Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2001)
Monday Best Bet MLB: Texas at Seattle 7 p.m., Fox Sports Net SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com Tom Patterson Emerald Niki Reed punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships with a school record pole vault leap of 13-51/4. Tom Patterson Emerald Ross Krempley raises his arms in triumph as he completes the 4x400 relay victory and meet win for Oregon. UO track scores sweep over Huskies at Dual ■The women beat Washington in the only dual meet of the season thanks to their solid throwers By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald - -Not only did the Oregon women’s track and field team beat Washington in the teams’ dual meet Saturday at Hayward Field, but they won with a little flourish. After all, it was the throwing events that carried the Ducks all afternoon. The clinch ing victory was, fittingly, Mary Etter’s toss of 43 feet, five 3/4-inches in the discus. The Ducks dominated the Huskies Satur day and won the Washington Dual by 23 points, 88-65. Oregon won nine of the 18 events, but swept the pole vault, discus and hammer events to notch the team victory in the Ducks’ only head-to-head competition of the year. “We wanted to win the meet, and it’s great for our team to win a dual meet,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said. “Even bet ter than that, we got lots of good marks, with solid competition.” Oregon’s most impressive single score was Niki Reed’s pole vault of 13-5 1/4, which tied her own school record and put her second on the NCAA list. It was the Ducks’ first NCAA automat ic mark of the year, meaning Reed is the first Oregon ath lete to have her ticket punched for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field later this season. “It feels great,” Reed said about equaling her record. “I’m really excited for nationals here. I’ve got big plans for nationals.” Vaulters Holly Speight, Kirsten Riley and Karina Elstrom finished second through Turn to Women’s, page 9A ■ Bolstered by their field events, the Duck men outlast the Huskies at the Washington Dual By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald As Ross Krempley sprinted toward the fin ish line of the 4x400 relay, the Hayward Field public address announcer proclaimed, “The sun has returned to the Willamette Valley, and so have the Ducks as they win the relay and the event.” The final race of the day proved to be icing on the cake for the Oregon men’s track and field team, who had captured the necessary 82 points in its previous run to overtake the Washington Huskies in the 93rd edition of the Washington Dual. Oregon’s almost six-second advantage over Washington in the last relay event pro pelled the Ducks to the 87-75 victory in front of 2,678 fans at Hayward Field. “We showed the ability to improve and I was real pleased with the steps we took,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said. “It’s just real different than a big invitation. It en gages every kid to be a part of the team and to contribute to the chance of the team doing well. It helps bring a team together. ” Indeed, the players, whether they competed in the field or on the track, were united as one. On this Satur day afternoon, the Ducks spoke not of gaining qualify ing marks for later competi tions, but of earning enough overall points that day to beat their Northwest Pacific-10 Conference rival Huskies. “It’s always real exciting and this dual meet with Washington has a great history,” said Santiago Lorenzo, who battled through a Turn to Men’s, page 10A Jon House Emerald Shortstop Kate Peterson can’t hang on to a throw as Oregon State’s Brooke Rutschman slides into second base. Centerfielder Lisa Wangler looks on in the background. Ducks sink below .500 mark ■After sweeping San Jose State Friday, the Ducks were swept by Civil War foe Oregon State Saturday By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald The weekend stafted out hot. The sun was shin ing, the birds were chirping and the Oregon soft ball team was poised to turn around its lingering season. And, if only for a day, hope was in Oregon’s dugout. The Ducks swept San Jose State in a Friday doubleheader, outscoring the Spartans 13-2, to climb above the .500 mark and roll into Saturday’s Civil War doubleheader with a touch of confidence. But when the No. 16 Beavers strolled onto Howe Field, the mood changed. From the time sopho more Lisa Wangler threw her first pitch just after 12 p.m. until the Ducks finished tarping the field four hours later, the momentum belonged to the black and orange. It was like football quarterback Joey Harrington getting drilled all over again. SOFTBALL Oregon State (32-15 overall, 2-5 Pacific-10 Confer ence) used a seven-run third inning to win the first game 8-0, and sent junior pitcher Connie McMurren home early in an 11-2 romp in the late game. The Beavers have now won seven straight Civil War contests, “We don’t have that mental edge right now. We just haven’t figured it out,” said Oregon head coach Rick Gamez, who is now 25-26 overall and 1-7 in the Pac-10. “We need more focus, more fight, espe cially in the Pac-10. There’s no possible way we can expect to compete like this. ” Three Oregon errors proved costly in the third in ning of the first game. Wangler loaded the bases after an error and two singles and gave up an RBI single to Oregon State first baseman Steph Adams, scoring two runs. In 2 2/3 innings, Wangler was responsible for seven runs—three unearned—while walking four. She suffered the loss to fall to 5-7 on the year. “We had one bad inning in the first game that was - - the turning point of the entire day,” Gamez said. “It’s tough to try to come back after an inning like that. ” In game one, Oregon State pitcher Crystal Draper allowed just two hits — including a two-out double off the bat of Missy Coe in the bottom of the seventh — and struck out eight in the complete-game Turn to Softball, page 10A
