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Dan Brunell Emerald
Senior transfer Hanna Smedstad s path has gone from Sundsvall, Sweden, to Eugene and many other places in between.
■ Oregon is the fifth home in as
many years for roving distance
runner Hanna Smedstad
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
By definition, the sport of cross coun
try requires traveling long distances.
Not only in terms of long mileage and
late practices, but in going long dis
tances to find meets.
But Oregon senior Hanna Smedstad
has taken the traveling theme to an ex
treme. Over the years, the Swedish
cross country runner has racked up
many miles in her running shoes and
on the road, traveling to different
schools and races.
Smedstad has attended four different
schools and run for four teams in the
past eight years. Before transferring to
Oregon this fall, Smedstad attended Ok
lahoma State, where she was an All
American three times.
The move to the west coast wasn’t the
first time she changed places. Because
secondary schools in Sweden do not of
fer athletics along with academics,
Smedstad had to attend a school 560
miles away because she wanted to run
and study.
“It was a tremendous distance from
home,” Smedstad said. “But I still went
because at home I was only running
with nearby clubs and my high school
didn't have a cross country team for me
to join, like most high schools here do.”
She spent three years at Kattgatt
Gymnasiet, where she developed her
running. After placing fourth at the
Swedish junior championships, people
began to take notice of the up-and-com
ing star. But after high school, Smedstad
still faced the same dilemma: European
universities do not offer athletics. If she
wanted to run and study in college, she
had to go to America.
(i So far so good. [Oregon
is] a lot like Sweden — except
for the rain. It's a lot easier to
train here where it’s not so
hot. In Oklahoma we would
have to train in the morning.
It’s better here.
Hanna Smedstad
Oregon senior
Since Sweden isn’t known for its
abundance in running talent, it isn’t a
place where American universities re
cruit heavily.
After Smedstad graduated from
Kattgatt, her family moved from
Sundsvall, Sweden, to Kent, England.
For a while, Smedstad worked as a ho
tel receptionist in England.
In the meantime, an article about
Smedstad’s success at the Swedish jun
ior level reached Oklahoma State coach
Catrina Acosta.
Turn to Smedstad, page 8A
Oregon gets some rest after hot start in Pac-10 plav
The Ducks are
in the middle
of their two
week rest as
they prepare to
tackle the
second half of
their season
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oh, what a week for a bye.
The Oregon football team rests this
weekend after winning its first two con
ference games against UCLA and Wash
ington — probably the toughest games
on its conference schedule.
And the break comes not a moment
too soon, as a few players were banged
up while battling the Huskies. Among
them was defensive tackle Walker Tem
pleton, who will miss the rest of the sea
son with a torn Achilles tendon.
“It’s too bad for Walker to have to
miss this season; he’s one of our better
players this year,” said defensive end
Saul Patu. “He’s worked very hard over
the off-season to make himself injury
free.
“I have total confidence in the guys
that were playing alongside Walker and
playing behind him. We have to have
confidence in them and have faith that
those guys are going to step it up.”
Tailback Maurice Morris could use
the extra week of rest as much as any
one. Morris, who has carried 122 times
for 625 yards in his first five games as a
Duck, sustained a toe injury against the
Huskies and won’t practice until next
week.
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said
his star tailback didn’t have turf toe and
will be ready for Southern California,
although team officials will be keeping
a close eye on the injury. • •
Cornerback Rashad Bauman and of
fensive lineman Corey Chambers were
among other lame Ducks after Satur
day’s game. However, Bellotti said he
expects everyone, save Templeton, to be
ready to play against Southern Califor
nia on Oct. 14.
“It’s a good time to have a bye," Bel
lotti said. “We’ve got a lot of nagging in
juries that don’t go away in three or four
days and 10 days to two weeks will give
us a better chance to get those healed.”
Offensive errors
Against Wisconsin, it was dropped
passes. Against Nevada and UCLA, it
was sub-par passing. Most recently
against the Huskies, it was a little bit of
everything.
Oregon has climbed to a No. 9 rank
ing without much consistency in its of
fense. Against Washington last Satur
day, quarterback Joey Harrington
completed just nine of 22 passes, the re
ceivers dropped some easy catches and
place-kicker Josh Frankel missed three
field goals and an extra point.
Harrington has connected on 47.3
percent of his passing attempts this sea
son, down from last season’s mark of
53.2 percent.
After the Washington game, Bellotti
stood up for his starting quarterback.
“He made a couple of throws that
he’d like to have back, there’s no ques
tion about it,” he said. “But on several
throws, their defense did a very nice job
• ’ Turn to Football, page 9A
Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington and the offense hope to reload during the bye week.