Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
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Assistant Sports Editor:
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Best Bet
MLB Playoffs:
Houston at Atlanta, Game 3
1:15p.m., FOX
Friday, October 12,2001
New look Oregon hoopsters anxious to begin
■The Oregon men are preaching
defense as they prepare for a new
season in which they’ve added four new
post players to help clog the middle
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
There were smiles, high-fives and laugh
ter all over the new McArthur Court floor
Thursday as the 2001-02 version of the Ore
gon men’s basketball team met with the me
dia for the first time.
And in addition to the different floor —
which has replaced the Duck at center court
with an “O” similar to the one at Autzen Sta
dium — Oregon is promis
ing a much different team
than the one that went 5-13
in the Pacific-10 Conference
last season.
Namely, the Ducks are
guaranteeing to be tougher
on defense, which they will
begin working on Saturday
in the team’s first practice. Think their defen
sive efforts from a season ago haven’t been on
their minds all summer? Take a listen.
From senior guard Freddie Jones: “We
were one of the worst defensive teams in the
Pac-10 last season.”
From fellow senior guard Ben Lindquist:
“Our defense was pretty bad last year during
that nightmare season when everything sort
BASKETBALL
of snowballed on us.”
And from head coach Ernie Kent: “It was
definitely the worst defensive team that I’ve
coached.”
Which makes it easy to see why Kent is so
excited about the addition of Fred Litzen
berger as an assistant coach. Litzenberger
spent the past six seasons as a defensive spe
cialist with the Oregon women’s basketball
team and is chomping at the bit to get started
with the men’s team.
“I’ve been waiting for this day to come all
summer,” said Litzenberger, who’s in his
35th year of coaching, including being a
men’s assistant with Kent for two seasons at
Colorado State in the laite ‘80s. “I’m so excit
ed. I’ve watched all their tapes from last sea
son and could see the areas they needed to
improve in. They were so close, yet so far.”
Litzenberger will have some big bodies to
work with as the Ducks’ roster boasts seven
players standing at 6 feet, 8 inches or taller.
In addition to returnees Chris Christoffersen
(7-3), Mark Michaelis (6-10) and Jay Ander
son (6-9), Kent has brought in four players
who help make the Ducks one of the biggest
teams in the country.
Of the four, junior college transfers Robert
Johnson (6-8) and Brian Helquist (6-9) are ex
pected to contribute immediately with fresh
men Matt Short (7-0) and Ian Crosswhite (6
11) being allowed to come at their own pace.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun this year and I just
Turn to Women’s, page 6A
■ After a season where turmoil
surrounded the Oregon women, 2001 -
02 is shaping up to be a success
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Fans who trek to McArthur Court this sea
son will see a practically brand new
women’s basketball squad.
Gone is eight-year head coach Jody Runge.
Jenny Mowe, Angelina Wolvert, Lindsey
Dion and Brianne Meharry have all depart
ed as well.
Now, former Duck standout Bev Smith
enters as the team’s new head coach. After
almost 20 years away from
the Oregon program, she
takes over for the much
maligned Runge.
But she will have help in
her first year at the helm.
Junior Shaquala Williams
returns after redshirting last
season due to a torn ACL,
suffered in a September 2000 pick-up game.
The guard earned Pacific-10 Conference
Freshman of the Year honors in 1998-99,
and has been named as a third-team presea
son All-American by the Women’s Basket
ball News Service for the upcoming season.
Williams is joined this season by six fresh
men, including high school standout
Catherria Turner. Turner, a guard from Tuc
son, Ariz., averaged 29 points, 11 rebounds
and 10 steals a game last season for Amp
itheatre High School.
“The six new freshmen have done an unbe
lievable job of revitalizing our returning play
ers,” Smith said. “They keep them on their
feet. They’re very athletic and playing into
what we think our strengths will be this year.”
Unlike years past, this year’s Duck squad
will not be the biggest, or most dominating
team on the floor. Mowe, who was a giant
presence inside, has graduated on to the
WNBA, leaving a hole in the middle. How
ever, this year’s team will be fast and will
play an up-tempo game.
“We’re not going to be the tallest team in
the league, but we’re going to have to play
very tall and very big,” Smith said. “We’re
going to be a small and quick team. That is
not going to have to be our problem, but the
opposing team’s problem.”
The key to the Ducks’ new explosive of
fense will be Williams and senior Jamie
Craighead. Oregon has six returning guards,
including Craighead, who set a school
record with 81 three-pointers last season.
