Best Bet
NBA Playoffs: Philadelphia vs. Indiana
5 p.m.,TBS
Monday
May 15,2000
Volume 101, Issue 152
EffieraM
Softball will see familiar foe in first game
■ ino. iy uregon will play southern Mississippi tor the second time
this season in its first game of the regional tournament
By Matt O'Neill
Oregon Daily Emerald
Feelings of anticipation, nervous
ness and anxiety were all going
through the minds of the No. 19 Ore
gon (34-27 overall, 6-12 Pacific-10
Conference) softball team Sunday.
Again the Ducks had to wait to hear
their name called by the NCAA selec
tion committee. But, unlike last year
the Ducks did not have to wait until
the very last invites to see their name
appear. -
“Yeah, I was really nervous,” sen
ior centerfielder Jill Robinson said. “I
don’t really know how the selection
committee works, and we had a bad
weekend so I didn’t know if that
would be the final determining factor
for us.”
One thing that Robinson and the
Ducks do know is their first oppo
nent.
Fifth-seeded Oregon will travel to
Baton Rouge, La., to face a familiar
foe in No. 2 seeded Southern Missis
sippi (56-10). The Ducks lost to the
Golden Eagles in their first tourna
ment of the year in the championship
round. Southern Mississippi defeat
ed Oregon, 3-0, behind the strong
pitching of Courtney Blades, the all
time NCAA strikeout leader.
“This time of the year is always a
stressful time of the year for us,” head
coach Rick Gamez said. “Not only for
the pairings, but also playing in the
Turn to Softball, page 11
Kevin Calame Emerald
Junior Santiago Lorens) picks up«73 of his second-place 7,649 points in the400at the end of day one of the Oregon Twilight.
Lorenzo wins second
in Pac-10 decathlon
■ California s Bevan Hart defends his title
and wins with a score of 7,890, just missing
the standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Gripping the pole with both hands and locking
his eyes onto his target, Bevan Hart crouched
down, rocked back and forth and prepared him
self to vault the bar at 15 feet, 1 inch.
The crowd, in true Tracktown fashion, rhythmi
cally began clapping and stomping, urging the de
fending Pacific-10 Conference champion to once
again go the distance.
But Hart needed to concentrate. He silenced the
crowd with a few, short waves of his left hand, not
once taking his eyes off of the end of the runway.
Again, he rocked back and forth, and shouted
some words of encouragement to himself.
Then he took off, and smashed the height.
Several minutes later, Hart was the only com
petitor remaining in the pole vault portion of the
Pac-10 decathlon championships, and he was still
obliterating heights.
He didn’t fail until 17-8 1/2. A new personal
best for the soon-to-be champion.
Hart won the Pac-10 title on Sunday with a
score of 7,890, just missing the United States
Turn to Decathlon, page 12
a I’m so
happy. After
the f irst day I
wasn’t very
pleased. But
the hurdles
came out
very well, and
I did my best
three throws
ever.
Santiago
Lorenzo
decathlete jj
Oregon men, women make the most of their last shot
■The Oregon men's track team
closes its regular season with four
personal bests at the Oregon Twilight
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Steve Fein is back on track, literally.
The Oregon senior who missed most of
the outdoor season because of sinus prob
lems competed in the Bill McChesney Jr.
Memorial Twilight Mile — reputably one
of the fastest mile races in the nation.
And he finished third.
The mile marked the end of the three
hour Oregon Twilight meet, which is an
nually designed to take advantage of
dusk’s ideal track and field conditions. It
worked, as three Ducks including Fein,
sophomore John Bello and sophomore
Cody Howell achieved personal bests.
Sophomore Jason Boness notched a sea
sonal best in the high jump.
“I was really happy for Steve,” head
coach Martin Smith said. “He broke four
minutes, qualified for NCAAs and quite
candidly, it’s good to see him running and
running well again.
“The focus right now is on the decath
letes, that’s the Pac-10 Championships,”
he said. “That’s really where we need to
put our energy and really focus in on
things.”
Fein hung with a pack of post-colle
gians, Olympic trial, Olympic and NCAA
qualifiers en route to a third-place finish in
3 minutes, 59 seconds. It was the distance
runner’s first-ever sub-4:00 mile, ranking
him 21st among the
27 Ducks who have
cracked the mark.
“That was as
good a mile race as
you can come by,”
Fein said. “The
field was great. The
talent level was in
credible, and obviously, that’s what got us
under four was the field.”
Post-collegian Jason Pyrah won the mile
with a time of 3:57.63.
Before Fein thrilled the crowd with his
electrifying run, it was Boness who was
trying to break records in the high jump.
The sophomore transfer from Northern
Iowa set a seasonal best in the high jump,
clearing the bar at 7 feet, 3 1/4 inches. On
that jump, he clearly had a couple of inch
es to spare between himself and the bar.
“I should peak next week, and that 7-5
Turn to Men’s track, page 16
■Several non-Oregon stars shine at
the Duck-dominated Twilight, the
final regular meet of the season
By Mirjam Swanson
Oregon Daily Emerald
Marla Runyan, Elva Dryer and Cheri Ke
nah punctuated Saturday’s Oregon Twilight
by running the second-, third- and fourth
fastest 5,000-meter races in the world this
year, smashing Annette Peter’s nine-year
old meet record in the process. Runyan
won with a time of 15 minutes, 7.66 sec
onds.
Former Oregon great Marie Davis rode the
pace, finishing 13th with a personal record
of 16:5.84.
Also, Katy Polansky, a current South Eu
gene High School student and future Oregon
student, produced an Olympic Trials quali
fying mark (165-03) in winning the javelin
event.
But beyond that, Saturday’s last regular
season meet at Hayward Field was all about
the Ducks of now.
It was quite the sight for the 3,210 on hand
to see eight teammates dressed in bright
green-and-gold take their places in the
blocks for the 100 meters. Freshman Heather
Murtaugh won the race (12.41). Endia
Turn to Women, page 14
Kevin Calame Emerald
Mary Etter earned her third Pac-10 mark in the
hammer and earned marks in the shot put and
discus.