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Sports
Emerald
UO ready for spring finale
Kevin Parker has emerged as
the No. 1 tailback, while Jed
Weaver leads all tight ends
By Alex Pond
Sports Editor
Several questions have been answered
for the Ducks already this spring.
The Oregon football team hopes those
questions that haven’t been answered
will be when the Ducks travel to Keiser
for the team’s annual Spring Game on
Saturday.
The scrimmage, scheduled for 1 p.m.
at Volcano Stadium, will be the Ducks’
final spring workout.
Heading into practices a month ago,
the main holes head coach Mike Bellotti
was looking to fill were at tailback, full
back, tight end, the defensive line and in
the kicking game.
Bellotti said senior Kevin Parker has
emerged as No. 1 on the depth chart at
tailback, and it will be interesting to see
who stands out at fullback Saturday.
Chad Chance and Chris Young are cur
rently battling for the top spot going into
the fall.
“[They] have sort of elevated them
SPRING
FDOTBAU
selves with their play,"
Bellotti said, “but I
think they still need a
lot of work."
Parker said he hopes
to further solidify his
starting role with a
strong performance in
me scrimmage.
“Going into the spring game, I’m just
looking to put up some nice numbers be
cause in [three previous informal] scrim
mages, we haven’t been running the ball
that much,” he said. “Hopefully, I can
show myself out there.”
Parker has been battling illness this
week but said he will play.
At tight end, Jed Weaver is firmly
locked into the No. 1 spot. The battle to
watch for Saturday, Bellotti said, is be
tween freshmen Danny Pulido and Justin
Peelle, who are the top candidates for the
second tight end position.
Bellotti said he’ll be closely watching
the defensive line during the scrimmage,
although many of the questions he had
in that area have been answered.
Turn to DUCKS, Page 13A
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Jason Maas will look to earn the top spot on the depth chart during the Ducks’ an
nual Spring Game Saturday afternoon at Keiser’s Volcano Stadium.
UCLA first up
in critical
homestand
Head coach Rick Gamez says
Oregon must do a better job
on routine plays against UCLA
and No. 4 UW this weekend
By Joel Hood
Sports Reporter
It’s no surprise that the Oregon softball
team’s final homestand is also its most im
portant. With just eight games remaining in
the regular season, the Ducks are likely just
a few wins away from nailing down their
first postseason berth since 1994.
Oregon can take a giant step toward that
goal this weekend when it hosts UCLA in a
doubleheader matchup at Howe Field on
Saturday and No. 4 Washington for two
games on Sunday. Both games will start at 1
p.m.
“Obviously, this is a big weekend for this
team,” Gamez said. “We’re going to have to
do a better job for our pitchers. We need to
make the routine plays on defense and
make plays all the way around. The offense
should take care of itself.” _
t nat onense ranks sec
ond in the Pacific-10 Con
ference with a .298 team
batting average and has
gotten Oregon’s defense
out of jams much of the
season.
SOFTBALL
However, against the Huskies on April
19, the powerful Ducks’ lineup could pro
duce only five hits and one run in two
games against Washington’s pitching.
Washington’s Jaime Graves, who was an all
American last season, leads the Pac-10 with
a .072 earned run average and is holding op
ponents to just a .188 average at the plate.
Graves’ teammate, Jennifer Spediacci,
ranks second in the conference in ERA
(1.00) and leads the Huskies with 131 strike
outs — an average of nearly seven for every
seven innings of work.
To counter Washington’s superior pitch
ing, Oregon (36-23 overall, 8-12 Pac-10) will
try to stay aggressive on the base paths,
Gamez said, and continue to make good de
cisions at the plate.
Against Oregon State on Wednesday, the
Ducks drew five walks in a critical 7-1 Game
Turn to UO, Page 12A
Oregon men, women set sights on individual performances
The lack of
team
competition
will allow the
men to work
on NCAA
qualifying
marks by
competing
in their
primary
events only
By Alex Pond
Sports Editor
With the season beginning its stretch
run, the Oregon men’s track and field team
will concentrate on posting qualifying
marks for the NCAA Championships dur
ing the Oregon Invitational this weekend at
Hayward Field.
The meet officially gets underway
tonight with the men’s and women’s
10,000 meters, which begin at 7:15. The
rest of the meet is scheduled for Saturday,
however, and is divided into two sessions.
The day session gets underway at 10:15
a.m., and the twilight session, featuring the
elite athletes, will begin at 3:40 p.m. with
the men’s javelin. The first running event
of Saturday’s evening session is set for 5
p.m.
As Oregon athletes begin to set their
sights on the Pac-lOs (May 23-24) and the
NCAAs (June 3-6), the Ducks’ focus this
weekend is much different than in the past
two meets at Hayward Field — a dual meet
with Washington State on April 4 and the
Pepsi Team Invitational on April 18.
The Ducks’ attention will shift from the
team to the individual, Oregon head coach
Turn to MEN, Page 11A
NICK MEDLEY/Emerald
Karina Elstrom, Oregon’s record holder
in the pole vault, willface some stiff com
petition this weekend.
Oregon’s Marie
Davis will
compete in a
3,000 meter
field that
includes
former
Olympian
Vicki Huber
By Rob Moseley
Sports Reporter
This weekend’s Oregon Invitational
means different things to different athletes
on the Oregon women’s track and field
squad.
For sprinter Nicole Commissiong and
hurdler Tish Henes, it’s a chance to work
on their speed at shorter-than-usual dis
tances. For Marie Davis, the 24-team meet
is an opportunity to run 3,000 meters
against some of the country’s top competi
tion.
Heinonen said Davis should benefit be
cause there is a lack of team competition,
and therefore no need for standouts to com
pete in multiple events.
“It’s an opportunity for really good com
petition in the 3,000,” the coach said of a
field that will include former Olympian
Vicki Huber. “If that means leading the
whole way, this is the time; there’s no team
score.”
The two-day event begins today with the
men’s and women’s 10,000, then continues
Saturday with two sessions. The morning
session will feature mostly qualifying heats
but will include some finals.
Turn to WOMEN, Page 12A