Oregon takes on large field
■The cross country teams make their last appearance in the
state of Oregon on Saturday at the Willamette Open
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
The tightest race this week isn’t
in the Associated Press football
polls — it’s which University athlet
ic event is the most exciting in foot
ball’s absence.
According to the GoDucks.com
fan poll, the cross country team’s
trip to the Willamette Open this Sat
urday rules all. At press time, the
Duck Harriers were receiving 26.4
percent of the vote, just over volley
ball’s game against Arizona State,
which was garnering 20.8 percent.
Oregon fans should be excited
about the west coast’s largest cross
country race of the season.
The Ducks are just one of the 40
teams entered into the meet at
Salem’s Bush Pasture Park, which
expects over 700 runners. The
men’s 8,000-meter race will begin at
9 a.m., and the women’s 5,000-me
ter race is set to start at 10:15 a.m.
The No. 2 Colorado women’s
team comes to Salem with the high
est ranking. Eastern Oregon Univer
sity holds the No. 11 spot in the
NCAA Division III women’s polls,
while Willamette is No. 22.
On the men’s side, Colorado also
comes in as the favorite, being the
fourth-ranked team in the nation.
Lewis and Clark of Portland are
ranked 14 th among NAIA teams.
The No. 19 Oregon women will
be at full strength, while the men
will field their “B” squad.
Duck freshmen Chris Clancy,
Aaron Emery and Mike Pluth, as
well as junior transfer Symon Kima
ta will make their second trip to the
Bush Park course. On Saturday,
Sept. 23, the Duck newbies compet
ed in the much smaller Bearcat
Open on the same course. Kimata
placed second at that meet, helping
the “B” squad to a 1-2-3 sweep and
first-place finish.
The men will also get an unex
pected boost from the track team.
Competing in their first cross coun
try races since high school will be
juniors Ross Krempley, Merritt Mc
Dole and Sean Gross, and sopho
more Jake Horner. All four runners
are 800-meter specialists in track
but have not competed outside Hay
ward Field for the Ducks.
Senior transfer Hanna Smedstad
leads the Oregon women’s contin
gent. The native of Sundsvall, Swe
den, placed sixth at last week’s Roy
Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn.
Veteran seniors Katie Crabb and
Rhiannon Glenn will make their
fourth trip to the 5,000-meter Bush
Parkcourse.
Sophomores Erinn Gulbrandsen,
Annie Davis and Carrie Zografos are
also expected to compete.
Past evidence has shown Bush
Park to be friendly to Oregon runners,
as two Duck alumni hold course
records. Former NCAA champion
Kathy Hayes holds the 5,000-meter
record at 16 minutes, 19.7 seconds
while Shannon Lemora owns the
8,000-meter record at 2 3:41.0.
The Willamette meet will serve as
a warm up to the Pre-NCAA meet
next weekend in Ames, Iowa.
Big Mac’s homer clinches win
By R.B. Fallstrom
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Mark McGwire gets
only one at-bat a game these days,
but he made this one count.
McGwire, limited to pinch-hitting
duty by tendinitis in his right knee,
hit an eighth-inning home run for the
St. Louis Cardinals’ final run in their
10-4 win over Atlanta on Thursday.
“Mark is the heart and soul of this
organization,” said Will Clark, who
hit a three-run homer in the first.
“All that does is just give him more
confidence, and I think it gives the
team more confidence to know that
hey, he’s on the bench and he can go
up there with one swing of the bat
and put a run on the board. ”
McGwire’s right knee, which
caused him to go on the disabled list
for two months starting in early July,
has been slow to respond to treat
ment. But there’s nothing wrong
with his bat.
Two of McGwire’s 32 regular-sea
son homers came after he returned
from the disabled list Sept. 8.
On Thursday, bringing back mem
ories of Kirk Gibson’s homer for Los
Angeles in the 1998 World Series, he
lined a 1-2 pitch from Mike Rem
linger over the center-field wall, a
drive estimated at 412 feet, for his
fifth career postseason homer.
McGwire is unable to play first
base because of pain in the knee,
and he comes out for a pinch run
ner whenever he reaches base.
Soccer
vs. # 15 Arizona State
Friday - 3:00pm - Pape Reid
vs. Arizona
Sunday - 1:00pm - Pape Reid
Volleyball
vs. Arizona State
Friday - 7:00pm - Mac Court
vs. #8 Arizona
Saturday - 7:00pm - Mac Gourt
Visit us at www.goDucks.com
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