr's pick-off attempt sailed into
center field.
The only real bright spot for
Oregon was the surprise
emergence of Conen Fulscher as
a possible pitching help. Although
Fulscher hasn’t pitched in three
years, he performed well in his re
lief stint.
PSU 7, Oregon 5
Portland State 110 400 100-7 11 1
Oregon 000 230 000-5 4 3
Krieger. Finigan (4). Dunn (6). Zagelow (8) and
Hudson. Smith:(6). Fetzer. Fuscher (5). Fischer (7)
and Carr. W-Krieger L-Fetzer HR- PSU. Par
melee. Wantland.
By KIM SPIR
Of the Emerald
On the track Carol Amaral is everything her
nickname suggests — an animal.
Amaral is also as good as she says she is in
anything from the 60-yard dash to the 100-meter
hurdles. In her second year as Oregon’s top sprinter,
the 5-4, 110 pounder remains undefeated this sea
son and she's confident her record will go un
blemished — at least until the national meet.
“This season, I want to make the 100-meter
finals at nationals," she began. Then the words came
tumbling out faster than her legs scurry in a race.
“And in the 200, the qualifying time is 24.7 and I
almost ran that a couple weeks ago. I don’t want to
get too involved with the hurdles because it might
ruin my sprinting. But I think I have the potential to
become a pretty good hurdler. Or a long jumper, if
someone would only teach me how to long jump....”
Amaral comes from Yreka, Calif., where she
competed as a “pretty good vaulter” in high school
gymnastics and also competed in the 100-yard dash,
80-meter hurdles, high jump and long jump.
It was as a high school sophomore that Amaral
got her first taste for track. Her Yreka coach, Rexi
Nicholson, now women’s coach for Crater High
School in Central Point taught her how to hurdle.
“She had me starting out of the blocks and going
over hurdles and I think that’s why I have such a good
start.”
Nicholson also told her about the University and
while attending the College of the Siskiyous four
years ago she began thinking about someday run
ning on “the fastest track in the world.
“I hated California and I always wish I’d gone to
Oregon after Rexi told me about it,” Amaral said.
Because the Siskiyous college offered no track
program, Amaral competed in intercollegiate vol
leyball, softball and basketball, earning a Most Valu
able Player award in the latter her sophomore year.
Amaral came to Oregon as a Physical Educa
tion major two years ago, but changed to Health
when she discovered “You don’t have to take P.E. to
be a coach.”
Academia didn t draw her to Oregon though.
Running did.
“My first year here was a building year,” she
said. “I learned how to sprint again.”
She became the women’s top sprinter, going
undefeated in five indoor races in 1976 but recalled,
“Last season was a real bummer. I was injured be
fore our three big meets (the state, regional and
national meets). I got zipped in the 100 semi’s at
nationals.”
Nevertheless, her 11.9 for 100 meters and a
25.4 for the 200 were personal bests.
This year, Carol finished second by 200ths of a
second to Canadian Olympian Margo Howe, in the
Portland Indoor 60- yard dash.
“I didn't really have the background to run in
doors this year,’she said. “But I compared my times
against all those other sprinters who ran indoors this
season, and I can run 60 yards just as fast as the
ones who were winning meets in Los Angeles and
New York.”
In fact, Amaral’s 7.49 for 60 meters “has gotta
be under seven seconds for 60 yards,” she enth
used, a time that would rank her in the U.S. top 10 list
according to Track and Field News.
Amaral attributes her quickness to an early em
phasis on the blocks in high school, form work and a
continual weight program.
“I can press 540 lbs. with my legs,” she said.
“That’s not bad for these little legs.”
She also thinks some of her speed came from
her family background.
“My dad was pretty fast, he lettered in track in
junior high,” she mused. “But my grandfather, who’s
76 now, was the first man in California to break the 10
second barrier in the 100 yard dash."
When asked about the Olympics Amaral was
honest.
'“The Olympics aren’t that big a deal to me. I’d
rather compete in Europe. In Europe, the hurdlers
run about 10.5 for 100 meters.” If Amaral has any
desire to become a world class athlete she figures
the hurdles would be her only chance.
But trips to Europe are a world away right now.
Amaral plans to compete for Oregon at least another
year, and during that time, she just wants to keep
running.
“I’ve got an advantage,” she chuckled, “People
see my little legs and they say ‘...awww, she’s no
good."
But when she blows them off the track, people
begin to think differently.
Against powerful WSU
Oregon’s men face uphill battle
By STEVE GEIGER
Of the Emerald
If the Oregon men’s track team
thought it had its hands full with
UCLA's Bruins last Saturday, wait
until it sees what’s in store this
week.
