Sports briefs
Wrestling team recruits
fresh blood
Chuck Kearney contin
ues to build a successful
group for the 2000-01 Ore
gon wrestling team.
The team recently
signed its third recruit for
the season, which all join a
Duck team that has two
wrestlers ranked in the top
four and four in the Top
20.
Shaun Williams is the
latest recruit, and he joins
Luke Larwin and Justin
Godley, who were both
signed in the fall.
“These young men are
talented enough to make
an immediate impact on
what could be the best
team in Oregon history,”
Kearney said. “Shaun
should make an impact
not just at Oregon, but also
on the national level. Our
goal is to turn him into a
wrestler challenging for
the national title. He is that
good.”
Williams wrestles at 125
pounds and is transferring
from North Idaho Junior
College. He was a national
junior college champion
both years that he was
there and even competed
on the 1996 Olympic team
in South Africa. He also
placed at the 1995 ESPOIR
World Championships.
With Williams’ arrival,
Kearney can’t help but get
excited about his team’s
upcoming season.
“This team has the po
tential to make a run at the
Pac-10 title and a Top 10
finish at the NCAA Cham
pionships,” Kearney said.
“We are in the position we
want to be in.”
Sosa wows them all
with homers
ATLANTA — Step aside
Junior, Sammy's the man.
Slammin' Sammy Sosa
ended Ken Griffey Jr.'s
two-year reign as Home
Run Derby champion, hit
ting the longest, loudest
and largest number of
shots at Turner Field on
Monday night.
Sosa beat Griffey 9-2 in
the finals and hit 26 over
all, including a pair of 508
foot shots — one to the 755
Club in the left-field upper
deck and one that came to
rest atop the second green
batter's backdrop in
straightaway center, below
the scoreboard.
"I came here to put on a
show. I didn’t necessarily
come here to get the win,
but I guess I got the win,"
Sosa said.
"I know I have people
behind me, who support.
me and love me," Sosa said
to the crowd of 50,118.
r
Best Bet
MLB: The 71st All-Star Game,
American vs. National
5 p.m., NBC
ports
Tuesday
July 11,2000
Volume 102, Issue 06
Emerald
Blasi is
anything
but blase
■ Blake Blasi has proved his critics wrong
by becoming the Northwest League’s
leading hitter and the Emeralds’ spark plug
at the top of the order
Blake
Blasi
Position: Sec
ond base
Height: 5
foot-9
Birth date: 3
23-79
Hometown:
Wichita, Kan.
College: Wi
chita State
Draft: Select
ed by the
Chicago Cubs
in the 10th
round of the
2000 draft
Notable:
Named the
Missouri Val
ley League
Player of the
Year this past
season at Wi
chita State...
Underwent
groin and
back surger
ies on Dec.
23, but came
back after
only three
months off
and played
the season
for Wichita
State.
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
“You’re too small.”
“You don’t hit enough home
runs.”
“You’ll never make it.”
Those were just a few of the
many “encouraging” words
Blake Blasi has received over
the years.
Now it’s the summer of 2000
and Blasi is the Eugene Emer
alds lead-off batter, hitting a
team and league-leading .379.
A smile creeps onto the face
of the 5-foot-9 second baseman
when he looks down at the uni
form he gets to wear every day
and thinks back to the many
people that never thought he
would be where he is.
“It’s nice for me because
growing up in Wichita (Kan.), I
was just an average player,” said
Blasi, who was a lOth-round
draft pick (out of 50 rounds) by
the Chicago Cubs this year. “I
never thought I’d get a shot at it.
I’m just trying to take advantage
ofitasmuchasl can.
“There’s so many people I
could say ‘I told you so’ to.”
But'instead of gloating, Blasi
just keeps on working. Whether
that means hitting extra balls off
the batting tee or fielding extra
grounders in the infield.
And don’t think his coaches
haven’t noticed.
“He’s given us such a good
jump start to the season,” man
ager Danny Sheaffer said. “He’s
Turn to Blake Blasi page 8
Emerald
Eugene’s Blake Blasi may be the Northwest League’s leading hitter with an average of .379, but he
also prides himself on his defense at the second base position.
Trackstersanticipate OlympicTrial runs
Emerald
It has been quite a year for Jason Boness, who captured the Pacific-10 Conference Championship at
Hayward Field in May. He is looking forward to competing against the nation’s best at the Olympic Trials.
■ Six Ducks head to Sacramento this weekend
for the U.S. Olympic Trials, having a shot to
make the prestigious U.S. Olympic team
By Robbie McCallum
for the Emerald
Their collegiate season’s may have ended six weeks
ago, but for four members of the 2000 Oregon Track
and Field team, the competitive season is long from
over.
Overall, six past, present and future Ducks will
compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento,
Calif., starting Friday, July 14 through July 23.
Steve Fein, who recently graduated, will compete
in the men’s 5,000 meters along with world-class run
ners like Bob Kennedy, Adam Goucher and Marc
Davis. Fein’s personal best of 13 minutes, 43.4 sec
onds easily made the qualifying mark of 13:47.
Fein, whose collegiate career ended on a disap
pointing note when he failed to qualify for the 1,500
finals at the NCAA meet, has been focusing on the
Olympic Trials all season. While at Oregon, Fein was
a five-time All-American.
Sophomore Jason Boness, coming off an impressive
win at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships and
a NCAA appearance, will compete in the high jump.
Boness’ school record mark of seven feet, five inches
Turn to Olympic Trials, page 6