Tuesday
June 29,1999
Best Bet
Major League Baseball
Seattle vs. Oakland
7 pm, FoxSports Northwest
USTAF Championships
, . . . ... Scott Bamett/Jartbe Emerald
in her only victory of the meet, Manon Jones crosses the finish line in the 200-meter dash, more than a second ahead of second-place finisher Latasha Jenkins (234).
U.S. stars shine in Eunene
By claiming
the 1,500
and 5,000
titles, Regina
Jacobs is the
only athlete
to win two
events
Qualifiers
M For a complete
listing of World
Championships
qualifiers, see
PAGES
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the second time in a month, Regina Ja
cobs highlighted a big-time track meet at
Hayward Field.
The 35-year-old Jacobs was the only athlete
to successfully double at the U.S. A. Outdoor
Track and Field Championships, the qualify
ing meet for the national team that was held
at Hayward Field during the weekend.
Jacobs won the 1,500 meters impressively
Saturday with a time of 4 minutes, 2.41 sec
onds—six seconds ahead ofthe rest ofthe field
and almost five seconds faster than her mark at
the Prefontaine Classic on May 30, which was
at the time the fastest in the world this year.
Then Sunday, less than 24 hours later, she
won the 5,000 in 15:24.80.
“The double in the 1,500 and 5,000 has
n’t been done before, so everyone saw a little
bit of history today,” Jacobs said. “[The
5,000] was a nice, comfortable pace for me. ”
Jacobs’ double wasn’t shocking, but the
fact that it was the only double of the meet
was a surprise.
Marion Jones, Track and Field News’ ath
lete of the year in 1998, failed to complete the
expected double in the long jump and 200.
Jones easily topped the field in the 200 with
a time of 22.10, beating second-place finisher
Latasha Jenkins of Ball State by more than a
second Sunday. But she wasn’t her untouch
able self Friday in the long jump.
A recent knee injury caused Jones to pass
on two attempts after she’d taken the lead
early in the competition. And that helped
Dawn Burrell claim the national champi
onship, with a leap of 22 feet, 10 inches to
Jones’ 22-3.
Jones said she was disappointed but not
devastated by her second loss in more than 1
1/2 years.
“Anytime you have women who can
Turn to WOMEN, Page 8
The absences
of Michael
Johnson in the
200 and
Maurice
Greene in the
100 steal some
of the luster
from sprint
wins
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Maurice Greene, winner of the 200
meter dash at the U.S.A. Outdoor Track
and Field Championships at Hayward
Field, found himself having to answer
question after question about the absence
of Michael Johnson—who hoi ds the 200
world record — in Sunday’s race.
“I’m not worried about Michael John
son,” Greene said more than once. “I’m
coming out here to run my race. ”
Dennis Mitchell, winner of the 100, had
to answer similar queries about the absence
of world-record holder Greene on Friday.
“I don’t run my races with or without
people,” Mitchell said. “Maurice not be
ing in the race was a choice he made.”
Who wasn’t running garnered as much at
tention as who was at the meet that decided
the members of America’s national team.
Still, American distance-king Bob Kennedy
and newcomer Adam Goucher did race —
and race hard in a thrilling5,000.
Goucher was able to out-kick Kennedy
down the stretch for the national champi
onship on a blustery Friday evening in 13
minutes, 25.59 seconds.
“It gives me a lot of confidence,” Goucher
said. “I know I still have a long way to go, of
course, but I feel like I’m on the right track.”
Kennedy agreed that Goucher is indeed
headed in the right direction and bringing
American distance running with him.
“It’s good to have Americans running
well again, and hopefully minimize that
talk of‘What’s wrong with American dis
tance running?’ ” Kennedy said. “As long
as we keep progressing and getting better
as a group, we’ll be fine.”
The anticipated Greene-Johnson
matchup didn’t happen because Johnson
withdrew due to a right quadriceps in
Turnto MEN, Page 8
Eugene
continues
hot streak
A 6-1 home victory> over Yakima
on Monday night gives the Ems
their fourth win in five games
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
After a disappointing 0-6 start, the Eugene
Emeralds (4-7) are beginning to look like a
decent ballclub.
With their relatively easy 6-1 win against
Yakima (6-4) on Monday evening in front of
a sparse but supportive crowd of 1,602, the
Ems won their second straight game and
fourth out of their last five.
But Eugene isn’t satisfied with its play
just yet.
“You’re happy every time you win,”
Ems manager Danny Sheaffer said. “But
this is a humbling game — you can’t get
too high, you can’t get too low. We still
have a losing record, but we’re gonna be
all right.”
Eugene looked quite all right Monday,
thanks in large part to a
stellar pitching perfor
mance by starter Jeramv
Comer.
The left-hander from
Florida pitched 8 2/3 sol
id innings, giving up only
two hits while striking out two.
“He did a hell of a job,” second baseman
Mike Dzurilla said. “You can’t ask for any
thing better than that. That’s great for a
starter, and we got good relieving. And,
well, that wins the ballgame.”
Gomer was replaced in the eighth inning
by Jamie Eppendeder, who retired the four
batters he faced in order.
Offensively, the Ems didn’t go as quietly.
Dzurilla’s line-drive double down the
third-base line in the fifth inning cleared
the loaded bases and broke the game
open.
“I was looking middle-in,” Dzurilla said.
“He was throwing in all day, and I just got
the barrel on the ball, and it went down the
line.”
Dzurilla’s hit put Eugene up 4-1, giving it
a lead that it would not relinquish.
The Ems put some insurance runs on the
board, too — a relief after they’d rallied only
to lose by narrow margins in all but one of
their first six defeats.
Kevin Bass provided some more offense,
hitting a two-run double in the sixth on a
drive that also found the left-field comer. Ed
Marquez continued his recent hot streak
with a run-scoring single in the fifth inning.
“The past few days we’ve been playing
good ball,” Dzurilla said. “It’s easy when it’s
going good, and you can get a couple wins
under your belt.
“All we’ve gotta do is keep hitting the
ball, pitching and playing good defense.”
The Ems, who’ve characteristically strug
gled with their defense through their 11/2
weeks of the season, only committed one er
ror Monday. It was charged to shortstop Jim
Deschaine, who now has nine through 11
games.
But Eugene did benefit from some defen
sive gems as well, including a running,
shoe-string catch by right fielder Jeff Ryan in
the seventh inning.
Together, plays like Ryan’s and De
shaine’s signal the Ems’ early-season im
provement and the significant amount of
work that remains to be done, Sheaffer said.
“We’re gonna be fine,” he said. “This
team plays hard. It’s just a matter of getting
these guys to play together right now.”