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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 1987)
Sports Now it's Graves who carries Oregon's distance torch By Dennis Fernandes Of lb* Emerald “You've come a long way, baby." Those were probably the sen timents expressed Saturday at the Pacific 10 Conference cham pionships, when Oregon junior distance runner Penny Graves cut across the tape in the 1.500-meter finals for an in dividual championship and personal best of 4:18.57. Not 24 hours earlier. Graves had to settle for third place in the 3,000-meter final, succumb ing to UCLA’s Polly Piumerand teammate Annette Hand for her first setback of the entire season. Overcoming that disap pointment is just another episode to the melodrama of an athlete who just seems to got tougher when the going gets rough. She is slowly carving herself a name with the likes of Oregon track immortals Kathy Mayes. U'ann Warren and Claudette Groenondaai. At the Oregon Twilight over a week ago. Graves added the 1,500-meter race to the resume she will take to Baton Kouge, La., for the NCAA championships in a few weeks. She has already qualified for the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, and with Hand close at her heels, Graves still owns the Pac-10's best times in all three events. Not bad, for a former frustrated 800-meter runner who mude a switch to cross country for endurance purposes in the fall of 1985. That adjust ment worked out pretty smoothly too — ('.raves cap tured the Pac-10 cross country championships last fall und didn't lose a race untd the NCAA championship, finishing a respectable 13th. ''It’s been a tribute to Penny's versatility, that she's gone from an 800-meter runner in high school to where she is now," said Oregon coach Tom Heinonen. A throe-time Class AA state champion at that event in Port Angeles, Wash., the freshman Craves came to Oregon with her expectations set perhaps a little too high. Her best 800-meter time was 2:12.61. not even good enough to cover her personal record in high school. Impatient and searching for answers. Craves even tried her hand at the javelin and ran the 1,500 meters twice. "I wasn't patient enough, and I was beginning to get self doubts," Craves recalled. "Physically, I didn't even feel good running it. "I was beginning to wonder if track at the college level was too fast for me.” Craves had so many other athletic pursuits -— she had played soccer, basketball and softball in high school and par ticipates in badminton at the na tional level — that she could have feasibly taken up another sport. Hut Heinonen gave her a cross country program to follow for the summer, and the rest is history. "It (the program) was to im prove her training and get her fitter." he recalled. "She had more endurance than the sprinters and jumpers anyway, and I thought it help her in the 800 and 1,500. "I thought it would be good for her training for the 1986 track season, and Penny ended up being our number-two (cross country) runner." Graves* inaugural cross coun try campaign was cut short at the NCAA meet by the flu bug. hut not before she had amassed fifth place in the conference meet and sixth at the district competition. For track, in what lleinonen terms "a year of mixed results." the 1986 season promised potential if nothing else The sophomore Craves ran a 9:27.81 in her very first 3,000 meters, but didn't improve. She ended up the year with third-place rib bons at the Norl’ac Champion ships in the 1.500 and 3.IHM) meters. With one year of eligibility re maining. Graves is probably the forefront of the Pac-10's middle distance corps. Her only 5.(MX)-meter competition over was at the Oregon Invitational earlier this month, and she blew away the NCAA standard of 16:20.24 by ulmost 17 seconds. "I just go out and run." she said, "and whatever happens, happens." If that's the case, then this baby's still got a ways to go. Women Continued from Page 7 come and Hand was able to keep up the final-lap pace. When Hamm nearly stopped at the bell lap. thinking the race was over. Hand sailed past her and finished more than 12 seconds ahead, driven by her own well-timed kick. Another bright spot in Friday action was Oregon's l.isa johnson. who came a respec table second in the 10,000 and bettered her personal time to THE WATER While relaxing in a soothing hot tub ot On sen, rest assured that the water quality is excellent Each spa is supported by the finest in filtering and sonitmng equip ment Most importantly, the staff of our owner run facility insures that our high standards are met before you sink into the warm, bubbly water Taking reservations until It 30 p m weekdays until 13 45 weekends Call 345 9048 1883 Gordon A«e Eugene 35:07. Abo Friday, Camille Jam polsky jumped 5-10 for third place in the high jump. 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