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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2000)
Friday Best Bet NBA Preseason Portland at Sacramento 7:30 p.m., UPN SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Cross country teams prepare for Pac-10 meet The stretch run begins for the Oregon cross country team with thePac-10 championships this weekend By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald One of the last vestiges of the old-fashioned style of in tercollegiate cross country is the conference champi onship race. On a day when most NCAA Division I sports are moving towards BCS stand ings and postseason tourna ments, the sport of cross country holds on to the tradi tions of years past. The championship has lit tle effect on the postseason. While small in comparison to high-caliber meets, the conference championships offer the Pacific-10 Confer ence schools a low-key meet prior to the ever-important Western Regional Meet two weeks later. The meet also is a chance to garner bragging rights in the running world on the west coast. Rivalries between Oregon, Stanford and other Pac-10 powerhouses are rekindled there every year. The No. 13 Ducks come into this season’s conference championship in Seattle ranked third in the Pac-10. “The conference meet doesn’t have much standing as far as the NCAA meet, but it’s a meet where teams want to do well,” head coach Mar tin Smith said. “Momentum on a season depends on how well you do throughout the season and you want to keep doing well.” If Smith’s team is to pull an upset and win the Pac-10 ti tle, it must unseat perennial powerhouse Stanford and Arizona, the conference’s de fending champion. Leading the Oregon pack are sophomore Jason Hart mann and senior Michael Kasahun. The duo has been impressive in both Oregon meets this season, placing in the top echelon of runners at the Roy Griak Invitational and the Pre-NCAA meet. At the Pre-NCAA meet in Ames, Iowa, Hartmann and Kasahun finished fifth and sixth among Pac-10 runners while placing 30th and 36th, respectively. The two will have plenty of competition despite the small field. The top returning Pac-10 runner is Stanford’s Thomas Murley, who placed second at the Pre-NCAA meet. The Car dinal also features two Olympians in Gabe Jennings and Michael Stember. Other competition in cludes Arizona’s Mike Cramer, Arizona State’s Gar rett Jensen and California’s Turn to Men’sXC, page 8A ■The Duck Harriers will run their third 6,000-meter race this season at the Pacific-10 Conference championships By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald The NCAA’s switch from 5,000 me ters to 6,000 meters as the standard distance in women’s cross country has been a rough one for some teams — especially Oregon. Last year, the NCAA cross country committee decided to lengthen the standard distance by 1,000 meters. Most applauded the move, saying it was the next logical step. But as more 6,000-meter races are run, coaches across the nation are finding that teams are responding in very differ ent ways to the switch. Oregon’s inaugural 6,000-meter race was mediocre at best. Then ranked 12th in the nation, the Duck Harriers placed seventh at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. Many of the Oregon runners mis judged the new distance and either faded in the last portion of the race or went out too conservatively. Three weeks later, the Ducks, now ranked No. 22, traveled to Ames, Iowa for the Pre-NCAA meet. .Their second 6,000 meter race of the season was even less successful, as the Ducks placed 21st. Although they beat out 35 other schools, Oregon lost credit with the NCAA selection com mittee by losing to teams ranked low er than the Ducks. “We had an absolutely miserable performance at Pre-nationals,” Ore gon head coach Tom Heinonen said. “Our performance was far below our expectations. I think it was no indica tion of what we were capable of. “We’ll be very lucky to make the NCAA meet,” Heinonen added. “It’s still possible since 31 teams qualify, and we did beat a few teams that might help us later on.” The Ducks have not missed an NCAA meet since 1996 and have qualified for 23 of the last 25 meets. The Ducks make their third ven ture on a 6,000 meter course this weekend at the Pacific-10 Conference championships in Seattle. The women’s race begins at 11 a.m. in Lincoln Park, near the Washington campus. Although the meet does not count toward NCAA qualification, the Ducks have much to gain — or lose — at the meet. “This is our chance to get back on track and near the big four teams in the conference,” Heinonen said. “We want to make this be a good step to wards regionals in two weeks.” The meet that counts toward NCAA qualification is the Western Regional meet on Nov. 11 in Fresno, Calif. “If we can be a solid fifth at West ern Regionals, we stand a much Turn to Women’s XC, page 8A Well be very lucky to make the NCAA meet It's still possible since 31 teams qualify, and we did beat a few teams that might still help us later on. Tom Heinonen Oregon head coach yy Photo by Emerald Junior defender Molly Stemp (20), freshman midfielder/defender Ann Westermark and the rest of the Ducks are ready to tangle it up with their Northwest rivals in the final home games of the 2000 season. Washington schools visit UO The Ducks look to give their fans a treat in their final two home games of the season By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald There will be plenty of emotion flowing out on Pape Field this week end. First off, the Oregon soccer team (4 11-1.1-3-1 Pac-10) will face Washing ton State (10-5-0, 2-4-0) today in a game that has traditionally been a 90 minute battle. Sunday, the Ducks will face the sec ond-best team in the country — Washington (15-1-0, 6-0-0) — in its last home game of the year. It will mark the final time that the four sen iors on the team will play in front of their fans. On Tap Who: Oregon soccer vs. Washington State, Washington When: Friday at 3 p.m„ Sunday at 1 p.m. Where: Pape Field The Ducks will try to create a little excitement in a season that has been simply mediocre up to this point. “It’s going to be a challenge for us,” said Chalise Baysa, the team’s leading scorer. “And it’s about time we step up to the challenge.” The emotion and intensity the Turn to Soccer, page 8A Energized Ducks may have a surprise for Pac-10 foes ■The Oregon volleyball squad will put its confidence and two-match winning streak on the line against No. 4 USC and No. 8 UCLA By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald “Why not this week?” Those were the words ut tered by Oregon head coach Carl Ferreira in reference to his team’s tough, two-game home stand, which begins tonight against Southern California. Why can’t the Ducks com pete with No. 4 USC and No. 8 UCLA in the sweet confines of McArthur Court? While it may seem im probable for the Ducks (9-10 overall, 1-9 Pac-10) to de feat two of the country’s finest, Ferreira said he has been emphasizing to his team that nothing is impos sible. “It’s my job to make this team believe that they can beat them,” Oregon’s first year coach said. “If we can understand that, and contin ue to work hard and exe cute, we can be successful.” The new and improved Ducks — who are re-ener gized after sweeping Oregon State and California-River side last weekend — can’t wait to show the Los Ange les kids their fresh attitude. “Most teams don’t expect much from Oregon volley ball,” junior outside hitter Monique Tobbagi said. “Most people think they can just roll over us. But they’re in for a big surprise this week.” In the first road trip of the season, the Ducks showed little competition against the Pac-lO’s top teams, getting swept in both matches. The loss at UCLA (14-5, 9-2) was Oregon’s most disappointing performance of the season, Ferreira said. “When we went down there, we were still stinging a bit from the first three con ference losses,” Ferreira said. “Against UCLA we had our worst day of the year, there’s no doubt about that.” As a team, the Ducks hit just .041 from the floor against UCLA — their worst hitting percentage of the sea son. “We’re anxious to face UCLA again,” Tobbagi said. UCLA showcases one of the nation’s best talents in junior hitter Kristee Porter. She leads the Pac-10 in kills and is a National Player of the Year candidate. Additionally, the Bruins’ Elisabeth Bachman’s 1.41 Tu rn to Volleyball, page 8A VOLLEYBALL On Tap Who: Oregon volleyball vs. USC, UCLA When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Where: McArthur Court