“I think, in the past, we had to go with our
strengths,” Williams said. “We were big and
we were strong, and so we had to utilize our
inside players. But now we’re quick and fast
and so we’re going to have to utilize that ath
leticism and so just getting up and down the
court, running and gunning, is something
Turn to Men’s, page 6A
UO soccer hoping offense can help knock off tough Bay Area foes
■Two ranked Pac-10 rivals visit
Eugene this weekend and the
upset-minded Ducks are ready
for the challenge
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
History, rankings and records will all
'go against the Oregon soccer team as the
Ducks take on No. 17 California and No.
9 Stanford at Pape Field this weekend.
- So what will Oregon have in its fa
vor? Oregon head coach Bill Steffen
said his Ducks will be confident, de
spite the avalanche of negative factors.
“We feel like we can beat anybody in
the country,” Steffen said. “I think we
have to feel like that.”
The Ducks have been unsuccessful
against the northern California teams in
the past. Oregon is a combined 0-8
against Cal and Stanford, and has
scored only once against the teams,
while being scored upon 21 times.
Oregon has had more success
against Cal than Stanford. Three sea
sons ago, the Ducks traveled to Berke
ley and took the Golden Bears to over
time, before losing 2-1.
This season, the Bay Area teams are
as dominant as ever. Stanford has lost
only once, to sixth-ranked Santa Clara.
California was 7-1 heading into last
week, before the Bears dropped a match
to No. 14 St. Mary’s and tied with San
Francisco. Cal’s only previous loss was
to No. 10 Texas A&M.
Both teams enter Pacific-10 Confer
ence play with high hopes for trips to
the NCAA Tournament, where both
teams went last season. Both teams
were knocked off in the second round
of the tournament.
Oregon is still searching for its first
NCAA Tournament berth. With a 6-2-1
record heading into Pac-10 play, the
Ducks will most likely need four con
ference victories — a feat never before
accomplished by the Ducks — to make
this season’s NCAA Tournament.
Oregon has improved this season
with speed and an offensive on
slaught. After being outscored 64-21
and outshot 397-261 last season, the
Ducks have turned the offensive tables
on their opponents this season. Ore
Turn to Soccer, page 6A
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon senior
forward Crystal David
(17) will help lead the
Duck offensive attack
this weekend when
her team hosts 17th
ranked California on
Friday and ninth
ranked Stanford on
Sunday. David and
the Ducks will be
looking to grab an
early lead in the
always-competitive
Pacific-10
Conference.
Pre-NCAAs to provide runners with challenging course, opponents
■ Furman University is the host
to the Pre-NCAA Invitational
Meet where the Ducks will face
top national competition
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
If the Oregon harriers want to go
to the NCAA cross country cham
pionships, it’s almost imperative
for them to compete well this
weekend at the Pre-Nationals in
Greenville, S.C.
“We’ve got to perform a lot better
at Pre-Nationals, and if we don’t,
then it’s a matter of doing all we can
in the last two weeks of the sea
son,” women’s head coach Tom
Heinonen said.
Held at the Furman University
cross country course, the Pre
NCAAs will feature teams from
around the country, including a
majority of the top-25 ranked teams
on both the men’s and women’s
sides.
The teams will preview the
course that will also host the NCAA
Championships, and to try to com
pile as many head-to-head wins
against other potential NCAA qual
ifiers, which will be beneficial
when the at-large bids for the cham
pionships are given out.
The Pre-Nationals features so
many teams that the field will be
broken up into two evenly divided
races. There will also be a third race
on the same course that day, the
Furman Invitational, which will in
volve many high school runners
and other collegiate teams.
The Duck women will be run
ning first in the NCAA Pre-Meet
races against No. 1 Colorado and
nine other schools in the top-25.
There will be a total of 37 teams
joining Oregon at the 10:45 a.m.
start.
The No. 18 Oregon men will run
at 11:55 a.m. against 36 other
teams, eight of which are ranked in
the top-25, including No. 2 Stan
ford.
Similar to the last large race in
which the Oregon runners ran,
Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational,
the course will be flooded with par
ticipants.
“It’s going to be constricted so
our athletes need to avoid the Min
nesota pitfall, which was not get
ting out fast enough and trying to
run through the field,” Heinonen
said. “They are simply going to
have to get out faster and get ahead
of more people to start. We’ve been
training with that in mind for the
last 10 days.”
Though redshirt sophomore Tara
Struyk’s injured leg has been pro
gressing, she will take another
weekend off and sit out of Satur
day’s race. She has been able to do a
couple of short runs, but Heinonen
feels it is too risky to have her run
in the competition even though the
Ducks could certainly use her help.