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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1998)
mm BEST BETS NBA Playoffs Neu[ York at Indiana, TNT(27), 4p.m. Emerald Ben Crane, ivbo qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual in 1997, hopes his teammates will join him for a return trip By Tim Pyle Sports Reporter Ben Crane lias been to the promised land of collegiate golf. He embarked on the trip that all college golfers dream of to top their seasons. He earned the right to battle the best for a chance at a national championship — albeit an individual national title. Crane’s teammates on the Oregon men’s golf team were not able to join him in enjoying the view from the pinnacle of college golf that is the NCAA Championships. Oregon was eliminated a step before Crane. While he birdied the final hole at the 1997 NCAA West Regional in Santee, Calif., to tie for 16th and capture one of two individual berths at the championships, the Ducks finished tied for 12th and missed the nationals cut. That individual accomplishment is considered perhaps the biggest highlight thus far in a stellar career on the Oregon men’s golf team by both Crane and head coach Steve Nosier. “That was a great moment for me," Crane says. “There’s been a lot of them, but I look at that as just as good as any.” Many of those other prominent achievements have occurred this season for Crane, who is ranked No. 61 in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. Turn to CRANE, Page 16 EMERALC Career highlights ■ 1997-98: Eight top 20 finishes in 12 tournaments... | Named second f team All-Pac 10...Tied for first at Pacific Invitational ■11996-97: Tied for 16th at West Regional | to earn individ- j ual berth to the NCMChampi- I onships Crane, shown here at the 1997 Pac-10 Championships, looks to help the Ducks secure a nationals berth with a strong showing at the West Regional. Ihe regional begins Thursday in Tempe, Ariz. NICK MEDLEY/Emerald Jennie Cook will need to come through at the plate and on the mound Friday as she will start against Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Hawkeyes up first for Ducks Iowa ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten in home rims and RBIs but beat No. 2 Michigan to finish the regular season By Joel Hood Sports Reporter It must have been quite a scene. Nearly two dozen softball players ner vously huddled around each other Sunday night waiting for the announcement that would decide their postseason fate. The place: a small sports bar adjacent to the Stanford campus. The mood: "hysterical." It was fortunate for the Oregon softball team that the announcement came quickly. There were no injuries to report — just a lot of screaming. Oregon matches up with Iowa on Friday in Lincoln, Neb., to kick off the opening round of the NCAA’s 32-team postseason tournament, but that’s where the similari ties between these two teams end. The Hawkeyes (37-18 overall, 14-9 Big Ten Conference) finished third overall in the Big Ten but finished the regular season strong by beating No. 2 Michigan and secur ing second place in the Big Ten Tourna ment. The Ducks finished their regular sea son with five straight Pacific-10 Conference SOFTBALL losses and just two wins in their last eight games. Oregon ranked second in the Pao-10 — arguably the most prolific scoring conference in the country — in team batting for nearly the entire season. Iowa s power numbers ranked near the bot tom of the Big Ten standings with just 14 combined home runs and just 143 runs bat ted in. In their 38 victories this season, the Ducks outscored their opponents by an av erage of 4.5 runs per game. By contrast, 22 Turn to NCAAS, Page 12 Saraceno battles back from bicycle accident to win triathlon Matt Saraceno will compete in the World Championships in Switzerland on the road to the Sydney Olympics By Eric Collins Freelance Sports Reporter Rolling swiftly down the cold morning streets of downtown Portland on an over cast, drizzly December day in 1995, his mind wandered as he pedaled his bike to work in 1995. With the go-ahead green light, he monot onously spun through another intersection like a million times before. But an armored truck didn’t stop for the red light this time. Matt Saraceno, an Ore gon senior triathlete, was no match for the monster that tossed him about 40 feet across the intersection. Bloody and broken, fading in and out of consciousness, the dis tinct taste of oil from the pavement in his mouth, an emergency vehicle whisked him to the hospital. Saraceno remembers think nig in nuuseu, louay is a horrible day to die.” Despite the broken ribs and wrist, concus sion and collapsed lung, Saraceno lived. I he accident left no damage to his spine or legs. It would take much more to kill the competitive nature of this triathlete. He had competed in some form of run ning, swimming or bike racing since he was 16. Without'the daily tests of his body, Saraceno knew he would go crazy. Six months after the crash he was training again. By the end of 1996, he was back to full strength. The biggest leap came in the spring of 1997, back at his first triathlon in years, the men’s Collegiate National Triathlon Cham pionships. Expecting little, Saraceno came across the finish line in fifth place, unable to believe his progress. Devoting the next year to the 1998 colle giate championships, Saraceno wanted nothing short of first place. Last weekend, he got his wish. With a late kick, he easily cruised past his final challenger in the six-mile nin, fin Turn to TRIATHLETE, Page 12 SARACENO
