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