It's on to Pullman, Wash., for
the men in what could be
Oregon's toughest dual meet of
the year as the Ducks take on
Washington State's Cougars.
“Washington State is a well
rounded team,” says Duck coach
Bill Dellinger, who knows well
what is ahead for his men in the
co-ed affair. “They’re strong in
every event.”
The Ducks lost an 82V2-7V/2
battle to UCLA at Hayward Field
last week, but for the most part
avoided any real competition. It
was a simple matter of give and
take: UCL^ took the sprints ad
gave Oregon the distance events.
“This meet will be a lot different
from the UCLA meet,” Dellinger
feels. “Againt Washington State,
it’ll be nose to nose in every event.
There aren’t any sweeps that I can
see.”
Don Clary and Rod Cooper will
have their hands especially full if
they meet Cougar freshman
Henry Rono, who ran the stee
plechase in 8:38.37 for WSU over
Brigham Young, 104-59," and
Boise State, 146-39, last weekend
in a triangular meet.
Rono, who has run under 8:30
in the event, is one of the few
clear-cut favorites in the race, ac
cording to Dellinger. Clary’s best
for the year is 8:44.3 and Cooper’s
Adversity helps net teams
For the University men’s and women's tennis teams, adversity
must breed action.
That's the consensus opinion after both net teams scored wins
Tuesday without the aid of top players.
The men, missing No. 2 player Steve Hard, who is out with a back
injury, scored a 7-2 win over Southern Oregon on the 15th St. courts
while the women, playing without No. 1 seed Patty Layton and No. 6
seed Brenda Stroud, shutout Portland State, 9-0 on the Alder St. sur
Oregon 7, Southern Oregon 2
Singles—Wilson (O) def. Farmer, 6-0, 6-1; Pray (SOSC) def. Benezra, 7-6. 6-2; Lopez (O) def. Griffin.
6-7, 6-3. 6-4; Childers (O) def. Evans, 7-6. 6-1; Greider (O) def. Danielson. 6-4. 6-2; Ignatius (O) def.
Canucci. 6-3, 6-0.
Doubles —Pray-Griffin (SOSC) def. Ignatius-Lau. 6-5. 3-6, 7-5; Childers-Benezra (O) def. Farmer
Evans. 3-6. 6-3, 6-4; Lopez-Grieder (O) def. Daniels.. Canucci, 6-2. 6-3.
Oregon 9, Portland St. 0
Singles—Vozenilek (O) def. Kaufman. 6-1, 2-6, 6-3; Borchers (O) def Witners. 6-2. 6-0; Mickelson (O)
def. Steinbrugge. 6-4, 6-4; Fong (O) def Watson. 6-1.6-0; Reynolds (O) def. Zavodsky, 6-2, 6-4; Hutchin
son (O) def Coffman. 6-2, 6-1.
Doubles — Borchers and Vozenilen (O) def. Kaufman-Withers. 6-1. 6-3; Mickelson-Reynolds (O) def..
Zavodsky-Steinbrugge, 6-3. 6-2. Fong-Hutchinson (O) def Coffman-Watson. 6-1. 6-0.
best is 8:58.2, and both are career
bests.
Dellinger sees stiff competition
coming from Paul Buxton in the
hammer and shot put. Buxton
threw the hammer 215-7 last
weekend, and the shot 61-9V2.
Oregon’s bests are John McArdle
with a 187-11 in the hammer and
Howard Banich's 60-61/2 in the
shot.
Dellinger also all but concedes
first place to the Cougars in the
triple jump. Ian Campbell, who
also runs sprints and took the 100
meter dash last weekend in 10.38,
won the triple jump with a 53-1
leap, and has jumped 55 feet.
One big question will be how
well Phil Bransom will recover
from his dismal performance
against UCLA. As Oregon’s
number one sprinter and hurdler,
Bransom managed only two
third-places against the Bruins.
But the 6-2, 180-pound junior will
be in the thick of things.
‘Bransom will pretty much be
the workhorse for us again this
week,” Dellinger said. “Last
weekend he was just flat. A lot of
people didn’t realize he was run
ning against two of the best hur
dlers (James Owens and Bennie
Myles) in the nation. These were
two guys who could go 1 -2 against
anyone in the nation."
Dellinger will choose from
among Clary, Randal Markey,
Matt Centrowitz and Peter Spir to
run against Kenya’s Joshua
Kimeto and Rono in the 1,500
meters, an event in which
Washington State has never
beaten Oregon since Dellinger
took the head reins.