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Sports
Friday
April 14,2000
Volume 101, Issue 131
Emerald
Ducks chase the NCAA marks at SAC
Sophomore Thomas Schneiter’s strong play this season has had a lot to do with his team's newfound success; the Ducks hope for more of the same today.
Preps,
collegians and
superstars
continue their
annual assault
in Walnut,
Calif., at the
prestigious
Mount SAC
Relays
By Scott Peznecker and Mirjam
Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Jermaine Hanspard won’t be
competing at the Mount San
Antonio College Relays.
“Negative,” said the Oregon
sprinter as he left football prac
tice Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the senior
must stay in Eugene to play in
Saturday’s football scrimmage
even though he said he would
rather travel with the Oregon
track and field team, because
Mount SAC is “the biggest track
meet of the season ... it’s where
all the competition is.”
He’s right.
The relays, held annually in
Walnut, Calif., host 26 collegiate
teams and six international
teams. Because of the high level
of competition at the meet, it is
a place where many athletes
earn NCAA-qualifying marks.
Oregon should be familiar
with many of its competitors.
Just last week,
the Ducks
faced Stanford,
Colorado, Col
orado State
and Air Force
at the Hayward
Relays. Each of those teams will
also be in Walnut.
The men compete exclusive
ly at the relays. However, most
of the women will split paths
and compete in other area
meets, the Pomona Pitzer Invita
tional and possibly the Long
Beach State Invitational.
Distance runner Steve Fein
has not fully recovered from ill
ness and is questionable to com
pete at Mount SAC. Represent
ing Oregon in the distances will
be seniors Andrew Bliss and
Todd Humcke, and sophomore
Adam Bergquist.
Sophomore Santiago Loren
zo, who received Pacific-10
Conference Men’s Field Athlete
of the Week honors for his third
place finish at the Texas Relays
decathlon, plans to compete in
the 4x400-meter relay.
“I don’t like the 400-meter
dash — but the relay is differ
ent,” Lorenzo said. “It’s like a
group event, I really like run
ning that. I use it as part of a
workout because decathlon is
pretty long. When I don’t do the
decathlon, I try to do as many
events as I can,”
Decathlon coach Bill Lawson
said a break from multi-event
competitions will give Lorenzo
a chance to recover for later in
the season.
“I think Santiago, provided he
stays healthy going into the Pac
10 meet, if we rest him and train
him correctly, should be able to
score a little bit more and he has
a real chance at being Pac-10
Champion,” Lawson said.
The spotlight on Mount SAC
is usually focused on the track,
but the success of Oregon’s
jumpers could draw attention to
the field.
Foluso Akinradewo, one of
the Ducks’ youngest talents,
Turn to Track, page 10
Last year
we learned
how to mini
mize the chaos
and maximize
the perform
ances. yy
UO head coach
Ducks aim for their third straight upset in Pac-10
Sophomore Thomas Schneiter’s strong play this season has had a lot to do with his team’s newfound success; the Ducks
hope for more of the same today.
■ The Oregon women wrap up the regular season in Southern
California while the men hope to secure an NCAA bid
By Robbie McCallum
for the Emerald
Just as the men’s tennis team cleared one major Pa
cific-10 Conference hurdle, another larger hurdle ap
pears on the horizon.
After earning their first Pac-10 win in five years, the
Ducks still need one more Pac-10 win
to be considered for the NCAA tour
nament in May. A win will not come
easy, as it’s No. 2 UCLA and No. 19
Southern California coming to Eugene
this weekend.
The No. 55 Ducks, winners’of eight
of their last ten matches, has momen
tum on their side. Last weekend, head coach Chris Rus
sell earned his first two Pac-10 wins ever as the Ducks
upset Arizona and Arizona State.
“It will be an exciting weekend of tennis,” Russell
said. “[The LA schools] will not take us lightly. They
know we can win at a higher level.”
The Los Angeles schools will provide a much
tougher challenge for the Ducks. UCLA is 17-3 on the
Turn to Tennis, page 12
What; Men’s
tennis
Who; No. 2
UCLA vs. Ore
gon
When; 1:30
p.m.
Where: Eugene
Swim and
Tennis Club
(or at the 15th
Avenue courts,
on account of
pleasant weath
er)