Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Friday, September 28,2001
Oregon Daily Emerald
Best Bet
Baseball: Oakland at Seattle
7 p.m., Fox Sports Net
UO harriers
to run in
Roy Griak
Invitational
■The cross country teams travel
to Minnesota for one of the
nation’s biggest meets
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
If the men’s cross country team
wants to achieve its goal of going to
the NCAA Championships, it will
need to run well on Saturday at the
Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul,
Minn. Along with Pacific-10 Confer
ence rivals Arizona, Arizona State,
Washington, Wash
ington State and
UCLA, teams from
around the nation
will be in atten
dance.
The men, who are
entering the weekend ranked No. 16 in
the nation, will face other top-25
teams, including No. 5 Providence, No.
6 Wisconsin, No. 10 Georgetown and
No. 13 Portland. The harriers will be
specifically targeting No. 12 Arizona
and No. 22 Arizona State.
On the women’s side, the Ducks
will run against No. 9 Providence,
No. 15 Missouri and No. 14 Colorado
State, among others. Pac-10 teams
ranked in the top-25 are No. 8 Ari
zona, No. 11 Arizona State and No. 17
Washington.
In order for a team to make it to the
NCAA Championships, it must either
receive one of 13 at-large bids or run
to a top-two finish at the regionals on
Nov. 10. Because of a very strong
western region, the Duck’s best bet is
to compete well during the regular
season and beat other potential cham
pionship participants in order to turn
the heads of the at-large selection vot
ers.
Many of the Ducks have yet to run in
a race this year because in the men’s
first meet they only sent out the “B”
unit. Thanks to runner-up John Lucas
and winner Noel Paulson, the Ducks
beat Portland’s “B” squad and Portland
State. A'dam Bergquist, Oliver Redig
and Kyle Robinson also finished in the
top-10 for the Ducks.
Ryan Andrus, Brett Holts, Eric Logs
don, Seth Pilkington and All-American
Jason Hartmann will all be running in
their first races of the season for the
men’s top squad.
Because of a calf injury that forced
her to miss last Saturday’s Sundodger
Invitational, sophomore Tara Struyk
will also be running in her first race of
the year for the women.
In the Sundodger, the Ducks fin
ished fifth out of nine teams and had
a seventh place finish from Carrie Zo
grafos, who may lead the Ducks all
season. Other finishers for Oregon in
cluded Laura Harmon (19th), Erinn
Gulbrandsen (33rd) and Magdalena
Sandoval (35th).
While it may not be an ideal situa
tion for either team, racing against
some of the nation’s best will provide
a solid challenge to start the season.
Turn to Cross Country, page 14A
Emerald
Sophomore Heather Gilmore has returned to the Ducks with tlying colors after last season. She opened the 2001 season with a career high 13 kills last weekend at Arizona.
Queen
comeback
■After redshirting last
season for health reasons,
Heather Gilmore has become
Oregon volleyball’s MVP
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
After enjoying a success
ful freshman season in
1999, a year in which
she finished with 62
kills, 55 digs and nine blocks,
Heather Gilmore knew the 2000
season would be like no other.
Only, she couldn’t have known
it could be as excruciating.
Diagnosed with mononucle
osis early in the 2000 season,
Gilmore decided to redshirt the
year, a decision she does not
regret.
“I think it was one of the best
decisions I’ve done, because I
got to spend a lot of time work
ing on different things,” she
said. “But it was really tough
because we were playing bet
ter, and your team is out there
but don’t get the results you
want, and you don’t have any
part of it. You don’t feel like
you can do anything. It was
somewhat depressing.”
It was not always going to be
that way for the up-and-coming
sophomore.
After finishing her career at
Bingham High School in South
Jordan, Utah, Gilmore was high
ly recruited after finishing her
senior year as the Region II
MVP. After touring the Oregon
campus, Gilmore decided to be
come a Duck because of the city
and how well she enjoyed the
surroundings.
“I love Eugene,” she said.
“The atmosphere, the people ...
I love the outdoors. That’s one of
the reasons why I came here. I
love the campus.”
In 1999, her first seasgjp, the
outside hitter didn’t expect to
play much. She was a young
player in a sea of veterans and
really didn’t know what to ex
pect. At first she didn’t play,
but when the Pacific-10 Con
ference came calling, Gilmore
got her time.
The change from high school
to college play was considerable
despite her accolades.
“It was a big change because
most of us come from high school
as the MVP and everyone else is
too, so we’re kind of at the bot
tom,” she said. “The intensity
and the concentration levels are
higher too. There’s a lot of pres
sure, especially in the Pac-10 be
cause that’s the highest caliber of
teams you can play for.”
Heather Gilmore
■ Hometown: South Jordan, Utah
|| (Bingham High School)
m. Bom: Feb. 3,1981
1|| Year: Redshirt sophomore
P Position: Outside hitter
k 2001: Gilmore has 13 kills in two matches this
season, including a career high 13 against Arizona
I summer, she will be vying for a starting spot in the
Oregon lineup.
* I last weekend. After playing in Croatia this past
2000: Redshirt season after being diagnosed with mononucleosis before
the season began.
1999: Finished the season with 62 kills, 55 digs and nine blocks, her first
season in Oregon. Set career highs in total attacks in one match (31} versus
Portland and digs (13) at Oregon State.
High School: Named the Region ii MVP her senior season; named Utah
prep-of-the-week by the Salt Lake Tribune and Desert News the same year;
also played two years of basketball, leading her team to a 40-3 record.
As a freshman, Gilmore
spent the season under former
head coach Cathy Nelson. After
the team finished 1-17 that sea
son, Carl Ferreira was brought
in to help jump start the pro
gram. Not only has the team
improved since he was named
head coach, but each individ
ual player has made strides.
And Gilmore is no exception.
“When I got here, I had ques
tions about whether she could
play at this level,” Ferreira said
about one of the Ducks’ most
improved players. “She had to
really work on improving her
arm swing, and her jumping
ability to be more explosive.
The spring when I first got her,
we began by having her throw
Nerf footballs, getting her arm
swing development going.
“This past winter, all the
work she put in has began to
Turn to Gilmore, page 17A