Sports Editor:
Peter Hoekaday
phockaday@yahoo.com
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Ducks add
Litzenberger
for defense
■ Ernie Kent and the Oregon men’s
basketball team pick up veteran
coach Fred Litzenberger from the
women’s staff
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Basketball coach Fred Litzenberger
has officially made the switch.
Litzenberger, an assistant under for
mer Oregon women’s head coach Jody.
Rungefor six years, switched locker
rooms and will serve under Ernie Kent
on the men’s staff next year.
“I’m really excited for this opportu
nity,” Litzenberger said. “Ernie and I
have worked together before, and we
know each other’s styles well.”
Kent and Litzenberger both served
as assistants under Boyd Grant at Col
orado State from 1987-89. All told,
Litzenberger has 25 years of experi
ence as a coach and 16 trips to the
NCAA Tournament with various men’s
and women’s clubs.
As valuable as his long list of coach
ing experience is, Litzenberger’s
renowned skill is molding a team’s de
fense. The Longmont, Colo., native
turned the women’s team into one of
the most formidable defensive teams
in the Pacific-10 Conference. Under
Litzenberger’s defensive schemes, the
Ducks led the league in scoring de
fense three times and in field-goal per
centage defense twice.
Litzenberger said he looks forward
to improving the men’s defense, which
ranked 10th in the conference in scor
ing defense last season and eighth in
field-goal percentage defense.
“They just need to work on little
things here and there,” Litzenberger
said of the men. “It’s the little things
that make the big things happen.”
Turn to Litzenberger, page 8
Camps provide opportunities for kids
Jessie Swimeley Emerald
The cheerleaders of Glide High School, located outside Roseburg, learn the proper way to do aerial stunts.
■ While some who attend the
University for the summer may not
realize it, the campus is often
overrun with young sports campers
By Kara Winters
for the Emerald
Visitors be wary, or you may find
yourself entangled in groups attending
an array of sports camps that the Uni
versity is facilitating this summer.
For the past two weeks, Oregon track
and field and cross country camps
have been in session. Residing in resi
dence halls across from Hayward
Field, around 400 campers ages 14-19
from all over the country have access
to the track, field event areas, weight
rooms and various running trails.
The camps are broken up into two
sessions, and both include all skill lev
els. The first session, which includes
track athletes up to 400-meter runners,
took place last week. Distance event
runners, 800 meters and up, come to
the second session.
Camp administrator Renee Smith
manages advertising and camp
brochures and provides information to
the coaches. She said the number-one
thing she wants the kids to take away
from the camp is their own success.
"I want the positive experience of be
ing at this camp to help these kids
achieve their goals,” Smith said. “To
give them the inspiration to achieve
what they want out of this."
Smith said campers love the coach
ing, as the camp is staffed by individu
als who have coached or competed at
national and world-class levels.
The track and field and cross coun
try coaches at Oregon organize the
camps for the kids.
"Each coach at University of Oregon,
by virtue of their position, is allowed to
have a camp," Smith said. "The camp is
not affiliated with the University. It’s
run or owned by the head coaches."
Women’s track and field and cross
country head coach Tom Heinonen has
led the Ducks to 27 national top-10 fin
ishes and three NCAA titles in track
Turn to Sports camps, page 8
Emeralds swing back into contention with seven-game streak
Jessie Swimeley Emerald
Emeralds shortstop Jason Bartlett, seen here connecting with a pitch, leads the league in hitting and on-base percentage.
■ Despite a big loss Sunday, Eugene
uses sweet hitting and an addition of
speed to the lineup to contend for
the NWL lead
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Ouch. Put a bandage on that one — it
hurt.
The Eugene Emeralds lost a big game
Sunday afternoon at Civic Stadium, a
12-2 pounding at the hands of Spokane.
“You lose a game like we lost today,”
Emeralds manager Jeff Gardner said,
“and you just move on.”
Fortunately for Gardner and the Ems,
Sunday was the antithesis of Eugene’s
recent play. The Ems — now one game
over .500 at 13-12 overall — entered
Sunday’s contest riding seven straight
wins over Spokane. The streak took the
Ems from worst to first in the Northwest
League’s West Division.
After Sunday’s loss, the Ems moved a
half-game behind Salem-Keizer for the
league lead. Eugene’s game Monday
night at Everett was rained out.
Gardner said the Ems’ recent spurt
has come thanks to a shift in mentality.
“I think we realize we’re a pretty
good club,” Gardner said.
And a good club the Ems have be
“You lose a game like we lost
today, and you just move on. ”
Jeff Gardner
manager,
Eugene Emeralds
come, thanks to a heavy-hitting lineup
and a dose of speed. Heading into Sun
day’s game, shortstop Jason Bartlett was
second in Me NWL in hitting with a
.373 average while designated hitter
Greg Sain was first in home runs with
six. Sain was also fifth in the league in
hitting with a .350 average.
But the Emeralds have also added
some speed with the late addition of
Marcus Nettles. The rookie had been
playing with Miami, the College World
Turn to Ems, page 6