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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1997)
MONDAY April 21,1997 Emerald OREGON TRACK & FIELD UO men, women win Invitational ■ WOMEN: Ducks defeat three teams in the Pepsi Team Invitational Saturday at Hayward Field By Ben Kwasney Sports Reporter The Oregon women’s track and field team pulled together to overtake three teams in the Pepsi Team Invitational at Hayward Field Saturday. Oregon scored 190 1/2 points to Washing ton State’s 163, Arizona’s 148 1/2 and Indi ana’s 132. “They scrambled, and they scratched for every point,” head coach Tom Heinonen &dlU. 11 Wda d bUUIig tJllUri across the board.” Three weeks ago in Pull man, Wash., the Ducks lost by a point to the Cougars, and this time they wanted to make a siaiemem. “I wanted to win the meet badly. I figured the athletes did too,” Heinonen said. “It seemed like it was our turn.” Even though track is reliant on a series of individual performances, Oregon turned it into a team sport on Saturday. “We’re really competing like a team, and it shows,” distance runner Marie Davis said. The Ducks were off and running early with first- and third-place finishes in the javelin by Karis Howell and Katie Pearmine, re spectively. Jennifer Thomas’ leap of 18-10 3/4 in the long jump edged Arizona’s Dee Dee Buzzi. "I thought we were in pretty good shape right from the start,” Heinonen said. Chris Cvitanich reset the Oregon record in the hammer, which she owned, by throwing 160-11. Cvitanich followed her first-place finish in the hammer with a second-place finish in the shot put. Vicky Fleschner turned in a provisional qualifying mark in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.84 and a second-place finish to Indiana’s Krista Ferrara, who won in 2:06.76. Tish Henes returned to action after a sore hamstring had kept her out of the final day of last week’s heptathlon. Henes raced to a Turn to WOMEN, Page 13 MARK McTYRE/Emerald Oregon freshman Nat Johnson won the long jump at the Pepsi Team Invitational with a leap of 23 feet. Johnson also ran the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay that won in 41.48. ■ MEN: Gregg Bleakney, Nat Johnson and Chris Nelson win infield events to propel the Ducks to the victory By Alex Pond Sports Reporter Right from the start, the Oregon men’s track and field team ran away from the com petition to win the Pepsi Team Invitational on a drizzly Saturday afternoon at Hayward field. The Ducks compiled 206 1/2 points, fol lowed by Washington State in a distant sec ond with 175 1/2 points. Arizona and Indi ana rounded out the field with 148 1/2 and 132 points, respectively. “We like winning,” Ore gon head coach Bill Dellinger said. “It was a good meet to win, and the fact that we’d been beaten two weeks ago by Wash mgton state up mere kind ot evens that score.” The Ducks started the meet off on the right foot, winning the 4xl00-meter relay in 41.48 seconds despite a shaky handoff on the final exchange between Howard Moore and Jody Mortimore. Mortimore recovered in time to hold off Washington State’s Guillermo Macias on the final straightaway to give Oregon the victory. “The 4x100 started us off on the right track,” Dellinger said. “We knew that was going to be a really close race, and we knew if we got some good handoffs we had an op portunity to win it. Then we fouled up one at the end and still won it, so we were lucky — good and lucky.” The Ducks swept the top two positions in the long jump, with freshman Nat Johnson winning the event with a leap of 23 feet. Fel low freshman Howard Moore followed with a 22-3 1/2 jump. “I wasn’t even going to long jump today, so it was a nice surprise,” Johnson said. Senior Chris Nelson got his fourth con secutive win in the high jump, clearing 7-0 1/2 on his final attempt. Oregon kept the winning going in the triple jump, where junior Gregg Bleakney won with a leap of 48-10 3/4. The meet was Turn to MEN, Page 13 Spring time is sports fans’ dream come true OPINION J Ryan Frank s there a better time of year for sports fans? Sunday marked the end of the NBA’s I regular season and the start of the “second JL season.” The weekend of analysis, gurus and predic tions called the NFL Draft took place last week end. The NHL’s real season is now underway as the playoffs began last week. And baseball is now in full swing. And, oh yeah, isn’t this the term when I’m actually supposed to pass 12 credits? With all this stuff going on in the sporting world, how in the hell do my professors think I am going to be able to do that? The Blazers’ win over the Lakers Sunday de nies Los Angeles the Pacific Division title and sends it to a first-round matchup with Portland. The Blazers defeated the Lakers three times in four meetings this season, plus the on-again off-again Blazers are on right now as they won 20 of their final 24. And it should be interesting to see if Chicago Turn to FRANK, Page 12 Three former Ducks go in NFL Draft ■ OREGON: Paul Wiggins was the first former Duck selected with the 82nd overall pick By Ryan Frank Sports Editor Two former Ducks were selected in the third round and another was picked up in the seventh round of the NFL Draft over the weekend. Paul Wiggins and Kenny Wheaton were both taken in the late third round on Satur day, and Tony Graziani was selected in the seventh round on Sunday. Wiggins, a former Oregon offensive tack le, went as the 82nd overall pick to Pitts burgh, and Wheaton, a cornerback at Ore gon last season, was taken by Dallas with the 94th overall pick. Graziani was picked up by Atlanta with the 204th overall pick and third of the sev enth round. Before the draft, many experts ranked Wiggins as the sixth best offensive tackle in the draft, but recent injuries may have scared some scouts away. Wiggins was the eighth tackle chosen in the draft. Wheaton, who left the Ducks after his ju nior season, was thought to be one of the top six comerbacks taken entering the draft. But reported poor showings before NFL scouts may have pushed him back. Wheaton was consistently tested at 4.7 in the 40-yard sprint, which is considered too slow for a comerback by many NFL teams. After suffering a serious knee injury in sec ond game of the 1996 season, Graziani was thought to be questionable for the NFL Draft. But the former Duck said he is now 100 percent healthy and also put on weight after the season to bulk up to 202 pounds, which he said helped his stock. While Graziani said he expected to go in the fourth or fifth round to the Chiefs, who flew the former Duck to Kansas City two weeks ago, he said he is satisfied with his selection. “I’m happy as hell,” Graziani said. The selection reunites Graziani with his former head coach, Rich Brooks. Brooks was hired as the Falcons’ defensive coordinator after he was fired from the Rams’ head coaching job at the conclusion of the 1996 97 season. NFL DRAFT ■ WIGGINS: 82nd overall to Pittsburgh ■ WHEATON: 94th overall to Dallas ■ GRAZIAN1: 204th overall to Atlanta
