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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2000)
Scoreboard Blazers-Lakers PORTLAND — (AP) The remarkable road show known as the Western Conference finals makes its last Portland appear ance Friday night, and one of the stars is hurting. Kobe Bryant didn’t prac tice with the Los Angeles Lakers for the second con secutive day Thursday be cause of a sprained right foot, an injury that oc curred in the first half of his team’s 96-88 loss Tues day night. Officially, the Lakers list ed Bryant as probable for Friday’s game. Bryant’s injury adds a lit tle more uncertainty to a strange series in which the visitor has won four straight games and in which Portland is 2-1 in Los Angeles but 0-2 in the Rose Garden. Los Angeles leads the se ries 3-2. If the homecourt disadvantage persists in Game 6, the Lakers will be headed to the NBA Finals. If the Trail Blazers finally win one at home, the de ciding Game 7 will be Sun day in Los Angeles. Damon's RX PORTLAND — (AP) For the second straight year, Damon Stoudamire is feel ing left out of the Western Conference finals. The dif ference is he's not com plainingabout it. The Portland Trail Blaz ers' starting point guard angered his coach and the fans last season when he spouted off about reserve Greg Anthony being in the lineup late in games against the San Antonio Spurs, instead of him. Part of Stoudamire’s frustration came from missing a crucial free throw with 12 seconds left in Game 2 against the Spurs. The miss allowed Sean Elliott to make his game-winning 3-pointer, and San Antonio went on to sweep the Blazers and win the NBA title. The stigma of selfishness stuck to Stoudamire through the summer and into this season, but the former Portland high school star hasn't piped up one time. For one, he was hurt by the public reaction to his comments. Another reason is that in the current series against the Los Angeles Lakers, An thony hasn’t been getting minutes either. The Blaz ers have played Scottie Pippen as point guard to stop Kobe Bryant, leaving the other four defenders to help with double-teams on Shaquille O'Neal. Best Bet NBA: Playoffs Game 6 Blazers vs. Lakers 6:30 p.m., NBC Friday June 2,2000 Volume101,lssue165 Emerald Oregon track teams land All-Americans Mary Etter and Steve Fein become Oregon’s first All-Americans this season, but Fein won’t advance to the 1,500 finals; Katie Crabb advances to Saturday’s 1,500 finals By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Two Ducks received All American honors and one ad vanced to the finals at the NCAA track and field champi onships in Durham, N.C. on Thursday. But not all ended well. Freshman thrower Mary Et ter placed herself among the nation’s elite in the discus with a toss of 166 feet, 11 inches, good for eighth place. Steve Fein also earned All American status with his time of 3 minutes, 45.63 seconds in the first of two 1,500 qualifying heats. However, the senior’s seventh-place finish did not advance him to the finals. Senior Katie Crabb advanced to the 1,500 finals by finishing fifth in her heat in 4:21.91. The 1,500 finals take place at 7:55 p.m. EST, Saturday. Etter entered Thursday’s competition seeded No. 16. Coming out of it, she is ranked as the top freshman nationally in the discus. Her finish is the best for a Duck at the NCAA meet in 15 years. Etter’s throw was her third , best attempt this season. UCLA senior Seilala Sua won the NCAA discus title with a 200-9 Turn to Track, page13A Kevin Calame Emerald Mary Etter is the nation’s top-ranked freshman in the discus. Oregon women’s head coach Tom Heinonen has seen everything, including the fall of his track team to last place in the Pac-10 this season. I knew this was coming. I knew we’d be at or near the bottom six weeks ago, but I didn't want to advertise it then. I could read the handwriting on the wall. Tom Heinonen head coach By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald A lot can happen in 24 years. That’s how much time has passed since Tom Heinonen took the reigns as head coach for the Oregon women’s track team. As the lead Duck, he’s seen and accomplished a lot. His success has earned him internation Women’s track and field head coach Tom Heinonen knew this season would be tough for his inexperienced Ducks titles and three NCAA ti tles. He’s produced 13 NCAA individual cham pions and 71 track and cross country All-Ameri cans. But something began to change in 1986. The core group of seniors that led Oregon to an NCAA crown the previous sea son left, and Heinonen knew he couldn’t make his new sauad Derform ai coacning jods, sucn as coaching the U.S. junior women’s team in the 1989 World Cross Country Championships in Norway. However, like anyone else who coaches a sport, Heinonen has had his ups and downs. But unfortunately, more of the latter as of late. Oregon finished last place at the Pacific-10 Conference Cham pionships last weekend. Of all places, it happened at Oregon’s own Hayward Field. It was the first time ever Heinonen’s Ducks wound up in the conference cellar. I “This is in fact a young team,” Heinonen said. “Last year we graduated a huge number of sen iors, and it was clear from day one that we’d be far below our previous standards. “I knew this was coming. I knew we’d be at or near the bot tom six weeks ago, but I didn’t want to advertise it then. I could read the handwriting on the wall.” Four of his athletes this season — middle distance runner Katie Crabb, javelin thrower Karis Howell, discus thrower Mary Et ter and pole vaulter Niki Reed — did make it to the NCAA Cham pionships being held this week in North Carolina. Still, Heinonen is faced with a challenge of putting more of his athletes back in that position. ***** Heinonen has always man aged to find success when it comes to running. A student-athlete at Minneso ta, Heinonen received All-Amer ican accolades on the track and won the 1969 AAU marathon one year after graduation. Since becoming the Oregon women’s track and field coach in 1976, he’s captured nine Pac-10 like a group of veteran ath letes. The Ducks won the ^ac-lO title but finished with zero points at the next NCAA meet. “At that point, I never thought we’d get back up to the national level again,” Heinonen said. “But we did. We went from top-to-bot tom in a hurry.” Oregon hasn’t been the NCAA champion since its 1985 title. But by 1988, his team was back on the national scoreboard — in third place. ***** Coaching can only go so far in Turn to Heinonen, page 13A
