Best Bet
NBA Playoffs: Milwaukievs.
Indiana 5 p.m., TNT
Thursday
May 4,2000
Volume 101, Issue 145
Emerald
“This is just the tip of the
iceberg. Tm just now starting
to get back on track and
getting where I need to be. ”
-Howard Moore, UO sprinter
■The flight hasn’t been smooth for sprinter
Howard Moore, but he insists the best is yet
to come as his collegiate career nears its end
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Howard Moore taxis onto the track,
shakes the nervousness out of his mus
cles and assumes a loose set position in
the starting blocks.
The track’s traffic controller — a silver-haired gen
tleman wearing a red coat and standing off to the
side of the runway — gives the “set” command.
Moore reacts, dipping his head down and cocking
his hips upward.
His ears are like radar as he listens for the gun. The
senior awaits the launch command, poised and
ready to attack.
The silence is deafening.
But in the instant Moore’s ears detect the blast of
the starting gun, his inner engines roar to life. A pow
erful exertion from his legs catapults him forward,
and Moore is in flight, rocketing forward at a speed
of about 28 feet per second.
Getting back on track
Ever since he came to Oregon, Moore has been the
Ducks’ maverick of track and field. Always wanting
to push the envelope — always feeling the need for
speed — his only desire is to fly faster and faster and
faster.
“I’m really competitive,” Moore said. “It’s almost
to the point where I’m kind of greedy with what I
want out of myself. I’m never satisfied with a race.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m just now
starting to get back on track and getting where I need
to be.”
So far .this season, Moore said he hasn’t landed a
time that reflects his potential. His season-best so far
was 47.28 seconds at the Oregon-Washington Dual
two weeks ago.
Pretty good, considering all that’s been in his way.
Driving with his father and sister to his home in
Concord, Calif., last October, Moore tried to stop at a
fast-food restaurant in Sacramento. But he couldn’t
pull into the parking lot because a car was blocking
his way. Moore honked his horn. A door opened on
the other car.
Thinking that the other car may have broken
down, Moore stepped out of his car to find out what
was going on — and was hit on the head from be
hind.
He doesn’t remember much more than that. Later
he’d find out that he’d been hit with a hard object,
either a pipe or brass knuckles, and that he was air
lifted to UC Davis Medical Center. He was hospi
talized for five days because his heartbeat had
jf slowed.
“I’ve learned from the experience,” Moore
said. “I’m more careful of where I go, and
I’m more careful of my surroundings. I was
^ n’t thinking that somebody was going to
hit me.
Turn to Moore, page 11A
UO golfers’ season will be put on the line next week
The women’s
golf team —
and five of its
upperclassmen
corps—take
on the field at
the NCAA West
Regionalsin
Tempe
Women’s Golf Notes
By Peter Hockaday
for the Emerald
The Oregon women’s golf
team should be watching the
NBA playoffs on TNT this week,
since the net
work’s slogan
applies to their
season right
now: win or go
home.
The No. 26
Ducks will trav
el to Tempe, Ariz., for the NCAA
West Regionals, which tee off a
week from today. They will com
pete with 23 other top-50 teams
for 11 spots in the NCAA Cham
pionships, which will be held
May 24-27 in Sunriver. All 10
schools in the Pacific-10 Confer
ence will play in the regionals.
The Ducks make their eighth
straight trip to the West Region
al, but an appearance at the
NCAAs would only be the
team’s third in five years.
Experienced upperclassmen
Oregon has at least one leg up
on the competition in Tempe,
and that is the experience of its
players. Four seniors and one
junior will make the trip to Ari
zona, with all five possessing
previous regionals competition
experience.
The Ducks will try to repeat
their performances at the Colby
and Lady Aztec Invitationals,
where they got consistent per
formances from their upper
classmen. Senior Kylie Wilson
won the Colby, but three other
players finished in the top 10
and the Ducks took home the
team title as well. At the Lady
Aztec, senior Pam Sowden won
the individual crown, but again
the Ducks had three other top
15 finishers and won the team
title.
Jumpin'Jerilyn
Junior Jerilyn White quietly
jumped into the national rank
ings this week and is now the
only Duck among the country’s
top 100 golfers. The Salem na
tive is ranked 80th.
White placed ninth at the
Pac-10 Conference Champi
onships a week ago and holds
the team’s lowest stroke aver
age, despite being the team’s
youngest regular starter. She
will be the only non-senior to
travel with the team to Tempe.
Turn to Women's golf, page 16A
Kevin Calame Emerald
Jerilyn White entered the national rankings this week at No. 80.