Best Bet
NBA Playoffs,
Seattle vs. Utah
7:30 p.m., TBS
Monday
April 24,2000
Volume 101, Issue 137
Kmerakl
Oregon refuses to bow
down at Hayward
Kevin Calame Emerald
Ross Krempley leans across the finish line to edge Geoff Perry for the win in the 800 meters.
■ It comes down the last
race, but men’s track and
field team just misses
upsetting the Huskies
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon had the Huskies right
where it wanted them.
Down 80-78 at Saturday’s Ore
gon-Washington Dual, a win in
the final event—the 4x400-meter
relay — would mean victory for
the Ducks. The 4x400 is arguably
the Ducks’ strongest track event.
On paper, they held a four-second
advantage over their opponent.
It seemed as though Oregon
had the better deck and was
about to win the pot.
But in the final moments, Wash
ington played its trump card.
Ja’Warren Hooker anchored
the Huskies’ 4x400 relay team,
streaking across the finish line in
a time of 3 minutes, 11.21 sec
onds and winning the meet 85-78
in front of 2,083 fans.
“We weren’t really sure what
the points were until they an
nounced it, and then at first I was
n’t going to run. Our guys ran good
and gave me the stick with a big
lead, so I didn’t have to run hard.
“The guys ran good today, ran
really good, so I give all the praise
to them. They helped me through
this one, it wasn’t me.”
After the meet, Oregon head
coach Martin Smith said it was
one the Ducks wanted to win. He
said he hadn’t made any predic
Turn toTracksters, page 16
Kevin Calame Emerald
Versatile senior Hilary Holly helps Oregon beat the Dawgs by taking the long jump and the triple jump.
■The women’s track team
surprises the favored
Huskies with a compelling
80-74 win Saturday
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
If you’re gonna have just one
dual meet in a season, it might
as well be one against your re
gional rival. One with all sorts
of historical baggage.
And if you’re gonna win one
such dual meet, you might as
well win the thing in a most sat
isfying, convincing fashion.
With 2,083 fans in the Hay
ward Field stands Saturday, the
Oregon women’s track team did
it right. The Ducks started with
wins in the javelin and long
jump events and rolled from
there, eventually winning the
800 meters, placing in the top
two and three in several other
races and winning every field
event but one — collecting suf
ficient pointage for the 80-74
win. With the victory, Oregon,
which had lost two straight to
the Huskies, now holds a 18-6
advantage.“[The team] had an
opportunity to talk about it [Fri
day] over dinner,” sophomore
sprinter Endia Abrante said. “It
was just: ‘We want to win, first
and foremost. To let them know,
as nicely as possible, that we’re
better.’”
They know.
In the tradition of dual meets,
Abrante was one of several Ore
Turn to Women, page 16
Ducks shooting for titles at conference championships
I BThe go If tea ms are
confident that they can
| take the Pac-10sfrom
higher-ranked opponents
By Peter Hockaday
for the Emerald
Oregon’s two golf teams are in
two different cities this week,
but they share the same goal —
a Pacific-10 Conference cham
pionship.
The No. 24 women’s golf
team tries to accomplish that
goal at the Eugene Country Club
Monday through Wednesday.
The No. 28 men will go for the
title in Tempe, Ariz., at the
Karsten Golf Course on the
same days. For both, the path to
a championship won’t be easy.
This is where the Pac-10 gets
tough, in championship time.
Teams like Stanford, Southern
California and UCLA have been
lurking in the rankings all year
and could easily shoot three
days of below-par golf and win
either tournament. But then
again, so could the Ducks.
Far women's head coach Re
nee Baumgartner, in her last
year before taking over duties as
associate athletic director full
time, this tournament marks the
realization of a long-term goal.
“I’ve orchestrated this
dream,” Baumgartner said. “I
want |the team] to have fun and
play well, and have everybody
go out on a really positive note.”
There is no way to overlook
the significance of home-course
advantage for the women this
week. The team practices afthe
Eugene Country Club twice a
week, and even spends off-days
putting on the course's two per
fect practice greens.
“The country club gives us a
Turn to Golf champs, page 12
Softball
The No. 18 Oregon
softball team’s
game at Oregon
State was rained
out Saturday.