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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2000)
Ducks venture into great outdoors ■ Both track teams kick off their 2000 outdoor seasons at the Oregon Preview Saturday By Robbie McCallum for the Emerald The many newcomers on the Oregon track and field team will get their first taste of outdoor com petition Saturday at the annual Oregon Preview. In all, 18 women and nine men will compete out side for the first time in a Duck jer sey. The meet will be the first out doors for the entire Duck squad, which recently wrapped up its in door season on Feb. 25 at the Mountain Pacific Championships. The Preview is “a stepping stone in the development of the Track and Field season,” men’s head coach Martin Smith said. “It’s really just a get-the-kinks-out type of meet.” This weekend’s meet at Hay ward Field will be non-scoring and will host college teams from around Oregon. Leading the Oregon newcomers are two freshmen distance run ners, Jason Hartmann and Amy Nickerson. Nickerson led the women’s cross country team this fall, while Hartmann was third among true freshman at the NCAA Cross Country meet. Other freshmen expected to con tribute early are Mary Etter and Doug Sells in the throws, Foluso Akindarewo and Jenny Brogdon in the jumps and Tara Struyk and Kris Martin in the middle distances. Several athletes who redshirted in 1998-99 will return to action this spring, giving the Ducks a ma jor boost. Returning Saturday are senior distance runners Andrew Bliss, Adam Bergquist and Laird Prosser and sophomore pole vaulter Cody Howell. Senior Steve Feine returns for the men. Coming off of a third place finish at the NCAA Cross Country meet and a strong show ing at the USA Cross Country Championships, the senior trans fer is ready to lead the long dis tance corps. Also returning for the Ducks is junior Kyley Johnson. He won the Pacific-10 Conference high jump title as a freshman and has a life time personal best 7 feet, 1/2 inch. The Grants Pass native had a strong indoor season, coming within one inch of his PR at the Iowa State Classic. Joining Johnson in the high jump is sophomore-transfer Jason Bonnes. Bonnes did not compete during the indoor season but will contribute early with a lifetime PR of 7-4 1/2. Seniors Nat Johnson, Howard Moore and Jermaine Hanspard lead the sprinting crew. Freshman football players Samie Parker and Ric Cottengim will also aide in the 100 and 200 meters. Sophomore John Bello looks to get back on track after a strong in door season. The former football player put an indoor PR of 57-7 1/2 inches at the Mountain Pacific Championships, surpassing his outdoor PR of 53-1. Juniors Rian Ingrim and Ryan Keith and fresh man Adam Kriz also return. For the women, seniors Katie Crabb and Hilary Holly provide leadership and ability. Crabb leads the middle distance runners while Holly has the best mark of any Duck in the long and triple jumps. Although Oregon will be with out All-American sophomore Nikki Reed, who is competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the pole vault, it will have jun iors Karina Elstrom and Holly Speight. — poppiV— _/4narfolia. ‘The Land East' c__ Traditional [ ''I Greek & Indian Food Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 Make a difference. Recycle this paper! All-American runner might transfer to UO ■ Hanna Smedstad visited the campus last Friday and met with Oregon coaches By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Oklahoma State’s Hanna Smedstad, a three-time All American distance runner, said Thursday that she might transfer to Oregon to study psychology in graduate school. The Sundsvall, Sweden, na tive would join the Ducks in time for the cross country season this fall. Smedstad visited the Oregon campus last Friday, where she met with women’s track and field head coach Tom Heinonen and some members of the team. Smedstad said she was pleased with Eugene and the campus. “It was nice, I liked it,” Smed stad said. “I’ve met quite a few [people on the team]. I went to eat with some of them, and then I met a few of them on the track, too.” Smedstad never lost a regular season race during the 1999 cross country season. In the 1999 Outdoor Big-12 Conference Championships, Smedstad fin ished fifth in the 3,000 meters and ninth in the 5,000. If Smedstad transfers, she will be the Ducks’ most-seasoned runner. “If I can be a leader, that would be good,” Smedstad said. Transferring “depends on many different things, so I’m not sure. If I transfer, I’ll probably go to Oregon.” The senior was the Cowgirls’ lone representative of the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Champi onships, where her 18th-place finish in 17 minutes, 13.90 sec onds, resulted in her third All American honor. At the 1999 NCAA Indoors, Smedstad placed 11th in the 3,000 and won her second All American honors as the anchor for Oklahoma State’s eighth place distance medley team. Smedstad’s first All-American season in 1998 was capped with a 28th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Used all of your favorite DUCK BUCKS'! Come up and get more. Stop by the ODE offices, Suite 300, EMU. We've got it covered. Click on Oregon Live for statewide college basketball coverage • Season preview, fan polls and more • Game schedules and rosters for men's and womens teams • Game day previews and photo coverage • Forums and live chats • News and archives from The Oregonian Plus check us out for: • Prep, college and pro sports • Concert, dining and movie guides • Build a free Web site for your team or group Oregon/ive www.oregon/zVe.com Click on Sports at - # www.'oregon/zi/e.com %in alliance with (OlTgOUUlU
