Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
phockaday@yahoo. com
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wimbledon,
Best Bet
1 st and 2nd rounds
4 p.m., TNT
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Bob Kennedy
(above, 485)and
Regina Jacobs
(right) were
some of the USA
Championships
storytellers.
Jacobs won both
the 800 and
1,500, while
Kennedy came
back from an
injury suffered
last season.
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Track Town hosts
story-filled meet
■ Eugene was engulfed in an
exciting meet last weekend as
America’s track stars came to town
forthe U.S.A. Championships
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
There was a revolution at Hayward
Field last weekend.
An American track and field revolu
tion.
Over four days last week, hundreds
of athletes — all with aspirations to
make the American team for the World
Championships in Canada later this
summer — competed at the U.S.A.
Championships. In this normally dull
post-Olympic year, the Eugene crowd
saw a most exciting four days of track.
“We’ve got a revolution on our hands,
mark my words,” said Gabe Jennings,
Stanford’s enigmatic star, after he lost a
breathtaking 1,500-meter race Saturday.
“This is just a preview of blowout races
to come.”
The revolution started Thursday,
when Maurice Green ran the fastest
time in the world this year in the 100
meter dash — and then quit. Green
protested a decision by U.S.A. Track
and Field to force athletes to compete in
the U.S.A. Championships, even if the
athletes already had exemptions for the
World Championships.
Some athletes protested Green’s
protest.
“People don’t realize that if we show
our faces, that’s a benefit for us,” said
Gail Devers, who won the 100-meter
hurdles. “We don’t have a lot of meets
in this state. We need to come out here
for our fans.”
“Our nationals are the biggest meet in
America all year,” said Marion Jones after
she won the 200 by a typical large margin.
“We should all want to compete here.”
But Green’s controversial decision to
sit out the semi-finals and finals of the
100 didn’t affect his running. He ran the
preliminary race in 9.9 seconds, tying
the meet record and smashing the Hay
ward Field record.
Saturday saw two hotly contested
1,500-meter races. In the men’s version,
Jennings squared off with this year’s
NCAA Champion, Bryan Berryhill, and
high-school phenom Alan Webb. All three
of the elite runners lost out to Andy Down
in, Seneca Lassiter and Paul McMullen,
the top three finishers who made the
American World Championships team.
The men’s 1,500 was one of a handful
of races from the meet that were televised
nationally. ESPN broke into Sportscenter
to broadcast Saturday’s race, while CBS
broadcasted for an hour Sunday, and
Turn to Championships, page 10
Duncan falls from spotlight
as Greer, others take over
■While many compelling stories
grab Eugene’s attention, Oscar
Duncan’s is one of fallen hopes
By Peter Hoffmeister
for the Emerald
A chiropractor spent an hour Thurs
day and another Saturday making sure
that Oscar Duncan’s separated shoulder
was in place.
For the 26-year-old javelin thrower,
the U.S.A. Championships would be
come a terrible disappointment.
Duncan finished 14th with a throw of
208-7 as Breaux Greer set new meet and
field records with his first-place throw of
279-7. Duncan had injured his throwing
shoulder only 11 days before coming to
Eugene, but he said he felt it was impor
tant to come and give his best effort.
”At this level everybody has injuries,
so I can’t fall back on it,” Duncan said, as
if all the throwers were launching spears
with their shoulders out of their sockets.
Two years ago, Duncan’s first trip to
Eugene was a breaking-out party, taking
him from the relative obscurity of a ca
reer at Idaho State to his first berth on
the American national team. His return
was a story of what could have been.
Even an average throw for him Satur
day would have secured a top-three fin
ish, but Duncan did not feel bitter to
ward those who did qualify for this
year’s national team.
’’Those guys have been working hard
all year, and they deserve it,” said Dun
can, his disappointment evident. ’’Plus,
that’s the way this whole year has been. ”
Last September, Duncan lost his
mother to a long battle with cancer right
at the beginning of his new training
year.
’’That changed things for me,” Dun
can said. ”1 used the javelin more to be
Turn to Duncan, page 12
Emeralds open season with flourish, despite mediocre record
Eugene’s minor
league baseball
team opens the
home season
with a pair of
losses, but fans
turn out all the
same
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Old Eugene Emeralds caps were
taken out of the closet across the city
Sunday. The Civic Stadium stands
had to be dusted off. The scoreboard
was checked to make sure it was
working.
The Ems opened their borne season,
albeit with a whimper on the field it
self. The Eugene minor-league baseball
club, an affiliate of the San Diego
Padres, lost its home opener to the
Vancouver Canadians, 7-1.
The blowout didn’t stop a large por
tion of the 4,886 fans from staying the
entire game for various opening-day
promotions and fanfare.
The Emeralds entered Sunday’s
home opener with a 2-3 record after
an up-and-down first series with the
Yakima Bears. The Ems continued
their erratic ways in two home-open
ing losses to the Vancouver Canadi
ans. The Ems lost Monday’s game by
a score of 9-8.
Ems manager Jeff Gardner was opti
mistic about his season, despite Eu
gene’s 2-5 record.
“We’ll win our share of games,”
Gardner said. “Of course I’m disap
pointed we didn’t win, but there were
a lot of good things that happened out
there.”
Sunday’s home opener was an omi
nous start to the series with the Cana
dians. Geoff Jones, who received a ne
decision in his first start at Yakima,
pitched four strong innings starting
for the Ems. Jones struck out eight,
walked three and gave up only two
runs. He left the game with the score
tied 1-1.
That tie wouldn’t last for long. Dar
win Soto pitched two strong innings,
John Herbert pitched one more, and
then Juan Mejia got picked apart by the
Canadians’ bats. Mejia would end up
walking three batters, giving up two
hits and earning five runs. The Ems
would not recover.
Turn to Ems, page 8