Auburn without sprints
Spikers face slowed foes
By JOHN HEALY
Of the Emerald
Sprinters are to Auburn
what tailbacks are to USC or
distance runners are to
Oregon.
They’re a given, something
you can count on whenever a
new football or track season
rolls around.
Until now, at least in
Auburn's case.
The Tigers, who boasted of
having the world’s best
sprinter last year in Stanley
Floyd, are sorely lacking this
spring in sprint talent.
Lacking to the point that
they may lose the 100-, 200
and 400-meter races to tradi
tionally sprint-thin Oregon
when the two schools hook up
in a dual meet this Saturday at
Hayward Field.
Floyd, who won track’s triple
crown last spring in the 100
meters — the NCAA, Track
Athletic Congress and Olym
pic Trials — was the latest in a
long line of NCAA champions,
following on the heels of Har
vey Glance and Willie Smith.
But Floyd has transferred to
the University of Houston.
His expected return to
Auburn for his sophomore
season forced most of the
prep sprinters that the Tigers
were recruiting to look else
where.
By the time Floyd an
nounced he was taking his
spikes to Houston, the top
prep sprinters in the country
had already tossed in their lots
with other schools, and
Auburn was left with Steve
Strother (10.77) in the 100 and
200 (21.35) and Joe Toles in
the 400 (48.99).
Last year, those times would
have guaranteed the Tigers
Larry Bradley is one reason Oregon is making a showing is sprint
events this year, posting season bests of 10.53 in the 100 and
21.22 in the 200.
wins against Oregon in at least
two of the three sprints.
Not this year, though, as the
Ducks have shored up their
sprint squad with the addition
of University of Portland
transfer Larry Bradley. He has
bests of 10.53 in the 100 and
21.22 in the 200 this year and
last week against Washington
took a second in the 200 and a
third in the 100.
Bradley is just beginning to
return to the form he displayed
two years ago, when he posted
bests of 20.95 in the 200 and
10.37 in the 100, according to
Oregon sprint coach Dennis
Whitby.
The 400 is another event
where the Ducks are markedly
better than the Tigers, as so
phomore Parrish Nixon
knocked his personal best
down to 47.41 last week
against the Huskies.
The Ducks have posted
superior times in every track
event this year except the 110
meter high hurdles, where the
Tiger's Mike Benjamin has a
season best of 14.05.
The men’s meet gets under
way at 12:30 p.m. with exhibi
tion competition in the ham
mer. The first running event for
the men will be the 400 relay at
2 p.m.
Eugene
Performance Hall — Lane County Convention Center and Fairgrounds
Monday, April 13 • 7:30 p.m.
General Admission: $5.00 per ticket in advance for groups of 10 or more. $6.00 Advance/$7.00 at the Door.
Tickets available at the following locations: Berean Church Supply, 1675 W. I Ith St./Christian Supply Store.
135 NW Second St., Corvallis/ltarvest Time. 2655 River Road/Kingsway Bookstore. 1406 Mohawk Blvd..
Springfield/Kingsway Bookstore. 2815 Willamette St.
Series brings Huskies
to plate against Ducks
When Oregon takes on Wa
shington today in the first of a
three-game series, the Ducks
will be up against some heavy
timber.
"They have some offensive
stats that make ours look pretty
bad,” says coach Mel Krause of
Washington's hitting.
Krause has reason for con
cern. The 16-10 Huskies are
hitting .326 as a team, led by
outfielder Jeb Best’s astron
omical .518 mark. In addition,
the Huskies have scored 178
runs to only 117 for their op
ponents.
"I didn’t realize they were that
good," says Krause.
The Ducks, meanwhile, have
been struggling lately. After a
quick 6-1 start, they have
dropped six of their last nine
games to fall to 9-7.
In Tuesday's 6-4 win over
Willamette, Oregon looked
sloppy in the field and tired at
the plate. The pitching has been
below Krause’s expectations,
and it will take a big effort for the
Ducks to stop the Washington
bats, Krause says.
"It will be a tough ballgame
for us."
The teams have one common
opponent. Gonzaga defeated
the Huskies 4-3 earlier this year,
while the Ducks opened their
I
Emerald photo
Coach Mel Krause expects
some problems from Washing
ton this weekend.
season by sweeping a doub
leheader from the
then-15th-ranked Bulldogs.
Today’s game at Howe Field
will start at 3 p.m., with Bill
Gwinn (0-0) the expected starter
for Oregon. The teams will play
a doubleheader Saturday
beginning at 1 p.m.
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