Emerald
Sophomore Mary Etter won two events at last year’s Oregon Preview. She will try to repeat that performance on Saturday.
Ducks to Preview season
■The Oregon women’s track
team opens its home season
at the Oregon Preview
on Saturday
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Life couldn’t be easier for the Ore
gon women’s track and field team
this week.
Looser-than
usual practices,
nice weather
and light train
ing lead up to
Saturday’s sea
son-opening
meet, the Oregon Preview at Hay
ward Field.
“It’s pretty much just a warm-up,
distance runner Hanna Smedstad
said about the meet. “We’re all excit
ed that the season is starting, though. ”
Oregon runners, jumpers and
throwers should dominate the colle
giate competition at the meet, but
they might tangle with several com
peting professional athletes.
Portland and Portland State will be
the only Division I schools besides
Oregon competing at the Preview,
while Seattle Pacific, Whitman Col
lege and four acommunity colleges
will also send teams to the meet.
Still, Saturday’s meet is the second
chance of the young season for the
Ducks to score NCAA provisional or
qualifying marks, and the first time
they will be able to qualify on their
own track. This year’s NCAA Cham
pionships will be held at Hayward
Field from May 30 to June 2.
“It is a tune-up, because it’s the be
ginning [of the season ] for a lot of ath
letes,” Oregon head coach Tom
Heinonen said of the Oregon Pre
view. “But it’s the first meet at home,
it’s the first good opportunity to get a
Pac-10 qualifying mark and maybe
even get onto the NCAA qualifying
list.”
Heinonen said that Saturday’s
meet may help him make decisions
on which athletes to take to the Stan
ford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.,
during spring break.
Junior All-American pole vaulter
Nikki Reed, coming off a disappoint
ing finish to the 2000 season marred
by injuries, is one of those athletes
who will compete for the first time in
2001 on Saturday.
“I’m excited for the meet this Sat
urday,” Reed said. “I’m hoping to
jump my PR or higher.”
Reed may have to compete with
some collegiate athletes, but the
Ducks running in the distance events
may face the toughest competition.
Three featured non-collegiate ath
letes will compete in the 3,000, while
one will enter the field in the 1,500.
Annette Peters, with Asics, as well
as Mindy Leffler and Carrie Morales,
will run the 3,000. Lisa Nye, with
Nike Portland, will compete in the
1,500. Also, former Duck standout
Marie Davis will race in the 3,000 Sat
urday.
If last season’s Oregon Preview is a
guide, the Ducks should cruise past
the competition this year. Oregon
won 11 events last year and even
scored one NCAA provisional mark
in the process. That mark belonged to
Karis Howell in the javelin. Other re
turners who won their events last
year are Mary Etter (shot put and dis
cus), Maureen Morrison (hammer
throw) and Endia Abrante (sprints).
Fans attending the Oregon Pre
view this weekend will see some
thing never seen before for the
women: the steeplechase. Although
no Oregon athletes are entered, oth
ers will compete in the event. The
5,000 steeplechase will appear at the
women’s NCAA Championships for
the first time this year.
The Oregon Preview will run al
most all day Saturday, starting at
11:20 a.m. with the women’s ham
mer and concluding with the 4x400
relay at 4:15 p.m.
Emerali
Junior sprinter Endia Abrante will compete in the Oregon Preview Saturday.
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