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Fein
continued from page 11
the championship level, because
it usually comes down to a pretty
ferocious kick. I think I have a lot
of speed right now, but as far as
my nature as an athlete, the 5,000
is a better event than the mile is
for me.” Due to a season-long si
nus infection and winter training
complications, Fein’s only at
tempt at an NCAA qualifying time
in the 5,000 came at the Pac-10
meet. He and Oregon head coach
Martin Smith were hoping for a
fast race, and for a break in the
weather that would allow good
running conditions.
The only problems were that: a)
conference races are usually slow
er and more tactical, as this one
was, and b) the rain never came,
but fierce, gusty winds hindered
chances of faster times.
Fein kept himself near the front
of the pack, but the pace was too
slow early. He took the lead mid
way through the final lap, but fin
ished in second place, about six
seconds short of qualifying in the
5,000.
“I wanted to come out of col
lege with a national champi
onship,” Fein said. “I thought I
had a great shot [in the 5,000]. But
I don’t think that goal is complete
ly out of the picture yet.”
Not out of the picture, but
tough, nonetheless.
Among the competition Fein
{ CI wanted to come out
of college with a national
championship.
Steve Fein
Oregon runner
will likely face if he makes it to
Saturday’s final:
• Gabe Jennings, Stanford — ar
guably the best middle-distance
runner in the nation, Jennings ran
America’s fastest time this year in
the Cardinal Invitational’s 1,500
on May 5, clocking in at 3 min
utes, 37.33 seconds. Jennings
holds the 1,500’s top seed.
• Michael Stember, Stanford —
seeded No. 3, Stember actually
has the second-best 1,500 time in
the nation at 3:40.54, also from
the Cardinal Invitational. He fin
ished third in the Pac-10 meet
with a time of 3:45.20.
• David Kimani, South Alaba
ma — the freshman phenom won
the NCAA South Regional cross
country championships, then
won the individual title at the
NCAA Championship meet last
November. Kimani is seeded No.
2 in the NCAA 1,500 with a mile
converted time of 3:39.37. Not
bad for a freshman.
And then, there’s Fein.
Fein’s -mark came when he
notched his first-ever sub-4
minute mile at the Oregon Twi
light on May 13. Converting that
time to the 1,500, the NCAA
equivalent event, Fein is seeded
sixth with a time of 3:41.31 sec
onds.
So he’s had to modify some of
his goals. So he won’t be able to
run the 5,000. So he missed most
of his senior outdoor season.
So what?
“I’ll think of track in terms of
overcoming struggles,” Fein said.
“That’s a big determiner in how
good an athlete is. Good athletes
are able to fight through the down
times, and step back, and be able
to persevere and find your way
through those and succeed any
way.”
. . kevin Calame Emera!
Facing the nation s best could help Mary Etter, Oregon’s only freshman representative, produce a top-notch performance.
Women
continued from page 11
But since then, she’s been hin
dered by a nagging knee injury that
limited her performance at the Pac
10s, where she no-heighted.
And Mary Etter is the freshman.
And freshmen, by definition, are
prone to inconsistency. The three
event participant has been both
spectacular and, well, not-so
spectacular — sometimes on the
same day.
Etter saved her most sensational
effort for the final day of the Pac
10s, when she came through with
back-to-back personal records in
the discus, including her 173-11
mark which gave her the 16th-best
mark in the nation and, obviously,
qualified her for this weekend’s
event, taking place on Thursday.
“Mary’s unpredictable,” Har
mon said. “She’s kind of bright
eyed and bushy-tailed, but she’s
not a naive girl... she has that any
thing-goes attitude. So we don’t
treat her as some seasoned athlete.
She knows what she’s capable of,
but she just doesn’t know when
it’s gonna happen.”
The idea now, head coach Tom
Heinonen said, is to get all four
women competing to their poten
tial.
“They’ve all struggled at various
times during the year,” he said. “But
we may just have them all going in
the same direction in Durham. ”
Reed has undergone sufficient
therapy so she should again be a
factor in the pole vault event,
Heinonen said. And the environ
ment in Durham figures to assist
Etter to find her rhythm.
“She does very well when she’s
in the face-to-face competition,”
Harmon said. “She puts the cap on
real tight, and she gets ready to
fight the big kids.”
Crabb shouldn’t have to deal
with the same blustery weather
conditions that she did at the Pac
10s in Thursday’s 1,500 trials or
during the finals on Saturday
evening. Instead she faces North
Carolina’s heat and humidity, not
completely foreign things to
Crabb, a native of Chico, Calif.
Crabb intends to return as an
All-American. To do so, she’ll
have to make the finals and finish
among the top eight Americans.
“I’m excited,” Crabb said after the
Pac-lOs, already looking forward to
this week’s event. “I’m gonna make
the finals. If I race like I did today—
but in better conditions—it’s going
to be a faster time.”
And Howell probably wants to
forget about past injuries and past
inconsistencies. She’s conceiv
ably hoping she’ll be overshad
owed on Saturday morning — at
least not until her opponents look
up at the scoreboard as her event
winds down, and see her name up
toward the top of the board.