Men’s track team attempts to fill sprint hole
■The Oregon men will have
to shuffle around athletes
and football players to shore
up the sprinting events
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
This could be the best Oregon
track and field team in over a
decade. The 2001 squad is deep
across the board and has a legiti
mate NCAA contender in almost
every event —
except in the
sprints.
The Ducks’
weakness in
the sprints
was evident in
their 87-75
dual meet win over Washington
last Saturday. While Oregon dis
posed of the Huskies with domi
nance in the throws, jumps and
hurdles, Washington won the
100-, 200- and 400-meters.
“We’ve recognized the 100 and
200 meters as an area we need to
improve on,” Oregon head coach
Martin Smith said. “It hasn’t
been so much of a worry as an
area that we’ll need to work on
this season and in the future.”
Granted, Washington did have
the services of Olympian Ja’War
ren Hooker in the sprints on Sat
urday, but the nearest Oregon fin
isher to Hooker was just under a
second, an eternity in sprinting.
With a third of the season al
ready passed, the Ducks have no
Pacific-10 qualifiers in the 100-,
200-, 400-meters or the long
jump, an event closely tied to the
sprints.
Luckily, this year’s team is ver
satile enough that the sprinting
hole shouldn’t be that big a prob
lem come the Pacific-10 Confer
ence Championships.
On Saturday, Smith gained the
services of two football players,
senior Wesly Mallard and sopho
more A.K. Keyes, in the 100-me
ters. Keyes placed third in a time
of 11.08 seconds while Mallard
came in fifth in 11.47.
Keyes and Mallard aren’t the
first football players to hit the
oval for Oregon. Last season,
freshmen receivers Sarnie Parker
and Ric Cottengim were key
sprinters for the Ducks.
“We work closely with coach
Bellotti to make sure his players
stay healthy and focused on foot
ball,” Smith said. “Sprinting is
very beneficial for speed and
conditioning for football play
ers.”
Cottengim has since left Ore
gon and Parker has been ham
pered this spring by nagging in
juries, although he did
participate in the 4x100 hurdles
Saturday.
A definite option for Smith is
the use of hurdlers and decath
letes in the sprinting events. Ju
nior transfer Micah Harris, an
NCAA qualifier in the 110 hur
dles, has competed several times
this season in the 200-meters.
Freshman Jake Garlick was the
Utah state champion in the 110
hurdles and 200-meters in high
school.
Oregon decathletes, whose
Pac-10 meet is a week earlier
than the rest of the team, may
compete in sprinting events at
the multi-event portion of the
Pac-lOs. Juniors Santiago Loren
zo, Billy Pappas and sophomore
Jason Slye all compete in the
100, 400 and long jump as part of
the decathlon and may do the
same events at the Pac-10 meet.
A healthy prognosis
Junior transfer Simon Kimata
passed his first test of the season
Saturday in the 800-meters. The
Nyeri, Kenya, native competed
for the first time in two years fol
gli|:
Tom Patterson Emerald
Oregon’s Santiago Lorenzo (left) races next to the Huskies’ Brad Goodrich at Saturday’s Washington Dual at Hayward Field.
lowing a stress fracture injury
and an NCAA transfer period.
Kimata, who owns a 1 minute,
47 second personal best in the
800-meters, won the half-mile
race against Washington in a
“satisfactory” 1:50.7.
“I didn’t want to push too hard
on Saturday,” Kimata said. “I
can’t say I ran my fastest — I was
just out there to win. The most
important thing right now is to
stay healthy.”
If Kimata remains healthy and
returns to his old form, he could
make an already-strong middle
distance corps very formidable.
He joins junior Ross Krempley, a
Pac-10 finalist last season, Mer
ritt McDole, Sean Gross and Jake
Horner.
Fastest person to run the mile enters 2001 Pre Classic
■ Mile king Hicham El Guerrouj
will grace Hayward Field this May
at the 2001 Prefontaine Classic
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
Just when you thought the Pre
fontaine Classic couldn’t get any better,
it did.
Loaded with three world record hold
ers, the 2000 Pre Classic was one of the
biggest track and field meets on Ameri
can soil. This year’s Classic looks to be
even bigger with world record holder
Hicham El Guerrouj entered in the Bill
Bowerman Mile.
The world record holder in the
mile, 1,500- and 2000-meters, will
compete on American soil for only the
second time ever, May 27 at Hayward
Field. His race in the U.S. came in
1996 at the Olympic Games in At
lanta.
The Morocco native owns a personal
best of 3 minutes, 43.1 seconds in the
mile and a 3:26.0 in the 1,500-meters.
The Hayward Field and Prefontaine
Classic meet record in the mile is
3:50.9, set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in
1998.
His only losses in the past five years
were in Atlanta, when he fell at the bell
lap of the mile in Atlanta to finish a dis
appointing 12th, and in Sydney last
summer,# where he was edged by
Kenyan Noah Ngeny in the mile.
El Guerrouj will remain in Ifrane, Mo
rocco, a high-altitude training facility in
the Atlas Mountains, until late May,
when he will come to Eugene. The mile
will be his first outdoor competition of
the season.
El Guerrouj is the first entrant into the
2001 marquee meet. World record hold
ers Maurice Greene, Michael Johnson
and Marion Jones are perennial Classic
participants.
EL GUERROUj
Don’t Get Trapped In
A Small Apartment
• Free Month Rent
• 1 & 2 Bedrooms
• Quiet & Large
• Gas Fireplace
• Air Conditioning
• Laundry Hookups
• Free Cable
• Balcony/Deck
Now Taking Reservation
Deposits for Fall!
McKenna
Estates
mckennaeslales.com
342-5735
near Autzen Stadium
Raw Talent
The Oregon Daily Emerald is always looking for young
writers who want to learn and grow at a real newspaper.
For information on how to freelance for the Emerald cull .146-5511.
Looking for a scholarship to support study
or research abroad in 2002-2003?
A workshop for Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors and
Graduate Students to discuss
Selection Criteria and Application Procedures for
Fulbright, Rhodes, Marshall, DAAD,
NSEP and Rotary Awards and
Freeman Scholarships
Thursday, April 26 at 3:30 P.M.
METOLIUS & OWYHEE ROOMS *
Sponsored by Internationa! Education and Exchange,
College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School.