Scott Barnett Emerald
With Monique Tobbagi beset by injuries, Gilmore has had extended action.
Gilmore
Continued from Page7A
or get a side out.”
Before she could enjoy her pos
sibly brief role as a starter,
Gilmore’s presence on the court
suddenly became a necessity.
Tobbagi, the Ducks’ undisputed
offensive leader, was sidelined
with a stress fracture after the Cali
fornia match. Now, Gilmore had a
huge responsibility to her team.
“You’ve got to fill some big
shoes,” Gilmore said. “[Tobbagi]
was doing pretty well last year,
and she was doing good this year.
You’ve got to go in and somewhat
make up for what you lost. There
is a little pressure.”
Gilmore started every match ex
cept one during Tobbagi’s ab
sence.
Her progress can be seen in the
box scores. Against UCLA on Oct.
15, Gilmore had an all-around
match with six kills and six digs
— a big improvement from her
first start against the Golden Bears.
Nelson saw a Pac-10-quality
player from the moment she began
recruiting Gilmore last February.
Gilmore had played in a recre
ational league as a high school
freshman, along with joining the
Bingham High School squad. She
played volleyball in high school
all four years and basketball until
she was a junior. As a senior,
Gilmore put herself in the recruit
ing spotlight by joining the High
Cross country
Continued from Page 7A
ity to be able to secure a top-four or top-live spot,”
Smith said. "If we’re able to get appropriate placing
at this district meet, then we’ll be fine.”
If the Ducks were to finish fourth in a region, they
may not be selected for an at-large berth before a
third-place team from the same region, but they can
be selected before a third-place team from a different
region.
Got all that?
There’s more. Also coming into play is the num
ber of wins the Oregon teams have against the 18 au
tomatic qualifiers from the final weekend of Septem
ber to the regional meet. Another important factor is
the amount of wins the Ducks have against teams
that are also being considered for at-large berths.
The NCAA committee compares each at-large con
tending team’s record against common opponents of
other “bubble” teams from the end of September
through the regional meet.
An imperfect system indeed, but it does seem to
keep most of the coaches happy.
“I have no problems with the system,” Smith said.
“There seems to be less controversy in the process,
and it makes good sense. It does make a point of get
ting the best of the teams in the nation, and that’s
where we hope to be.”
Women’s head coach Tom Heinonen summarized
the process best.
“The procedure is kind of screwed up, but that’s
just the way the sport is,” Heinonen said. “We just
don’t want to be on the outside looking in.”
In the polls...
Following their performances at the Pac-10 Cham
pionships last Saturday, both the men’s and
women’s teams remained ranked in the top 25 in the
nation. The men, sparked by a third-place overall fin
ish, moved up one spot to No. 11. As for the women,
a sixth-place finish dropped them two places and
has them clinging onto the final spot at No. 25.
Sports brief
Rangers vie for championship
Ten cadets from the Oregon
Club Sports ROTC ranger chal
lenge team head for the regional
championships at Western Ore
gon on Nov. 6.
“We have a legitimate chance to
place first in each event,” team
captain Shawn Dodger said. “I
know we’ve improved from last
year.”
Teams compete in 10 military
events — all in full uniform —
ranging from suspension bridge
construction to weapon assembly
and disassembly to 10K running.
Every team member’s perfor
mance counts in each team’s total.
“You push yourself harder be
005330
cause you don’t want to let your
team down,” said Oregon cadet
Don Bryant from Anchorage, Alas
ka.
A group of 20 cadets has prac
ticed at 6:45 a.m. all term, duking
it out to decide the 10 best most
qualified for the team, Dodger
said.
Inge McMMen
Country volleyball club in Salt
Lake City.
Nelson was so eager to have
Gilmore that the recruitment
process was finished in about two
weeks.
“I saw great potential in her, and
I still see great potential,” Nelson
said. “She hasn’t even played a lot,
and she still knows a lot about the
game. I think Heather Gilmore
will be a great Pac-10 player.
“She’s a good instinctive play
er. She’s got a good court presence.
She brings a lot to us that we need
to have out there on the floor.”
Gilmore is battling a shoulder
injury that could hold her out of
the Ducks’ home match against
Oregon State on Friday. But with
Tobbagi now experiencing stress
fracture symptoms in her other
leg, Gilmore may again be called
upon to be an offensive threat.
That shouldn’t surprise
Gilmore.
From that day back in Salt Lake
City when her friends challenged
her to that first volleyball game to
her first season match against
Stanford when she squared up
against state-rival Logan Tom,
Gilmore has been all about rising
to the challenge.
“I’ve been playing right side, left
side, I played for Mo while she’s
been injured, so it’s been switched
around,” Gilmore said. “I’ve had
more responsibilities sometimes,
but not as many other times.
“You always think you can do a
little better, but I don’t have a lot
of experience. I just want to try to
improve and stay confident, and
perform my role on the team.”
1007861
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Environmental stewardship for a new millennium
Proclaim Jubilee! Restore Humanity to the Earth!
Dr. Richard Cartwright Austin, environmental theologian, farmer and author
Novembers, 1999 7 to 9 p.m.
Central Presbyterian Church, 1475 Ferry
Cost: $5 for students and seniors; S10 regular. Scholarships available
INEC’s “A Place at the Table” Conference
Nov. 6 am (13th and Pearl)
Nov. 7 at 1:30 pm Newman Center (1850 Emerald)
Sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns
For more information call INEC at503-244-8318 or see www.emoregon.org
007881
YOU cnn HELP!
Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive,
degenerative disease that attacks the brain
and results in impaired memory, thinking
l!iH§
Help Sigma Kappa Sorority in funding
the fight against Alzheimer's Disease.
Buy a lollipop in front of the bookstore
on Nov 4 & 5.
Information presented by
Sigma Kappa Sorority for
Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.
The Oregon Humanities Center presents:
The Fourth Annual
Luther S. and Dorothy Cecelia Cressman Lecture
in the Humanities
Tsianina Lomawaima
• Professor, American Indian Studies
University of Arizona
in a lecture entitled
“Education By Indians vs. Education For Indians:
Native Responses to Boarding Schools”
Thursday, November 4, 1999
7:00 p.m. 175 Knight Law Center
15th Avenue and Agate Street
Lecture is free and open to the public. Reception, book signing, and book sale will follow in
the Museum of Natural History, 1680 E. 15th St. For more information or disability accom
modations, call the Oregon Humanities Center at 346-3934.