Wednesday
V
Best Bet
NBA: Utah at Phoenix
7:30 p.m., TNT
SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
ono
■Through hard work and
technical refinement, John
Stiegeler has thrown himself
into the national spotlight
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
In 1998, he was the No. 3 prep
thrower in Oregon.
In 1999, he was the No. 4 place
kicker for the Oregon State football
team.
Last year, he was the No. 2 javelin
thrower for the Oregon track and field
team.
Today, sophomore John Stiegeler is
second to nobody in the javelin. Not
to anyone on his team, in the Pacific
10 Conference, or even the nation.
The redshirt sophomore from Coos
Bay owns the country’s best mark in
the javelin with a toss of 245 feet, nine
inches — roughly the distance from
an end zone of a football field to the
opposite 19-yard line.
Stiegeler has impressed many this
season, including fans, coaches and
even himself.
“I expected to be among the top
throwers,” Stiegeler said. “I didn’t ex
pect to be at the top so quickly. I’ve
never really been the top anything.”
“I knew John was going to be
throwing far,” said Dan Steele, Ore
gon’s javelin and hurdles coach. “But
I didn’t know he was going to im
prove that much.”
In his season debut on March 17 at
the Oregon Preview, Stiegeler un
corked a 15-foot personal best in his
first competition of the year. His
throw of 238-7 earned him the na
tion’s top billing and the No. 2 spot on
the Oregon record book.
What has surprised his coaches the
most this season is Stiegeler’s vast im
provemeht from last season. During
the 2000 campaign, Stiegeler strug
gled to improve and failed to achieve
his goal of 220 feet.
After a disappointing performance
at the Pac-10 Championships last sea
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon sophomore John Stiegeler ranks second on the all-time school record book for the
javelin with an impressive throw of 245 feet, nine inches.
son, where he threw 203-10 for ninth
place, Stiegeler took a month off to
heal a recurring knee injury. In early
July, Stiegeler decided to participate
in the Summer Javelin Festival in
New Haven, Conn. A rested Stiegeler
exploded for a personal best 225-3,
good enough for third-place out of 15
international competitors.
“I didn’t start throwing as well as
I’d wanted to until the summertime,
which is a little frustrating,” Stiegeler
said. “I’d been expecting to throw in
the 220’s last year. I couldn’t really
put it all together until the summer,
then it started clicking when it was
too late.”
Since graduating from Marshfield
High in 1998, Stiegeler’s career has
taken a 180-degree turn.
He began his collegiate career as a
walk-on for the Oregon State football
team. After a successful fall with the
Beavers behind starting place-kicker
Jose Cortez, Stiegeler thought he
would stay in Corvallis and climb up
the Oregon State depth chart.
Then, spring football drills arrived.
“After springtime came around I re
ally started missing track again,”
Stiegeler said. “I decided to transfer,
but I wasn’t quite sure where. I called
around to different schools and even
tually found Oregon to be the best
place for me.”
Because Oregon State does not of
fer track and field as a varsity sport,
Stiegeler competed with the OSU
Track Club, where he competed for
the first time with a college imple
ment. But it just wasn’t the same for
Stiegeler.
“I liked it up there, it was nice,” he
said. “Had I stayed there I would have
had the opportunity to be the starting
kicker. It’s something I still have as an
Turn to Stiegeler, page 8
Kent selected as
member of NABC
■The Oregon head coach is honored with two
prestigious positions that further propel the Duck
name into the national spotlight
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon men’s basketball coach Ernie
Kent is going through a relatively peaceful
offseason compared to his counterpart in
the women’s program, Jody Runge.
Less than a week after securing a solid
recruiting class, Kent has been appointed
to two prominent positions that show the
level of respect he is given nationwide.
Kent was named to the National As
sociation of Basketball Coaches’ board
of directors Tuesday and also selected as
an assistant coach for
the United States’ 22
and-Under national
team.
