Sports__
Wilson likes being Duck mentor
By Jeff l.utzky
Of Mm Knwrald
Although first-year Oregon
soft lull I coach Teresa Wilson
may have had to adjust to los
ing, it definitely has paid
dividends in the long run.
"It’s been hard, but it’s pro
bably good that it started out
that way,” Wilson says of her
first season at the (hicks helm in
which they have compiled and
18-30 record. ”1 learned more in
one year than I ever thought
possible.”
For Wilson losing had to la?
an unknown cjuantity. After all,
when you play on winning
teams all your life, yon become
accustomed to the thrill of
victory.
Winning started early for the
24-year-old Wilson, who started
pitching the summer before her
junior year in high school. That
year her summer team in
Missouri won nationals, and
she has been on the winning
side as a player ever since.
“My high school coach
thought I could be a pitcher so 1
started messing around with
it,” Wilson says. ”1 asked a guy
(Marvin Murphy) in Maryville,
Mo., where the summer team
was. to help me out so he came
to practice and we've been
working together ever since.
We'd work together after prac
tice for a couple of hours each
day. lie's probably caught a few
million hours for me."
After that Wilson returned to
high school at Northeast
Nodaway in Missouri, which
had 117 students among its stu
dent lardy, often leading to a
problem when they reached the
state tournament.
Both times when her team
reached state they were paired
up with teams from St. Uiuis,
which was way out of
Nodaway’s league. Wilson's
team finished tied for third in
state both years.
After high school, Wilson
was faced with the dec ision of
whether to attend the Universi
ty of Minnesota or the Universi
ty of Missouri. Hventually she
decided on Missouri because it
was closer to home.
"I had already turned down a
scholarship from Missouri, but
then 1 decided that Minnesota
was too far from home, so they
dug up another one for me,”
Wilson says. "It probably was
the smartest move (ever made. I
don't think I ever would have
survived at Minnesota.”
At Missouri. Wilson picked
up where her high school career
left off winning All-Conference
her freshman and junior years,
All-Kogional her sophomore
and senior years, to go along
with an All-American honor her
senior year.
‘‘When I got there my
freshman year there was
another girl who was pitcher,
and I heard how good she was,
and that made me try harder,”
Wilson says. “Essentially I
irecamn the number one pitcher
my final three years. 1 would do
most of the pitching, but that's
how I like It. I’d like to pitch
every game.”
Her team was also successful,
finishing fifth her sophomore
year in the NCAAs, follwed by a
ninth-place finish her junior
year, to go along with a seventh
place finish her senior year.
Following her senior year,
Wilson stayed on at Missouri as
a pitching coach for a year,
before hearing about the open
ing at Oregon.
"I had been getting itchy to
have my own team and see what
I can do.” Wilson says. "My
coach kept telling me to be pa
tient and then I found out about
the job opening here."
Figuring it was time to move
on, Wilson applied to Oregon,
ami after a telephone conversa
tion with Associatiate Athletic
Director Chris Volez, she decid
ed to come to Eugene.
"I had hoard how pretty
Oregon was. and I like trees and
wildlife,” Wilson says. "I had
also gotten an offer from a small
sch(»ol closer to home, but I
figured I might as well give this
one a shot.”
Since she's been here, Wilson
has had to cope with losing five
Sports Shorts
Thi; Oregon lai rosso loam
will play Lewis and ('lark Col
lege Saturday at 1 p m at the
Southhank Field in a game that
will determine the Oregon state
championship.
Oregon currently boasts a 5-2
league record and a win Satur
day would assure the team of
the championship.
The game will also be the
final home game for the lacrosse
team, that is perennially one the
strongest in the Northwest.
Admission is free, and the
public is encouraged to attend.
a
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Teresa Wilson
players for various reasons dur
ing the season, making the
Ducks play without any
substitutes for a portion of the
season. She has been impressed
with the possibilites for the
future Eugene has.
“Eugene is really a hotbed for
softball,” Wilson says.
“If we had had those five peo
ple alt year, we would probably
have been over .500," Wilson
says, “I'm excited in a way. If
this team gets a chance, they
can build something here.”
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