Navarro
Continued from Page 7
way I am. I believe that talk is
cheap, so I just try to do my best. If
guys look at me doing my best
then they’re going to try to do the
same. I try to lead by example.”
The correlation between the rise
of Oregon tennis and Navarro’s
participation in the program is ev
ident to those involved.
“We do think of him [as a
leader] because he is our captain,”
Carter says. “He’s a very cool guy,
and a hard worker. ”
Navarro, who has a career sin
gles record of 27-61, thrives on
working hard. In the past three
years, Russell can’t remember
him missing a practice, and he
consistently requests additional
workouts beyond the 20-plus
hours a week that he and this
teammates usually spend on the
court.
“I just like to concentrate on
what I’m doing at the moment,”
Navarro says. “If I’m on the court,
I’m concentrating on playing ten
nis and doing what the coaches
ask me. If I’m studying I really con
centrate on that. You always have
to focus.”
(( With a lot of captains,
you hope that they can
carry the torch but also
light the flame, and he’s
done that. >>
Chris Russel
Men’s tennis coach
Navarro’s focus extends well
beyond athletics. This spring
he’ll graduate with a double ma
jor in business and economics,
and he’s one class away from
completing the International
Business Communications Pro
gram, which has given him the
opportunity to interact with peo
ple from all over the world. He’s
been a constant fixture on the stu
dent athletes honor roll, currently
holding a cumulative 3.38 GPA,
which he hopes will be high
enough to get him into a good
graduate school.
"He’s really an outstanding stu
dent, very motivated and tremen
dously academically successful,”
says Jeanne Wagenknecht, a pro
fessor who taught one of Navarro’s
business classes. “It’s always nice
to find out that a student is gifted
in lots of different ways. ”
One of Navarro’s gifts is his
presence, which is as apparent in
class as it is on the court. In a
course of more than 100 students,
his former professor says Navarro
stood out.
“I teach really large classes, but
there’s always about a dozen stu
dents that you can clearly see are
getting the material,” Wa
genknecht says. “They’re connect
ing with what’s going on. ”
Because Russell so appreciates
his captain, he realizes how much
he’ll miss him when he graduates
and begins his pursuit of a masters
degree in either ecomonics or
business.
“His presence will stay with us
for a long time,” Russell says.
“With a lot of captains, you hope
that they can carry the torch but
also light the flame, and he’s done
that. He’s the kind of guy who, if
you had kids, you’d want them to
grow up like him.”
Nick Medley/Emeraki
Navarro competed in the Davis Cup for his native Boliva in 1995.
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Pesznecker
Continued from Page 7
a great understatement.
There was no way to know that Steve Fein,
an all-American transfer from Wisconsin,
would follow Wisconsin head coach Martin
Smith to Oregon. In both of his appearances,
he has been Oregon’s second runner.
Combine Fein with all-American Matthew
Davis and you have two runners who are
guaranteed to finish near the top.
Yes, this Oregon team has a ton of poten
tial. As the season has progressed, they have
only gotten better. The NCAA Champi
onships, held in Lawrence, Kan., will be the
perfect indication of just how good they are.
First, they must compete at the West Re
gional Competition in on Saturday in Fresno,
Calif. There are many sports, basketball
comes to my mind first, in which a team can
play poorly, but win on the shoulders of one
teammate who plays well.
That is not the case for cross country. It is
possible for a runner to finish a meet in first
place while his team finishes near the bottom.
If the Ducks are to place well, each of the
seven runners must run well. But they have
done this in the past and with all the prepar
ing they have been doing in the past couple of
weeks, there is no reason why they should
not do it again.
Now all they need is a little bit of luck.
Scott Pesznecker is a sports reporter for the Emerald.
Basketball
Continued from Page 7
guard,” Kent said. “So they’re all
going to bring something to the
table and they’re all going to com
pliment each other very well. ”
One Duck who won’t be appear
ing against the Blues, or any other
opponent until December, is for
ward Flo Hartenstein. The sopho
more from Thurston was suspend
ed by Kent for sub-par academic
performance.
Kent said the 7-foot-2 Christof
fersen would help fill the void left
by Hartenstein’s absence.
“Christoffersen has really come
a long way since the first day he set
foot on campus,” Kent said. “He’s
come just huge, huge steps for
ward in terms of his development,
and that’s been nice to see because
he’s somebody that we’ll certainly
put into the rotation now, particu
larly with Flo being out for the first
five ball games.”
Christoffersen joins Jones as the
two freshman in a recruiting class
that was recently ranked one of the
top 15 in the country by The Hoop
scoop, a national recruiting service.
Jones, a two-time state player of
the year at Gresham’s Barlow High
School, averaged 29.9 points, 8.1
rebounds and four assists per
game as a senior.
“There is a lot of hype, and
what I’m going to do is not put
any additional pressure on him,
because he is a great player, and
he’s going to be a very, very good
player at this level,” Kent said.
"But he has to go through an ad
justment just like everybody else
does when you come from high
school to this level.”
Also coming off the bench will
be forward Donte Quinine, one of
the Ducks’ top defenders, who
traveled to Africa in July to play
with Athletes in Action.
Oregon began its schedule in sim
ilar fashion last season by beating
Australia’s Outback All-Stars 85-76
in a game that featured 48 fouls.
It 11 probably be a physical
game because they will be a team
that, on this road trip alone, has
probably gotten seven or eight
games beneath their belt before
they play us,” Kei: t said.
The Blues began their tour of the
country with a 125-68 loss to Gon
zaga on Nov. 2. Frankston has sub
sequently lost to Idaho, Montana
State and Idaho State, with its one
win coming against Montana Tech.
The Ducks’ second exhibition,
against Global Sports, was moved
from Sunday afternoon to Monday
at 7:05 p.m. to accommodate the
football team’s banquet. Oregon’s
Pac-10 schedule begins Jan. 2 at
California, with the conference
home opener against Southern
California on Jan. 7.
Nick Meiiley/Emenild
Forward A.D. Smith tries to put the ball up to the hoop against Washington on Jan. 15.
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