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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2001)
Sports Editor: Adam Jude adamjude@dailyemerald. com Assistant Sports Editor: Jeff Smith jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com Best Bet Bowling: PBA Tour 5p.m., ESPN Tuesday, October 2,2001 Softball coach resigns over missing money ■ Rick Gamez resigns after auditors find more than $5,700 being misappropriated on travel expenses By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald Oregon softball head coach Rick Gamez resigned Monday after an audit uncovered discrepancies of more than $5,700 in his team’s travel budget, Ath letic Director Bill Moos said. Moos said the discrepancies, discov ered two years ago and investigated this summer, arose when team members were forced to sign for money they nev er received on road trips. Gamez settled with the University for $26,000, or half his yearly salary, and will reimburse the University for the missing money as part of the settlement. Gamez chose to resign and settle after he was presented with the findings of the audit, Moos said. “(Gamez) is responsible for his pro gram just like all my coaches,” Moos said in a press conference Monday. “We believe it was his responsibility.” The investigation, conducted by the secretary of state’s office, delved into the last two seasons but no further. “We got word of it, and we went through the proper procedures,” Moos said. “An investigation result ed, and we thought the appropriate action was taken.” Moos said complaints from team members and parents over the last two seasons led to the discovery of the miss ing funds in the spring of 2000. Moos said he was “comfortable” with the sit uation after a conversation with Gamez following the 2001 season, but com plaints eventually reached the Oregon University System. The OUS then con tacted the secretary of state’s office to conduct the investigation. The secretary of state’s office has yet to release a report, but will do so later this week, Moos said. Gamez has been Oregon’s head soft ball coach for five years. He compiled a 168-164-1 record, and guided the Ducks to three postseason appear ances in that time. Before Oregon, Gamez coached at New Mexico State, Central Arizona Community College and Glendale College. “The improvement in our softball program has been very, very good,” Moos said. Despite the program’s turnaround under Gamez, controversy surround ed the team last season. Senior start ing catcher Kelly Planche unceremo niously quit halfway through the season, and the team often refused to practice as bad team chemistry led the Turn to Softball coach, page 6 Jon House Emerald Rick Gamez (right) announced his resignation Monday after auditors found more than $5,700 being misappropriated from the softball team’s budget. In five years at Oregon, Gamez led the softball team to a 168-164-1 record and three postseason berths. Adam Amato Emerald Junior setter Sydney Chute, the opening-day starter, has been slowed by an ankle injury, but is still averaging nearly 10 assists per game this year. In new system, setters battle for starting job ■ Now in a traditional one-setter offense, senior Julie Gerlach and junior Sydney Chute are having to earn every minute of playing time By Hank Hager Oregon Daily Emerald When head coach Carl Ferreira an nounced he was going back to a tradi tional one-setter offense after last season’s 4-2 flex scheme, senior Julie Gerlach and junior Sydney Chute were most affected. Because the new offense has room for only one setter on the floor at all times, Gerlach and Chute have been slated to battle for the starting spot. Be fore Pacific-10 Conference play began, Chute seemed to hold the position tight ly, but now Gerlach has come back strong. “We started the year with Sydney as our No. 1 setter when we changed our offense,” Ferreira said. “(When Chute suffered) an ankle injury, Julie got in and has done an excellent job.” New to the team this year are junior middle blockers Lindsay Closs and Stephanie Martin, two players Ferreira called “All-Americans.” Their addition contributed to a slow start for Chute at the beginning of the season, he said. “She struggled a little bit getting used to All-American caliber hitters,” he said. “All of a sudden you’re surround ed. You get in the flow of running an of fense, and she struggled a little bit.” Coupled with her ankle injury, Chute’s poor play allowed Gerlach to emerge and become a contributor in the new offense. After 13 team matches, Gerlach has 188 assists, or 6.27 per game. Chute has 308 assists, or 9.94 per game, and has played in 31 games com pared to Gerlach’s 30. But last weekend was another story for the duo. Gerlach played a majority of the match against Washington, post ing 27 assists and three kills. Chute played a small portion of the third game, coming in with six assists of her own. The next night, Chute played the entire match against the Cougars, recording 24 assists and five kills. Ducks fired up after post-game talk Against Washington State, the Ducks looked to be an entirely different team than the one that took the court against Washington. Was it something in the water? All bets say no. Turn to Volleyball, page 6 Bruins ‘beat down’ Beavers, move up to No. 9 in both polls ■ UCLA and Washington join the Ducks in the top 10 after winning on Saturday By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald The good news for Duck fans is that the Beavers don’t appear to be all they were cracked up to be. The bad news is UCLA looks nearly unstoppable. After consecutive embarrassments to Ore gon State — including a 55-7 stomping in Cor vallis two year ago — the Bruins (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pacific-10 Conference) quieted a packed Reser Stadium crowd Saturday with a 38-7 win over the then-19th-ranked Beavers (1-2,0 1), who managed just 220 yards of total offense. “Their quarterback (Jonathan Smith) said that we haven’t faced a top-notch offense yet, and I guess we haven’t faced one yet,” UCLA middle linebacker Robert Thomas told the Associ ated Press after the game. “I expected this.” The Bruins moved up to No. 9 in both the AP and coaches polls. Ore gon State, Sports Illus trated’s preseason No. 1, is no longer ranked in the top 25. “We got beat down,” Oregon State linebacker James Allen said. “We got it brought to us in our own home, and we’ve got to fix it fast.” Heisman hopeful DeShaun Foster racked up 147 yards and three touchdowns for the Bruins. He is averaging 128 yards per contest. “This team could be as good as it wants to be,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo told The Los Angeles Times. No. 7 Oregon plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl Nov. 10. Huskies come from behind again For the third-straight year, Washington had to pull through late to pull out a victory against the California Bears. The Huskies, who moved up two spots to No. 10 in the coaches poll, trailed 21-10 at the half before winning 31-28 Saturday. Last year, Washington scored 23 points in the fourth for a 36-24 comeback win. The Bears led 24-17 in the fourth quarter two years ago, only to see UW win 31-27. “It is amazing,” Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel told the AP. “They’ve had opportunities to win all three. I point to character. Nobody blinks.” The Huskies have won 19 straight games against Cal. Neuheisel’s kids have also won 10 straight, with their last loss coming to the Ducks on Sept. 20, 2000. Cal is 0-4 for the first time since 1980. Turn to Pac-10 Football, page 8
