Crosscountry
continued from page 7
Third-ranked Arkansas placed
five runners in the top-25 to win
its third straight, and 11th overall,
national title.
Heads were shaking at the Ore
gon camp after the women’s race
as the Ducks placed 28th, the
school's worst-ever finish at na
tionals.
‘‘Before the race, I told them to
run smart, run tough and try to for
get about the conditions, but that
was pretty difficult to do,”
Heinonen said.
Oregon’s top three runners, all of
whom are seniors, ran their last
races in Oregon uniforms.
Senior transfer Hanna Smed
stad, Oregon’s top runner, had an
off race, finishing 64th in a time of
21:38 over the 6,000-meter course.
“It wasn't a very good day, and I
didn’t run well,” Smedstad said.
“This is the worst conditions I've
raced in.”
Smedstad, a two-time All-Amer
ican,-placed 18th and 28th in the
last two NCAA meets for Okla
homa State.
Senior Rhiannon Glenn was the
next Duck to the finish line, plac
This is tough cross
country weather and if
you weren’t mentally
prepared and mentally
strong enough, it could
have a major impact.
Martin Smith
head coach,
Oregon men’s cross
ing 153rd in a time of 22:25.
“I had tights on and still never
warmed up out there,” Glenn said.
“I never broke a sweat, and still
didn't 30 minutes later when I had
all my race gear still on and was
inside. It was pretty bad out there.”
Senior Katie Crabb, usually the
Geoff Thurner Oregon Media Services
Rhiannon Glenn (160) capped her Oregon cross country career Monday at the NCAA Championships.
team’s second runner, finished
176th in a time of 22:38. Ciabb
placed 114th at last year’s national
meet.
Sophomore Eri MacDonald and
freshman Laura Harmon rounded
out Oregon’s scorers in 194th and
196th place, respectively (22:50
and 22:51). Harmon has been bat
tling a cold the past week.
Sophomore transfer Carrie Zo
grafos had one of the better races
for the women. Although Zografos
was 37 seconds off her personal
best, she improved her place from
the Pre-NCAA meet Oct. 14 on the
same course by 84 places.
Sophomore Erinn Gulbrandsen
rounded out the Oregon contin
gent with a 240th-place finish in a
time of 24:06.
Top-ranked Colorado swept
team and individual honors. Buffa
lo senior Kara Grgas-Wheeler won
the race in a time of 20:30, seven
seconds ahead of runner-up Sabri
na Monro of Montana. Colorado
placed five runners in the top-50 to
capture the national champi
onship.
Pesznecker
continued from page 7
And if you thought the football
team had destiny on its side, how
about the women's cross country
team?
After struggling with poor fin
ishes in the increased 6,000-meter
race.format, the Harriers pulled it
together in the Western Regionals
two weeks ago to earn a coveted at
large NCAA bid. Don’t tell me it
wasn’t fate that brought All-Ameri
can transfer Hanna Smedstad into
the mix to run alongside senior
Katie Crabb.
Sure, the Ducks didn’t do too
well at the NCAA Championships,
but the bottom line is that they got
there.
Want another reason? How
about the men’s basketball team?
Losing to Athletes in Action was
not a huge deal; after all, those
guvs have been playing hoops
Need a job?
Your Student government has
3 positions available:
Elections Coordinator
Safety Advocate
Federal Affairs Coordinator
Work with a great team to
make the University a better place.
Application are in the ASUO office
Suite 4 EMU
Qoetuow can ’t a/a/I
to-fiee/c ..
Uonly
more days
...until the Oregon Daily Emerald holiday issue.
(The last issue for fall term. Advertising deadline is Wednesday, November 29)
their whole lives.
The important thing is that head
coach Ernie Kent has a core group
of players that will be pretty dang
good three years from now. Who
knows, they may even surprise
themselves this season.
Not to mention thunderous
dunks a la Brvan Bracey are al
ways fun to watch.
Let’s see, what else is out there
— got it! How could I write a col
umn to cheer up Oregon fans with
out talking about the volleyball
team?
Now I know what you’re think
ing, that I'm being sarcastic, but
I’m not. Truth is, this team got bet
ter and better as the season went
on, despite a letdown in its final
match.
I watched a game earlier in the
season, and it wasn’t great. I
watched one later in the season, a
win against Washington, and
walked away thinking that new
coach Carl Ferreira was on to
something. While the task of lifting
Oregon volleyball to par with the
Stanfords and UCLAs is monu
mental, maybe, in time, he’ll be the
guy who does it.
No matter how Ferreira’s quest
ends, it should be inspiring to
watch.
There’s so much more I could
write about, too. The wrestling
team has senior Chael Sonnen
back in its ranks, and anything less
than an NCAA title would be dis
Standings
continued from page 8
age, 1.43 for computer-rank aver
age, 0.52 for strength of schedule
and zero for losses. The Sooners
beat Texas Tech 27-13 on Satur
day.
Florida State had 5.55 points —
3 for poll average, 1.43 for com
puter-rank average, 0.52 for
strength of schedule and 1 for
losses.
Miami had 0.06 points — 2 for
poll average, 2.86 for computer
rank average, 0.20 for strength of
schedule and 1 for losses. If Miami
beats Boston College and doesn’t
play in the Orange Bowl, the Hur
ricanes could end up in the Fiesta
Bowl in a possible matchup
against Notre Dame.
Washington (10-1), meanwhile,
moved up to fourth place with
10.46 points. If Oklahoma and Mi
ami both lose, then the Rose Bowl
appointing for him. Softball went
to the NCAA Tournament last year
and is on the upswing. The club
hockey team overcame the tragic
loss of a teammate last season and
is off to a good start. The tennis
team has a new facility behind the
Student Recreation Center.
So you see? There are plenty of
reasons to be a Duck.
Yes, there are even reasons to be
an Oregon football fan. If you
thought this season was dramatic,
think about how huge next season
will be, when Wisconsin comes to
Autzen Stadium, when a revital
ized Southern California team vis
its Autzen, when bitter Arizona
State comes to Autzen, and finally,
when the Beavers venture into
Autzen.
To say the least, it should be a
good year for season-ticket hold
ers.
Anyway, a final message to all
you Duck fans out there: Times
may seem bleak and unfair, but
don’t worry too much. You’ve got
more to cheer about than most oth
er schools, including a certain uni
versity located 45 miles northwest.
Before you know it, you won’t
be so distraught that your team is
n’t going to the Rose Bowl, and be
ing an Oregon fan will seem right
as rain.
Scott Pesznecker is the assistant sports
editor of the Emerald. He can be reached
at pezsez1@hotmail.com.
bound Huskies could move into
the Orange Bowl picture. Miami’s
only loss was to the Huskies, 34
29, in September.
The BCS was created two years
ago to come up with a national ti
tle game without instituting a play
off. After the top two teams are de
cided, the remaining BCS games —
the Rose, Sugar and Fiesta bowls
— select from the remaining pool
of qualified teams.
Four conference champions
have clinched BCS berths as auto
matic qualifiers: Florida State
(ACC), Miami (Big East), Purdue
(Big Ten) and Washington (Pac
10). The other automatic quali
fiers are the winners of the Big 12
(Oklahoma vs. Kansas State) and
SEC (Florida vs. Auburn ) title
games on Dec. 2. Teams under
consideration for the two at-large
bids are Notre Dame (8-2), Ore
gon State (10-1) and Virginia Tech
(9-1).
This paper can be
Recycled!