Kent was appointed
to the position in the
N ABC by Kansas coach
Roy Williams, who is
president of the associ
ation. Kent joins big-name college coach
es such as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Ken
tucky’s Tubby Smith, Oklahoma’s Kelvin
Sampson and Stanford’s Mike Mont
gomery on the 15-member board. Santa
Clara coach Dick Davey was the only oth
er new addition to the board.
“It was a very humbling recommen
dation for me when I looked at some of
the people on that board,” Kent said.
The organization’s mission is to pro
tect the best interests of the college
game, coaches and student-athletes. The
NABC includes nearly 5,000 members,
mostly college basketball coaches.
Another Duck is also involved with
the NABC. Former Oregon head coach
Jim Haney is the organization’s execu
tive director.
“With the knowledge of the game and
the genuine concern for student-athletes
that [Kent and Davey] possess, the board
will benefit immensely from having
them serve as directors to this associa
tion,” said Haney, who was the Ducks’
coach from 1979-83.
Williams also gushed over the new
appointees in a press release.
“Both Ernie and Dick have shown
Turn to Kent, page 8
KENT
CC It was a
very
humbling
experience
forme
when I
looked at
some of the
people on
the board.
Ernie Kent
Oregon head
coach
Commitment not as hard as Pay-Rod thinks it is
My roommates have something
against television. Most of the
guys (I have five roommates)
don’t watch more than one or
two episodes of The Simpsons a week and
wouldn’t even consider paying $5 a month
for cable.
Furthermore — and to my dismay — the
guys could care less about what Alex Ro
driguez was doing Monday night. They
have much better things to do with their
lives.
I, on the other hand, had to be in front of
a TV.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a TV fanatic
— I’m a sports junkie.
Even more so, though, I’m a Seattle
Mariners fan. Thus, if I couldn’t be at Safe
co Field watching A-Rod come back to
Seattle for the first time since signing a
$252 million contract with the Texas
Rangers, I at least had to watch him on the
tube.
So off to work I went to watch TV (don’t
tell the boss).
It’s probably just basic cable, but the
Emerald newsroom at least has more than
OPB to watch on its 30-inch Magnavox.
There’s a nice little couch, beautifully high
lighted by a light blue cover, which is more
than suitable for me to watch my M’s kick
some A-Rod ass.
Wait. What am I thinking? There has to
be a better place for me to watch my sports.
The Emerald office isn’t exactly oriented
for my viewing pleasure. There’s always
this keyboard-banging, music-playing, peo
ple-talking clatter in the Emerald news
room, and it makes it hard sometimes for
me to keep my focus on the game.
Maybe the Oregon State newspaper has a
better viewing area and a better couch. Now
that I think about it, the Emerald couch is
n’t that great. There’s always some sleep
deprived copy editor sleeping there, and
they’re starting to cramp my space.
There must be something better some
where (I hear Texas has some good couch
es).
Better yet, I could just find a home that
already has cable. I could get fat and eat my
potato chips in the comforts of my own
place.
But, wait, I’m forgetting about Mikey,
West, Jimbo, Erin and Rusty. The guys may
not have the same attitude toward TV and
sports that I do, but I still have to respect
them. It’s not like I’m just going to up and
leave good ol’ 1456 because another house
offered me premium cable with ESPN,
ESPN2, ESPN Classic, HBO, Showtime and
all that other good stuff (although that
would be nice).
It’s just not right. I couldn’t just up and
leave the house like that. I have a bond
with my roommates — one that keeps us to
gether as a team. The 1456 team.
And the Emerald isn’t so bad. There are
some benefits. I have a flexible schedule
that allows me go to classes once in a
while. I also get to write about what I love.
Honestly, things aren’t so bad for me
right now.
I’m pretty content, actually. The grass (or
money) may be greener elsewhere, but I
have made a commitment. And I’m going to
stick to it.
Oh, about that A-Rod guy. He was l-for-5
in his return to Seattle, a game that the M’s
won 9-7. And in the second game, on Tues
day night, he committed two errors in the
Mariner’s 6-4 victory.
I should know, I was watching the game
on cable TV at my work (shhh!).
Adam Jude is a sports reporter for the Emerald. He can
be reached at ajude34@yahoo.com.