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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1997)
ON THE TUBE National Hockey League Playoffs Game 1, ESPN (34), 4:30 Emerald WOMEN’S TRACK Making an Impact Middle-distance runner Kaarin Knudson has won all but one race this season By Ben Kwasney Sports Reporter When Kaarin Knudson made the trek from Alaska to Oregon three years ago as a walk-on, she was just one of the players hoping for a chance to make an impact. Now as a junior on scholarship, Knud son has become Oregon’s premier mid dle-distance runner. “I don’t just want to be a player; I want to be a major person in every race I run in,” Knudson said. So far this season she has been a factor in every race, be it the 4x400-meter relay, 800- or 1500-meter runs. Only once has she failed to win a race this season, with the lone loss being a second-place finish in the 800-meter to post-collegian Gina DeWitt at the Oregon Preview. But Knudson made up for the loss last Saturday when she beat DeWitt at the Oregon Invitational. Knudson is hoping to build on last year’s impressive sophomore campaign when she qualified for the NCAA Cham pionships in the 800- and 1500-meters. In last year’s NCAA meet at Hayward Field, Knudson did not advance past the semifinals in the 1500-meter after a com petitor in front of her fell going into the fi nal kick, slowing Knudson too much to advance. “Her goal this year is to be one of the best collegiate middle-distance runners in the country, and she’s on her way to doing that,” head coach Tom Heinonen said. This year she has recorded marks of 2:6.58 seconds in the 800-meter and 4:22.96 in the 1500-meter. Her times are currently 13th and 14th, respectively, on the NCAA list this spring. Knudson is also a member of the 4x400 relay, and her anchor leg in last Saturday’s Oregon Invitational was cru cial to the Ducks’ victory. Both her middle-distance times are NCAA provisional marks and are con sidered good enough to make the NCAA Turn to KNUDSON, Page 12 MARK McTYRE/Emerald Oregon middle-distance runner Kaarin Knudson won the 800-meter run at the Oregon Invitational and has lost one race in the 1997 season. Blazers, QBs and Tiger— Oh my! Well, things have finally seemed to calm down a bit in the sporting world, if only for a moment. And with no one subject in particular on my mind, I will take advantage of the oppor tunity to share with you a few random thoughts that are on my mind this week. Western Conference playoff race: With Los Angeles, Houston and Seattle battling it out for the second, third and - ‘VJU1 LU pUJHIUUJ 111 Uic NBA’s Western Confer- I ence, many Portland fans have been dis cussing which team they would like to see in the No. 4 spot against the No. 5 Blazers. The Lakers, some say, because the Blazers have beaten them twice this season and really should uouiuu uxuiu ci uiuu in lie, luaing ui overtime atL.A. Others want Seattle, which has struggled lately as rumors of dissent among the play ers (and Shawn Kemp’s reported problem with alcohol) run rampant. Yet other Blazermaniacs would like Houston, a team Portland has had some suc cess against this season with two victories. The feeling is at least one of the Rockets’ three aging superstars will break down due to injury, making them a vulnerable oppo nent. To me, this is like asking a person whether they would like to swim across a river full of sharks, alligators or piranhas. There might be a slightly better chance against one of the three, but it’s still a pretty difficult task. The best bet for the Blazers is to worry about themselves. If they stay focused, play unselfish and within the team concept, they have enough talent to do some damage against whomever they play. If not, though, their fragile egos and attitudes could take over, leading to disaster and a quick exit from the playoffs. Oregon’s quarterback situation: Word is that Akili Smith, Jason Maas and A.J. Feeley are still evenly battling it out for the starting quarterback job for next year. The coaches have said nobody has stood out above the others through the first two weeks of spring practice. Turn to POND, Page 12 YESTERDAY'S RESULTS NBA Denver.63 Portland.107 Atlanta.92 New York.96 Indiana.90 Washington.103 Milwaukee.85 Detroit.92 Dallas.92 Minnesota.77 Charlotte.108 Boston.102 Philadelphia ... 113 New Jersey_105 Orlando.63 Cleveland.78 Chicago.92 Miami.102 Club crew, footbag teams compete at home ■ CLUB SPORTS: Baseball and women’s lacrosse teams also play in tournaments this weekend Footbag Tournament returns to UO The second annual University of Oregon Footbag Tournament will take place this weekend on the Education Field, behind the Knight Library. The competition will feature two events. Footbag Net is a volleyball-type game played over a five-foot net, and in Footbag Golf, players kick the bag from a hand toss into a hole 18 inches in diameter. Many of the world’s top players will com pete in the tournament, including UO alum nus Kenny Shults and Tricia George. Shults holds over 40 World Footbag titles, and George was the overall champion in 1996. The competition, sponsored by Club Sports, is open to the public. Those interest ed should contact Becca English-Ross at 344-4731. Crew to host sole home meet The Covered Bridge Regatta, Club crew’s only home meet of the season, will be held this weekend in Eugene. Teams expected to participate include Washington State, wiuamette, ana most other programs in the Northwest. Oregon will look to continue its success from the past two weekends, each of which nas leaiureu a nrsi-piace nmsn irom an Oregon boat. Baseball to play in Boardman Tourney Oregon Club baseball travels to Boardman this weekend to participate in the Boardman Tournament against teams from around the Northwest. Staff ace Mike Ross, whose record stands at 4-2, will start Saturday’s game against Central Oregon, which is 22 0. Central leads the season series 6-0, in cluding both of Ross’ losses. On Sunday Chris Corda, who has thrown complete games in each of his last two out ings, will pitch against Eastern Washington and Matt Palaferri or Casey Fox will start against Boise State, against which the Ducks are 3-1 this season. Women’s lacrosse to compete in Washington After a fifth place finish in the Western States tournament over the weekend, the Oregon women’s lacrosse team has its sights set on a three-game sweep Saturday in Walla Walla, Wash. “We are a much stronger team this sea son than we have been in years past,” mid fielder Katie Mehas said. “We need to learn how to win the close games. Our goal this weekend is to put teams away in the second half.” Oregon will battle Pacific Lutheran and Whitman in afternoon games, then finish up against rival Linfield later in the day. — compiled by Jesse Sowa, Rob Moseley and Joel Hood
