Kevin Calame Emerald
Sophomore Jenny Kenyon, Oregon’s lone heptathlete, has her sights set on 5,000 points at the Pac-10 Championships.
Track
continued from page 11
know exactly what to expect from
this young Oregon team when the
season began.
Heinonen said back then, he
knew his team had the potential to
be successful, but one shouldn’t
forget young athletes are young
athletes. They’re bound, by na
ture, to have their ups and downs.
But going into Saturday’s Ore
gon Twilight, the final meet of the
regular season and the final oppor
tunity to earn Pac-10 Champi
onship qualifying marks, the kids
— especially the freshmen — have
provided quite a few ups.
“Our freshmen have made lots
of progress,” Heinonen said, “and
we’ve needed them to. Many of
them are the backbone of our team
for many years to come. ”
That auspicious freshmen
“backbone” includes middle dis
tance runner Eri Macdonald, high
jumper Jenny Brogden, versatile
thrower Mary Etter and her fellow
thrower Jordan McDaniels.
Macdonald currently ranks fifth
in the Pac-10 in the 800 (2:08.62)
and is .17 seconds from a Pac-10
qualifying mark in the 1,500
(4:40.31).
Etter has qualified for next
weekend’s conference champi
onships at Hayward Field in both
the shot put and the discus — and
she’s a mere 11 inches away from
qualifying in the hammer throw as
well.
“I’ve only got one more
chance,” Etter said. “I’ll just give
it my all and hope it happens.
‘Cause if it’s meant to happen, it’ll
happen.’”
Brogden is only a 1/2 inch (5-6
1/2) from a Pac-10 height in the
high jump and McDaniels is 3 1/2
feet (146-6) from earning a Pac-10
mark in the discus.
McDaniels is “going to hit that,”
Etter said. “She’s so close, I know
it.”
Others on the bubble include
sophomores Endia Abrante and
Janette Martin in the 800 (Abrante
is .22 seconds away with a season
albestof55.66,and Martin’s with
in 1.14 seconds of making the cut).
Shannae McNairy is .18 seconds
away (14.52) of making it in the
100-meter hurdles.
Freshman Amanda Brown is 3
1/4 inches shy of a Pac-10 mark in
the long jump. Senior Hilary Holly
has already scored a Pac-10 quali
fier (19-2) in the long jump, but
she’s still in search of the Pac-10
requirement in the 100 meters (.17
seconds away, 12.21).
Teams are guaranteed one entry
per Pac-10 event even if they dort*t
have a qualified mark by the right
of-entry rule — though those ath
letes still count toward the 24-ath
lete max team-rule limit. Coaches
are also allowed three wild card
entries, which also count toward
the 24-athlete limit.
“We do have some wild card
choices to make,” Heinonen said.
“ But we’re not making them yet.”
No, because beginning with the
women’s hammer at 5:30 p.m., the
Ducks have one last chance to do
the qualifying themselves.
Blazers too quick, too good for Jazz
By Tim Korte
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Arvydas
Sabonis scored 22 points and
Steve Smith had 21 as the Port
land Trail Blazers beat the Utah
Jazz 103-84 Thursday night for a
3-0 lead in the Western Confer
ence semifinals.
Bonzi Wells scored 10 of his 19
points in the fourth quarter to
help the Blazers hold off a sec
ond-half Utah surge, leaving the
Jazz one game from being on the
losing end of the first best-of-sev
en series sweep in franchise his
tory.
Game 4 is here Sunday and the
Jazz will try to become the first
team in NBA history to rally from
a 3-0 deficit.
The Jazz, who played for the
NBA title in 1997 and 1998,
trailed by 21 points in the second
quarter but trimmed the margin to
55-49 at halftime and then tied it
three times in the third quarter.
But Utah never led in the sec
ond half. And while Karl Malone
scored 28 points, he had only two
in the fourth quarter and the Jazz
were outscored 28-14 in the final
period.
Rasheed Wallace scored 17
points for the Blazers, who held
Utah to 40 percent shooting.
Jeff Hornacek, whose 14-year
NBA career will end if the Jazz
lose Sunday, played like his ca
reer was at stake, scoring 24
points on 9-of-17 shooting. Bryon
Russell added 18 points for the
Jazz.
The Jazz had beaten Portland in
10 of the previous 13 playoff
games in Salt Lake City, but the
Blazers weren’t intimidated.
In fact, the Blazers, who beat
the Jazz in six games last year in
the Western Conference semifi
nals, have made it look easy this
year.
Portland has started fast in each
game, taking advantage of size
and speed mismatches through
out the lineup.
On Thursday night, the Blazers
posted up Smith on Hornacek
and Sabonis on Olden Polynice,
following the same script they
had used in dominating Game 2,
and it helped them build a dou
ble-digit lead in the second quar
ter.
Once again, the Jazz offered lit
tle resistance early, and Portland’s
lead swelled to 53-32 4:50 before
halftime on a basket by Schrempf.
It seemed the Blazers would put
the Jazz away.
Boos echoed across the Delta
Center, and the message seemed
to invigorate the Jazz. Utah closed
the half with a 17-2 run, with Mal
one and Hornacek each scoring
six points, to trail 55-49 at half
time.
The crowd was with the Jazz
throughout the second half, but
Utah couldn’t break through.
Leading 75-70 at the end of the
third quarter, the Blazers re
grouped, opening the fourth with
an 11-2 run.
From there, Portland pulled
away. Wells came off the bench to
burn the Jazz with jumpers and
dunks. At one stretch, he scored
three straight baskets for the Blaz
ers.
Notes: Pippen is one game from
tying Magic Johnson, at 190, for
third place on the NBA’s list of ca
reer playoff appearances.... By the
end of the first quarter, six players
had two fouls: Damon
Stoudamire, Wallace, Sabonis,
Brian Grant, Polynice and John
Stockton.... Portland hasn’t swept
a best-of-seven series since 1976
77, the year the Blazers won the
NBA title.... Portland came in 0-6
in Game 3 of a best-of-seven se
ries.
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