Oregon daily emerald., June 27, 2000, Page 3, Image 3

Prefer fans
continued from page 1
great. It’s a first class meet and it’s
great to be able to come to a meet
(ike this in the States.”
The interaction between athlete
and fan was special here Saturday.
When an athlete would make their
victory lap around Hayward with
flowers in one hand, they made
sure to use their other hand to
show their appreciation by way of
a wave, a high five or a thumbs-up.
The respect was indeed mutual.
“If I had to pick any place to
run, this would be it,” said Gail
Devers, who captured the 100 me
ter hurdles contest in her first race
of the season after coming off an
injury.-“The fans get you so into it.
Whether you got nervous jitters or
you’re scared or unsure, the fans
get you going. I would just be
walking back and forth and peo
ple would be saying positive
things to me. It’s a great feeling.”
One of the most important attrib
utes that Eugene track and field
fans have been acclaimed for over
the years is their support for all
events, not just the running ones.
In no event was that more evi
dent than at the hammer ring on
the south side of Hayward at
11:15 a.m. The bleachers for the
event was packed to the brim and
people were layered six and sev
en deep all along the fences.
Among the throng of folks lined
up along the fence was John McAr
dle, who used to throw the ham
mer for Oregon in the late 70s.
McArdle was here, like so many
others, to watch Eugene resident
Lance Deal perform in his final
competition at Hayward before he
retires following the Olympics.
McArdle was joined by his sev
en-year old son, Marcus, and Mar
cus’ friend Christopher, also seven.
“It’s wonderful to come out here
and bring the kids,” said McArdle,
who was a member of the 1980
U.S. Olympic team and now is the
mayor of Independence. “It’s excit
ing to see so many people support
ing Lance and the sport.”
“I’m having fun,” said Marcus,
who was being told by his father
that the big man in front of him
(Deal) used to live at his house in
the early 80s.
Somebody else who was clearly
having fun at the meet was Mau
rice Greene, who took the 200 me
ter race with a time of 19.93.
Greene said he has always en
joyed running in Eugene and
loves the feeling of hearing the
crowd clap in unison and roar as
he nears the finish line.
“I absolutely love this crowd,”
said Greene, who then acted just
like all the other fans in the com
plex when he hurried away from
reporters to watch Marion Jones
run in the 100 meters. “Oh, wait a
minute. I have to watch this race!”
What he saw was Jones dressed
up in Nike’s brand new Swift Suit,
which was unveiled for the first
time at the Pre Classic. “Mrs. Jones”
was covered from head-to-toe and
looked more like a misplaced
speed skater than a sprinter.
Jones took the race with a time
of 10.93 seconds, but afterwards
she seemed more excited to talk
about the fans than of the race.
“You’ve heard me say this so
many times before, but these peo
ple are so knowledgeable,” said
Jones, who also won the long
jump competition. “They’re en
thusiastic and it’s great coming
here. The Pre is one of the best in
the world, without a doubt.”
She certainly would get no ar
gument from Khadevis Robinson,
the energetic young man who out
ran a Kenyan trio to win the men’s
800 meters.
“The greatest crowd in Ameri
ca is right here,” Robinson said. “I
mean, the motivation you get
when you hear them cheering is
amazing. When you look at the
competition, the fans and the way
the meet is put on. it’s easy to say
that this is the best U.S. meet.”
Perhaps the only downfall of
the event is that it goes by so
quickly, making each moment of
the love affair between fan and
athlete all the more precious.
Just as the Classic was wrapping
up at around 1:45 p.m., Greene
was still smiling and signing auto
graphs — nearly two hours after
his race had completed.
One young girl was eager to
share her account of her en
counter with Greene.
“I had the fastest guy in the
world’s arm around me!” ex
claimed Garni Benson, 15, from
Beaverton, at the meet’s finish.
Like so many others, Benson had
attained a memory of a lifetime.
But what made the moment
that much more special was that
the memory might not only live
on in her mind, but perhaps also
in Greene’s.
“It’s fantastic,” Greene said.
Fan-tastic indeed.
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
The Pre Classic honored the late legendary coach Bill Bowerman. A statue was un
veiled and many of the coach’s former athletes were on hand to pay their tributes.
HIV testing
continued from page 1
spond to increasing numbers of
HIV infections.
“We really support the county
in doing this,” Valerie Haynes, a
registered nurse at the HIV Al
liance, said. “We enjoy and appre
ciate working with them and we
applaud their efforts.”
On an typical day Lane County
Public Health administers any
where from four to seven HIV tests.
Last year during one day of free
testing they administered 18 tests.
“We are going to try to provide
as many tests as possible,” Miller
said. “We certainly won’t turn
people away, but we are trying to
maximize testing among high risk
individuals.”
People who are considered at
high risk, according to Miller, are
individuals who share needles for
injecting drugs, have unprotected
sex, have unprotected sex with a
man who has had unprotected sex
with another man or have had un
protected sex with anyone who
has engaged in the above activities.
Testing will be done on a first
come first serve basis, and clients
will be required to return in per
son two weeks later to receive
their results.
The testing process also in
cludes pre- and post-test counsel
ing where a counselor will discuss
with the client their risk factors,
education about HIV, what the test
looks for, risk reduction plans and
future safety issues.
“Counselors will also discuss
options for a retest,” Miller said.
“If the client has been exposed to
a high risk factor in the past
month and a half to three months
it might be too early for the test to
detect the virus. If this is the case
we encourage them to retest.”
While Lane County Public
Health is the only agency recog
nizing the event by giving free
tests, other agencies also offer HIV
testing and outreach programs.
“We have a free, anonymous
walk-in program every Tuesday at
9 a.in. and 6 p.m. where people
can get tested,” Dr. Mike Winstein
from White Bird Clinic said. “It is
usually fairly full, although we
don’t know statistical data on how
many more people are coming in
because of National HIV Testing
Day as opposed to other days.”
Planned Parenthood also offers
HIV testing, typically on an ap
pointment basis. Tests are offered
both anonymously and confiden
tially and can be preformed from
blood samples or from an oral
swab sample.
“We typically have between 25
50 people a month come in for
HIV tests,” Marilyn Helton, direc
tor of Planned Parenthood, said.
People who are not at an in
creased risk but still want to be
tested during the seaside week
can call Planned Parenthood at
344-9411 or White Bird Clinic at
484-4800.
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