Friday
Best Bet
MLB: New York at Seattle
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SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
III?
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Emerald
Oregon sophomore John Stiegeler is the favorite to win the Pac-10 and NCAA javelin titles.
Tom Patterson Emerald
Senior transfer Hanna Smedstad qualified for the Pac-10s in the 5,000 and 1,500-meter races.
California Dreamin*: track heads to Pac-10s
■The Ducks should make noise at
the Pac-10 Championships after a
disappointing showing in 2000
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
A lot can change in a year.
A year ago this weekend, the Oregon
men’s track and field team finished sev
enth out of nine teams at the Pacific-10
Conference Championships, its worst fin
ish ever. What was even worse was that
the conference meet was held at Hayward
Field in Tracktown,
U.S.A.
The Ducks hope to put
up a better showing this
year in Berkeley, Calif.,
and they have seven big
reasons why they should.
1. Returning are All-Americans Jason
Turn to Men, page 12A
■The Oregon women will try to
improve on last year’s disappointing
last-place finish
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Last year, the Oregon women’s track and
field team finished ninth at its conference
championships.
Normally that wouldn’t be that bad, but
this happened at the Pacific-10 Conference
Championships. There are only nine teams
in Pac-10 track.
It was made even
worse by the fact that the
championship was held
at the Ducks’ own Hay
ward Field.
This season, Oregon
will need to improve in a
hurry to avoid a second
Turn to Women, page 9A
Oregon looks to move forward after brutal season
Jon House Emerald
Head coach Rick Gamez and the Ducks struggled through a season that saw them lose 40 games overall, the most in the
program’s 25-year existence. The Ducks lose only one senior and have high expectations for next year.
■The Oregon softball team will
use its 1 -20 season as a learning
experience and focus on building
team chemistry
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
An Oregon fan — a student with
close ties to the team — aired his frus
trations with one out remaining in the
Oregon softball team’s season finale Sat
urday against Stanford.
“Way to get your team to play for you,
coach!” the fan roared sarcastically
from the Howe Field stands as the
Ducks ended their season 1-20 in the
Pacific-10 Conference.
The comment, along with other not
to-be repeated phrases, was of course
directed at fifth-year head coach Rick
Gamez, who is taking much of the heat
after his team lost 40 games, the most in
the program’s 25-year history.
But, to Gamez’s credit, the problems
seemed to stretch beyond coaching
styles, beyond strategies and beyond
penciled-in starting lineup cards. In
essence, nothing seemed to go right for
the Oregon softball team this season —
on or off the field.
To start, the list of ailments and mis
fortunes was extensive during the four
month season.
Junior Holly Ray missed the final six
weeks of the season because of a torn ro
tator cuff in her right arm, for which she
had surgery April 12.
Perhaps the most
shocking news of the
year came with three
weeks remaining in
the season, when just
minutes before an
April 20 game against
Washington, starting catcher Kelly
Planche — one of two seniors on the
team — unexpectedly quit the team for
personal reasons.
Gamez would not comment on the
specifics of Planche’s decision.
“I have a lot of respect for Kelly and
what’s she done for this program in the
last four years,” Gamez said. “She’s a
class act.”
SOFTBALL
Turn to Softball, page 8A