E meraid photo
Leann Warren will spearhead an Oregon squad that is
looking for its first national title.
The women are shooting
for a NCAA national title
• • •
By Debbie Howlett
Ot the Emerald
Tom Heinonen's office is filled with pictures and
magazine covers and awards. The memorabilia per
tains to the University's women’s cross country squad
with few exceptions. A framed portrait of Leann
Warren, one arm cradling a bouquet of yellow roses,
the other waving to an admiring crowd. A running
magazine cover fetes a past team, led by Molly
Morton-Salazar, striding across a green, grassy knoll
in the Oregon green and yellow
The pictures and such are testament to the head
coach's accomplishments, but one thing has eluded
him thus far. "It” is the one thing Heinonen speaks
about first, with an air of confidence. Among the
awards, there is no national championship trophy
Lest you think this is merely pre-season hype — a
lot like last year’s Rose Bowl predictions from the
football end — Heinonen has some statistics to rein
force his goal
His top seven runners, including four All-Amer
icans, are returning The team that took the University
to its sixth regional title and then went on to claim
second place at last year's NCAA national meet is
intact and in the coach's words, “improved" and
"experienced "
"The team race this year should be among
Oregon, Stanford and Virginia," Heinonen says
"We've got as good a shot as anyone and we re
setting our goal as winning nationals ."
Heinonen adds that while the entire Duck team is
returning and the prospects are good. Stanford and
national champion, Virginia are in identical situations
Being a national power is nothing new to the
Ducks and Heinonen As coach the past seven years,
Heinonen’s team has never finished lower than
seventh at a national championship meet and he's
guided his team to the regional title for the last six
years in a row
But, last year was, without a doubt, the best the
Ducks have had. Led by Warren's second place finish
at the NCAA national meet, Oregon kicked past
Stanford for second place. Virginia, with five runners
in the top 19, (something Heinonen, and many others
only refer to as "amazing") easily outdistanced the
rest of the pack
"Amazing" as Virginia was last year, Heinonen
claims that this squad can do what no other Oregon
women’s team, no other Northwest women's team
and very few Oregon men's teams have ever done
Claim a NCAA national title.
After an overview of the competition, Heinonen
eventually gets around to speaking about the good
signs he’s seen from his runners; very good signs
indeed
Last spring at the NCAA track and field cham
pionships, Heinonen's distance corp "scored more
points in the running events, from the 800 meter race
Continued on page 32
. . .the men are looking for some youthful help
"I don't see us being a great power in
cross country this fall,” candidly
predicts Oregon men’s coach Bill Del
linger, the Ducks mentor who’s starting
his 15th season as coach
We're going to be a young team, but
if our newcomers come along and Greg
Erwin and Mike Blackmore come back
healthy, we could be pretty good ”
Dellinger gives no promises of a
conference title, or even a NCAA berth
But he does push one point across; his
1982 squad will have three talented
veterans and a stable of new an un
tested talent
However, inexperienced talent takes
time to develop reminds Dellinger
“We re building for the future," he
says "Jim Hill and John Zishka along
with Erwin and Blackmore will provide
a good backbone for the team But five
runners score in a meet and you need
two or three more for good depth ”
Hill, a sophomore in cross country
eligibity, is coming off an impressive
spring track season and fifth place
finish in the NCAA 1,500-meters
“He’s our best and has the potential
for a top-ten finish at nationals,” Del
linger says
Leading the pack along with Hill will
be Zishka, who becomes eligible this
fall after transferring from Penn State
“A very taiented runner with good
potential," Dellinger says of Zishka "I
expect him and Hill to be the leaders in
our races ”
Erwin, a senior coming off a suc
cessful summer of road racing in the
Northwest, was bothered last year with
a cartilage problem in his knee He
declined surgery during the spring and
continued running good distance
races during the spring and summer
"Greg has been a consistent runner
for us the past three years and we
expect good things out of him again
this fall He had a very good summer,”
Both Hill and Erwin are former
Pac-10, top-10 finishers and NCAA
qualifiers
Dellinger is also hopeful that senior
John Brauer, sophomore Cory Randall
as well as touted freshman Harold Ku
phaldt and Dub Meyers can contribute
to Oregon success this fall
"As far as newcomers are con
cerned, John Zishka will definitely help
us,” Dellinger adds "Kuphaldt was
second in the junior nationals last year
and Matt McGuirk could contribute
"Cory Randall has good ability and
we re looking for him to help Also Dave
Harding, Garth Morrisette and Will
Kimball might surprise us
' But we have a long way to go to
catch up with teams like Washington
State (the Nor-Pac champion) "
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