UO basketball teams net talented recruits
■The Oregon men’s and
women’s basketball teams
load up their recruit artillery
By Scott Pesznecker and Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon women’s basketball
team will replace its five seniors with
five high school standouts at the start
of next season, the Oregon Athletic
Department announced Wednesday.
And if these five players are as
good as Oregon head coach Jody
Runge says they are, they could be
come the foundation of Oregon bas
ketball for years to come.
Letters of intent were signed by
center Andrea Bills of Moreno Val
ley High School in Moreno Valley,
Calif.; point guard Brandi Davis of
Sonorah High in La Habra, Calif.;
guard/forward Kedzie Gunderson
of Bellevue High in Bellevue,
Wash.; forward Amy Parrish of
Hanford High in Hanford, Calif.;
and guard Amy Taylor of Shore
. Ducks end
fall season
at Prestige
■The Oregon men's golf
team finished its fall season
Tuesday in California, and
now looks forward to spring
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon men’s golf team had its
worst showing of the fall season this
Wtfekr, despite facing its Easiest com
petition at the Prestige at Palm Desert.
The Ducks ended their last tourna
ment of the fall season in ninth place,
their lowest finish since the NCAA
West Regionals at the end of last sea
son. The team shot a final-round 299,
its worst round of the tournament, to
drop from eighth to ninth Tuesday.
Only one top-25 team competed
in the 15-team field at the Prestige.
No. 7 Northwestern won the tourna
ment when it recovered from a first
round 291 and shot rounds of 281
and 283, respectively. The Wildcats
« won the Prestige by one stroke over
Pepperdine. Hosts Stanford and
California-Irvine finished third and
fourth, respectively.
Individually, sophomore Chris Car
nahan and junior Aaron Byers led the
Ducks at the Prestige. In four tourna
ments this season, Carnahan and By
ers have paced the Ducks once each.
Carnahan and Byers each shot a 222
to finish tied-for-29th. Junior Brandon
Hamden, senior Matt Genovese and
senior T.J. Duncan all finished behind
Carnahan and Byers, but were only
separated by three strokes.
Hamden finished tied-for-37th,
Genovese was 41st and Duncan fin
ished 50th. Sophomore John Ellis,
who finished 60th, also placed for
Oregon.
The Ducks will now start the
process of preparing for the all-im
portant spring tournaments.
Oregon will play at the Ping Ari
zona Intercollegiate in Tucson,
Ariz., January 29-30, to kick off the
spring season. The Ducks will then
play seven tournaments before the
Pacific-10 Conference Champi
onships in April. After that, Oregon
will play in the NCAA West Region
als, where it tripped up last year,
which would make or break a trip to
the NCAA Championships in North
Carolina next May.
The Ducks assembled an impres
sive fall season, scoring two fifth
place finishes, one second-place
finish and the ninth-place they se
cured at the Prestige.
wood High in Shoreline, Wash.
Graduating this year will be cen
ter Jenny Mowe, forward Angelina
Wolvert, guard/forward Lindsey
Dion, forward Brianne Meharry and
guard Camber Ellingson.
“This group increases our athleti
cism significantly,” Runge said.
“They fill a lot of needs we are los
ing or haven’t had in the past. ”
Bills, a 6-foot-3 center, averaged 24
points, 11 rebounds and more than
four blocks per game as a prep junior.
“She will be a rebounder like
we’ve never had before,” Runge said.
Davis, a 6-foot point guard, was
ranked by All-Star Girls Report as
i
the fifth-best wing among all high
school juniors last year. She aver
aged 14 points, five rebounds, five
assists and three steals per game.
Runge said that gaining Gunder
son, a 6-foot guard/forward, could
be like having another Lindsey
Dion because of her strength and
hustle plays. Gunderson earned
second-team all-state honors in
Washington last year.
Parrish, a 6-foot-2 forward, aver
aged 18 points and eight rebounds
per game as a junior.
Taylor averaged more than 17
points, four assists, four rebounds
and two steals per game as a junior.
“We feel very proud and excited
about our new additions,” Runge
said. “They’re all capable to play as
freshmen, and their success as fresh
men will be a huge part of our depth. ”
Men add height with Short
The Oregon men’s basketball
team went after a solid post player in
its recruiting and found its man in 6
foot-11 Matt Short, who signed a let
ter of intent to play for the Ducks.
Short, a senior at Yreka High
School in Yreka, Calif., averaged
13.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per
game as a junior last season, as well
as recording 59 blocks. PacWest
Hoops lists him as the fifth-best
prep center on the West Coast.
“We recruited Matt because of
his ability to play two positions,”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent
said. “He can stay low at center and
block shots or he can step out on
the perimeter.”
Short will arrive at Oregon for
the 2001-02 season, a crucial time
to help ease the pain of losing cur
rent seniors Bryan Bracey, Flo
Hartenstein and Julius Hicks.
Short chose the Ducks over fel
low Pacific-10 Conference teams
Arizona State and Washington
State, as well as New Mexico.
What a difference
the train makes!
Enjoy the comfort and convenience of traveling
with Amtrak® this holiday season.
Student Advantage® Members save 15%* on rail fares to over 500 destinations
all year long, including the holidays. To join Student Advantage, call
1-877-2JOIN-SA or visit studentadvantage.com.
For Amtrak® information and reservations, call 1-800-USA-RAIL or visit
www.amtrak.com.
‘Not valid on peak weekday Metroliner* or Acela Express" Trains and Canadian portions of trains operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, or on connecting services via non-Amtrak carriers
% ** you are not a Student Advantage Member, enjoy
1 1 B ACC a one time savings of 10% when you present this
I OFF coupon and your valid student I.D.
Tickets must be purchased between November 1, 2000 and December 18, 2000, for travel from
November 1, 2000 through January 31, 2001.
Original coupon must be surrendered at the time of purchase.
Offer valid for select trains only — Not valid on unreserved NEC service,
Name:
Address: