THURSDAY
Oct.22,1998
©regoaW€merato
Best Bet
College Football
Stanfor at Arizona State
7:00 p.m., Fox Sports NW
Del linger treats
Oregon runners
with respect
There are some people in my life
whom I wish I knew better.
I met one of these people, re
cently. Until this year, however, I
wasn’t even aware of his existence. That is
something 1 deeply regret.
I began to write about the Oregon men’s
cross country team as soon as I joined the
staff of the Oregon Daily
Emerald. I learned this was ——
a team that had finished OPINION
eigntn last season at tne
NCAA Championships, and
that they wanted to make a
run at the title again this
year.
I learned about men’s
head coach, Bill Dellinger. I
naa neara ne naa Deen
coaching the team for the
previous 32 years, but that
he decided last spring that
this season would be his last
I wanted to know what Dellinger’s run
ners thought about their legendary coach.
I wasn’t surprised to learn that each of his
runners described Dellinger as not only a
great coach, but as a good person. Each
player I talked to commented on the
team’s desire to win the national title this
season to commemorate Dellinger’s final
year as coach.
I was sure Dellinger would be embrac
ing this support from his team. But I spoke
with him over the phone on one occasion,
and when I asked him how he felt about
his team’s feelings toward him, his reply
astounded me.
He said he didn’t want the team to win
the title for him. He said that if everybody
was focused on that goal, then they would
lose their focus toward themselves, their
racing, and the team’s.
Last week, I ventured out to Hayward
Field to catch the team during practice.
Until that point, I had never seen coach
Dellinger, not even in a photograph. And I
wasn’t sure what to expect, either.
It took me a long time to find him, but
when I did, I think my understanding of
him — and of the foundation of his team
— grew exponentially. As I waited for
practice to end, I got to see him interact
with his team.
I never saw him get angry or impatient
with his runners. The respect he gave his
runners reminded me of the respect that
existed between a father and his sons.
And make no mistake; Oregon has an
incredible cross-country team. It would
not be exaggerating to say that it does have
a chance at taking the NCAA title.
Maybe Dellinger doesn’t want his
team to focus on him, but I don’t know if
that is possible. This is a man who, in 32
years with Oregon, has captured 19 top
10 NCAA finishes, 15 Pacific-10 Confer
ence championship titles and 5 NCAA
titles.
I could not think of a more perfect trib
ute to Dellinger than his team making one
last run at the title this season.
icon
Peszneeker
Scott Peszneeker covers Oregon cross country
for the Emerald. He can be reached via e
mail at spesznec@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Oregon vs. Southern California
Matt Hankin&Timerald
Senior Tanya Minion, who gives the Ducks depth off the bench, sets the ball tor her teammates against Stanford last Sunday at McArthur Court.
Challenge awaits Oregon volleyball
Marinkovic and Kessy
lead the Ducks against
two ranked opponents
By Allison Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Talk about a challenge.
Oregon volleyball will host two
nationally ranked teams this week
at McArthur Court — No. 11 USC
tonight and No. 25 UCLA on Sun
day.
The Trojans enter tonight's
match second in the Pacific-10
Conference with a 7-2 record, and
a 22-6 all-time record against Ore
gon.
Leading the Trojan attack will be
all-American middle blocker Jas
mina Marinkovic and outside hit
ter Jennifer Kessy. Marinkovic is
fourth in the Pac-10 in hitting per
centage (.346) x
and Iirst on the
USC career
charts in block
assists, second
in total blocks
and solo blocks.
Kessy is second
1 fluff BULL
in tne conference, behind Oregon s
Madeline Ernst, in kills, averaging
5.40 per game.
“Jasmina and Jennifer really
make their team click,” Oregon
head coach Cathy Nelson said. “
We won’t necessarily stop them,
but we need to control them.”
Oregon dropped its first match
with USC on Sept. 27 at the North
Gym. But since then the Ducks
have made changes in the lineup
and know what they need to do
prepare for this potent USC team.
“We’ve played them before so
we know what we have to do to
beat them,” outside hitter Monique
Tobaggi said.
Tobaggi did not start the first
time around, but is scheduled to
start tonight. Since becoming a
starter against Stanford on Oct. 18,
she has complemented Ernst by
Turn to VOLLEYBALL, Page 12
fin tan
WHO: Oregon
vs. No. 11 USC
WHERE;
Mac Court
WHEN:
Tonight at
7 p.m.
Starter at tailback unknown, Bellotti says
This weekend's game could be a
coming-out party for Jerry
Brown, the coach says
By Rob Moseley
Oregon Daily Emerald
Two days before the Ducks face Southern
California at Autzen, Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti is still unsure of just who will
start at tailback.
Junior Reuben Droughns had surgery
Monday to repair the ligament damage and
broken fibula he suffered in last week’s loss
to UCLA. With Herman Ho-Ching and
Kevin Parker also out with injuries, junior
Derien Latimer and sophomores Jason
Cooper and Jerry Brown are left to fight for
the starting nod.
“Reuben didn’t play in two games this
year, and we still ran the ball very well,”
Bellotti said. “Our commitment to the run
ning game is not going to change. Certainly
Reuben is a great running back, but I tend to
think these other guys are not too bad. ”
Latimer is listed as the starter for the time
being, but Cooper, who is third on the team
in rushing this season, and Brown, who has
n’t played since 1996 because of injuries,
are both being seriously considered.
“Jerry Brown, this may be his coming out
party,” Bellotti said. “I’m sure that he’d love
to play because of his ties back there in L.A.
County.”
Brown missed all of last season with a
hamstring tear and has sat out the first six
Oregon
Football Notes
games of this season
with an ankle sprain.
Droughns Update
Speaking of the Pa
cific-10 Conference’s
leading rusher,
Droughns is currently
resting comfortably at
sacred Heart Medical Center alter Monday s
procedure, which went well, according to
Bellotti.
“He is in great spirits,” said Bellotti, who
visited Droughns on Tuesday. “He has so
many visitors, I think they’re taking num
bers outside his room.
“Certainly this whole injury thing and
rehab is tough on anybody. There’s peri
ods of depression that you have to deal
with, when you realize that you’re not
able to play and that you’re missing your
family, which is our football team, but he
was in great spirits."
Bellotti said Droughns, who will probably
miss spring practice while rehabilitating his
damaged right leg, will be at the game on
Saturday.
Other Injuries
Also sidelined against the Trojans will be
Parker and tackle Marco Aguirre, both in
jured against the Bruins.
Parker suffered a severely sprained ankle
and has been wearing a cast this week,
while Aguirre partially tore ligaments in his
right knee and will miss at least four weeks.
On the bright side, two players who have
missed qjajor playing time this season could
return on Saturday. Linebacker Jeff Simp
son is listed as questionable, while defen
sive lineman Zack Freiter, named by Bellot
ti as possibly the strongest player in the
history of the program, should play against
the Trojans.