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SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com
Ducks grab early lead at NCAAs
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Oregon decathlete Santiago Lorenzo scored 3,991 points in Wednesday’s five events. He now
stands in second place in the decathlon, and the Ducks are first in the team
competition. Oregon’s Billy Pappas stands in ninth place, with 3,794 points.
■The Ducks jump on top of the
field after three events, but
favorites Texas Christian and
Tennessee are hot on their trail
By Robbie McCallum
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a tight race, some excel, some drop
off, and some unknowns rise to the top.
The 2001 NCAA Track and Field
Championships looked to be one of the
tightest team races in many years with no
clear favorite, but five
solid contenders and
several dark horses.
Following the first
day of competition at
Hayward Field, two
teams were dealt ma
jor setbacks, while some surprise teams
leaped to the top of the standings —
namely Oregon.
The Ducks finished day one on top of
the team standings with 16 points while
favorites Texas Christian and Tennessee
set themselves up for strong finishes by
qualifying key athletes.
Oregon jumped out to an early lead
with John Stiegeler’s win in the javelin
and Jason Hartmann’s third place finish
in the 10,000 meters.
Tennessee’s Justin Gatlin ran the
world’s fastest 200 meters this year un
der any conditions with a wind-aided
time of 19.86 seconds in the preliminar
ies. Teammate Leonard Scottalso moved
onto the finals with the third fastest
qualifying time. The second and fourth
fastest times went to Texas Christian’s
Kim Collins and Darvis Patton.
“We wanted to make a statement ear
ly,” Gatlin said. “Our focus was to set
some kind of record in the prelims and
then win the final. We don’t want to
wish a win, we want a win. ”
Texas Christian and Tennessee each
Turn to Men’s, page 12
This time around
USC gets the best
of UCLA in relay
■Although there are still three days to go, USC
gets a huge boost in their hopes for an NCAA team
title as rival UCLA fails to qualify in 4X100 relay
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Although the women’s leaderboard at the NCAA Cham
pionships shows that Arizona and Idaho are tied for the
lead after day one, Southern California was the real win
ner Wednesday.
The Trojans got a leg up on their big rivals, the Bruins of
UCLA, in the preliminary heats of the 4x100 relay. Between
the first and second leg of the first heat, the Bruins failed to
hand off the baton within the 20-meter “exchange zone”
and failed to make the final of that event.
“It’s sad, because even though we’re ri
vals, we all know each other,” USC sprint
er Angela Williams said. “Still, now we’re
No. 4 heading into the finals, and we can
take those points from UCLA.”
The baton mix-up was ironic because
the last time the two track titans met, in
the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, the meet came
down to a baton dropped by USC in the 4x400 relay.
USC got another lift when UCLA’s best 400-meter hur
dler, freshman Sheena Johnson, failed to qualify for that
event’s final. Johnson ran a 59.84, far slower than her na
tion-leading mark of 56.02.
However, UCLA was the first of the two southern-Cali
fornia superpowers to score points in the overall competi
tion. Chaniqua Ross scored six points for the Bruins with a
third-place finish in the discus.
Idaho’s Katja Schreiber and Arizona’s Brianna Glenn
won the only two finals of the day, in the discus and long
jump, respectively.
Schreiber won out over a tough field in the discus with
her first throw. She easily surpassed her previous personal
best of 192 feet, five inches with a toss of 197-11. She beat
Liz Toman of Colorado State by 13 feet.
“I was ready to go,” Schreiber said. “I didn’t want to wait any
Turn to Women’s, page 13
Hartmann uses late kick to win third place at NCAAs
■ UO’s Jason Hartmann
saves the best for last and
finishes third in the final
of the 10,000 meter race
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Heading into the 10,000 me
ters final, Oregon redshirt
freshman Jason Hartmann’s
best case scenario had him fin
ishing in the top-eight and
earning all-American status.
If that was out of reach, he just
wanted to do the best he could
and take as much away from his
first NCAA Track and Field
Championship experience as
possible.
So what was his immediate
reaction following his eye-open
ing third-place finish in 29 min
utes, 28.97 seconds?
“Wow... I can’t even describe
the feeling... it was just awe
some,” Hartmann said. “If some
body would have told me this
before the race I would have
said, ‘No way.’”
Hartmann put the icing on
the cake for the Oregon men’s
track and field team as the six
points he earned in Wednes
day’s final event pushed the
Ducks up to the top spot of the
. . ... . . . i i < i t i i i i i • t i i i t
leader board. Oregon’s ahead of
Southern California and Notre
Dame by six points in the over
all team competition after day
one of the four-day meet at
Hayward Field.
“It’s a very important day for
us because we set the tone for
everyone else,” Hartmann said.
There were two separate races
going on in the 10,000 meters.
One was obviously Notre
Dame’s Ryan Shay’s runaway
victory in a fast-paced time cf
29:05.44.
The race within the race,
though, proved to be the most
exciting. At the halfway mark,
Hartmann was packed into a
four-person clump of runners
all vying for third-place. As the
laps wound down, he began
feeding off the energy of the
Hayward crowd and edged out
in front.
“I had a feeling I could do it,”
Hartmann said. “The fans were
firing me up with their yelling
and pushed me to keep running
my heart out.
“Then I got to that last lap and
it just happened.”
Once the bell rang signifying
the final lap of the race, Hart
mann visibly kicked into an
other gear that separated him
self from the pack and sent the
tMMMMMMHUMItMt
crowd to their feet in roaring
approval.
“Jason ran really tough with a
lot of determination,” Oregon
head coach Martin Smith said.
“It was really special and such a
nice way for him to end the col
legiate season. I was nervous he
went out a little too early since
he’s not a speedster, but it all
worked out for the best.”
Hartmann, who entered the
race ranked eighth nationally, was
mobbed afterwards by a gathering
of teammates, friends and family.
Handshakes, hugs and plenty of
smiles greeted the Rockford,
Mich., native as he tried to catch
his breath and realize what he
had just accomplished.
What made his race even
more surprising was that he
was coming off of a disappoint
ing performance at the Pacific
10 Conference Championships
just two weeks earlier. At the
Pac-lOs, Hartmann finished
12th in a time of 31:33.83.
“I ran a horrible Pac-10 race
and I wanted to come back and re
deem myself,” he said. “I’m just
so young and enjoying every mo
ment of this. What a great feeling.
“All the hard work has paid
off.”
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Oregon’s Jason Hartmann, left, the only freshman in the 10,000 meters, finished third with a time
of 29:28.97. Notre Dame’s Ryan Shay, center, won the event with a time of 29:05.44.
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