Oregon to compete at NCAA indoor finals Coach Martin Smith says the team will compete on its best level at the meet By Allison Ross and Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships start today in Indianapolis, and nine Ducks from the Oregon men’s and women’s teams will be a part of the action. Four Duck men - seniors Greg James and Richard Girvan along with juniors Nat Johnson and Laird Prosser - will make their NCAA debuts, competing in the distance medley relay. Junior Steve Fein, who ran the anchor leg for the 1,600-meter re lay team in the qualifying meet last weekend, was replaced by James so Fein will be fresh for the individual 3,000-meter race, Ore gon head coach Martin Smith said. “Our first goal was to get a team there,” Smith said. “Once that was accomplished we set new goals. We’re not satisfied with just getting there. We have a standard to compete at our best level.” Senior Micah Davis will join Fein in the 3,000-meter race for Davis’ first NCAA indoor compe tition. Davis qualified at the Cy clone Classic on Feb. 6 with a personal-best time of 8 minutes, 3.36 seconds. Also competing for the men will be senior pole vaulter Piotr Buciarski, who is returning to the indoor championships for the third time. Buciarski enters to day’s meet as the top provisional qualifier and seventh overall with a season-best mark of 17 feet, 8 1/2 inches. “A very good starting point for [Buciarski] would be to finish in the top six,” Martin said. “This meet is a good catalyst for the outdoor season.” Competing in Indianapolis for the women’s team are sopho more Karina Elstrom in the pole vault and senior Kaarin Knud son in the mile. Women’s head coach Tom Heinonen said the NCAA Championships will be a positive experience for both Ducks. “Kaarin is a fifth-year senior, so this is her last go-round, and Karina is one of the lead vaulters in the country,” he said. “This is what we’ve been aiming for.” Elstrom, the sixth seed overall, vaulted her best mark of the sea son — 12 feet, 9 1/2 inches — on Jan. 23 at the USA Track and Field Pole Vault Summit. This is Elstrom’s third appearance at the NCAA Championships. “Karina had a lifetime best in her first meet,” Heinonen said. “She hasn’t vaulted well lately, but she’s ready to go.” The NCAA Championships will also be Knudson’s third, and she enters today’s competition ranked ninth out of 17 competi tors. Knudson made her return to the national scene after missing last year’s winter and spring sea sons because of injury. Knudson is in great physical shape, but she says she will have to work harder to focus on the competition today after the death of her grandfather last weekend. Women Continued from Page 11 “Brianne has been in the big games,” Oregon head coach Jody Runge said, “but she had prob lems matching up on defense. Stanford is a very athletic team.” While Oregon struggled on the inside, Stanford’s inside players had their way. Donaphin was seven for seven from the field and collected nine re bounds, six on the defensive end. Sophomore forward Sarah Dimson added 12 points on five of eight from the field. “They came out in the second half and really got after us physi cally,” Runge said. “They got the ball to their big kids, who were able to score or get to the free throw line, and it was tough for us to recover.” COACHES CREW PRIZE NIGHT SATURDAY, MARCH 6 3:05 PM ORE^OKi VS CAL COACHES CREW members, you've worked just as hard as the Oregon players you cheer for. Now It's time to reap your rewards! PRIZES* for Coaches Crew members will be handed out after the Oregon men's last regular season game against Cal Saturday, March 6 at 3:05 pm. GO TO Section 10 after the game with your Coaches Crew Hard Hat. The UO Marketing staff will award prizes according to how many game decals you have collected. Questions, call 346-5417. *Prizes provided by Burger King?Dr. Pepper A Bi-Mart Did you learn to speak Spanish at Home? from relatives? by traveling or living in a Spanish speaking country? You are invited to take Espanol Para Hispanohablantes a course designed for people who learned to speak Spanish but wish to improve their reading and writing skills. Espariol Para Hispanohablantes SPAN 399 - Spring Term CRN 35129 MWF: 12:00- 12:50 Department of Romance Languages A Day with the President I The Lucky Winner is... Alexis Uwagbae Congratulations! You will with University of Oregon Dave Frohnmayer spend Tuesday, April 13th President _ PREFIX AAD 199 BA 199 CH 199 CIS 199 J 199 PHIL 199 PS 199 RUSS 199 Freshman Seminars SPRING 1999 TITLE Customizing the Body Entrepreneurs: For Real? Nuclear Choices, Nuclear Dilemmas Patterns of Problem Solving Silver Shadows, Golden Words Great Outsiders Political Biography Russia Yesterday and Today For more information, see page 75 in the spring UO Schedule of Classes. FRESHMAN SEMINARS 372 Oregon Hall • University of Oregon • 346-1136 freshsem@oregon.uoregon.edu An equal-cppprtunity. affimiatneaclKm institution committed tr cultural diversity and wiiipliancr with the Aumains with Disabilities Act