Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, November 20, 2001, Image 5

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    Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, November 20,2001
Best Bet
NBA: Charlotte at Washington,
5p.m., TBS
Adam Amato Emerald
In six years at Idaho and Cal State-Bakersfield, Oregon volleyball head coach Carl Ferreira compiled a 148-56 record. In two years with the Ducks
he is 19-38 overall and 2-34 in Pac-10 play heading into tonight’s match against UCLA.
DOWN but not
■Oregon head coach Carl
Ferreira remains in high spirits
while awaiting his first conference
win of the season
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
For Oregon volleyball head coach
Carl Ferreira, the 2001 season has
been one of twists and turns,
achievements and disappoint
ments, but more often than not, a time
of aggravation.
Entering today’s 7 p.m. match
• against UCLA at McArthur Court, the
Ducks remain winless in Pacific-10
Conference play, and they have won
only one match since Sept. 8. In the
32 seasons Oregon volleyball has ex
isted, no team has ever failed to win a
conference match. With only two
more remaining this season, the
Ducks are very close to obtaining this
dubious feat.
But ask Ferreira if the season is a
waste, and he’ll tell you otherwise.
“Just an overall evaluation, I’d say
we’re probably twice as good as a year
ago,” he said, “win
ning and losing not
reflective of the sig
nificant amount of
growth we’ve taken
on.
“There’s no ques
tion; from where we
were when I got
here — 19 to 20 months ago, to now
— the growth is staggering. ”
And all that comes from a coach
who had never seen a losing season in
six years before coming to Eugene.
Ferreira came to Oregon before the
2000 season after leading Idaho to
three top-3 finishes in as many sea
sons. Before that, he led Division II
California State-Bakersfield to a 1 GO
13 record in three seasons, including
a trip to the national championships
in 1994.
So, after 36 career Pac-10 matches,
he has guided Oregon to a 2-34
record, including this season’s win
less peril. Despite the poor record, he
has enjoyed his time at Oregon.
It’s been “phenomenal, but with a
ways to go,” he said.
After taking over for the maligned
Cathy Nelson almost two seasons ago,
Ferreira has begun to make his mark
in perhaps his strongest area. Recruit
ing, despite the program’s poor over
all record over the last decade, has
picked up.
Juniors Stephanie Martin and
Lindsay Closs led a small, but im
pressive cast of characters to put on
the Oregon green and yellow for the
first time this season. And, along
Turn to Ferreira, page 6
Harriers place
13th at nationals
■Jason Hartmann comes up short of another
All-American title at the NCAA Championships
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
Going into the NCAA Championships, the Oregon men’s
cross country team was ranked No. 14 in the nation, but on
the Furman University cross country course on Monday, they
ran to a 13th place finish.
Oregon finished with 389 points, while the winner, Col
orado, edged Stanford’s 91 points by one to tie the narrowest
margin of victory in NCAA history. Regional foe Portland
placed seventh with 273 points.
Junior Jason Hartmann, who has achieved All-American
status in the two years previous by finishing 37th in 1999 and
35th in 2000, finished in 50th with a time of 30:21 and as a
result, was denied in his attempt at a third All-American title.
The top-30 runners as well as the top-30 American finishers
receive the honor of All-American, and the last runner to
achieve the title finished 10 seconds ahead of Hartmann.
“I was disappointed with myself in that the team was only
a few points away from finishing a little higher,” Hartmann
said. “Overall, I was excited how the team stepped up.
“Our goal at the start was to finish top 15, and we can cer
tainly build off this next year. ”
Oregon senior Adam Bergquist ran another good race in the
final cross country meet of his career, placing 60th with a
time of 30:29. Throughout the race, Bergquist moved up
steadily and finished strong at the end.
“The last three (kilometers), I was hurting pretty bad, but
still tried to pass as many guys as I could,” he said. “I was able
to relax on the downhill in the ninth kilometer and find a lit
tle strength there.”
Other Oregon scorers included Brett Holts (96th, 30:58),
John Lucas (117th, 31:09) and Eric Logsdon (156th, 31:32).
Noel Paulson (176th, 31:48) and Ryan Andrus (236th, 33:13)
also ran for the Ducks.
True freshman Seth Pilkington, who sat out of the Western
Regional Championships in hopes that he would be ready for
the national meet, did not compete. Pilkington collapsed in
his previous trip to Furman at die pre-nationals and has not
finished a race for the Ducks since his first collegiate compe
tition on Sept. 29, when he finished second on the squad.
Overall, head coach Martin Smith was pleased with his
team’s effort against the top teams in the nation.
“This was our best performance as a group this season, and
at the most difficult level,” he said. “We exceeded where we
were ranked coming in, and ran with a lot of poise.”
Eastern Michigan’s Boaz Chboiywo won the individual ti
tle with a time of 28:47, breaking the 10K course record by
seven seconds.
Michigan’s freshman Alan Webb, who Oregonians remem
ber from last May’s Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field
where he broke the high school record in the mile (3:53.43),
placed 10th. Michigan placed 11th as a team.
Chris Cabot is a sports reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be
reached at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com.
Long ticket lines motivate Ducks
■The Oregon football team is thrilled by
students excited to see them play the Beavers
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Mike Bellotti was “amazed” when he spotted
the throng of students lined up around Autzen Sta
dium on Monday morning to get tickets for Civil
War.
The Oregon head coach admitted it got him a lit
tle more fired up for the Dec. 1 game.
“Well yeah, and it’s still two weeks away, so I
have to temper my excitement,” Bellotti said. “But
seeing that this morning when I drove in, I was
shocked.”
Knowing that their fellow classmates were brav
ing wind and rain for hours on end just to see them
play gave the Oregon football players a little more
bounce in their step for Monday’s practice.
“It’s hyped up, you gotta love it,” comerback
Steve Smith said.
“That’s awesome,” tight end Justin Peelle said.
“That’s what I love about this university, they just
rally around us.”
The first tent was spotted outside of the Autzen
Stadium ticket window Friday night, followed by
a few more Saturday night and a lot more Sunday.
The late-night campers were joined by plenty of
early risers, all eager to pick the student tickets that
were released at 9 a.m. Monday.
“I feel like a rock star,” fullback Josh Line said.
“I’m excited about that. That just shows the sup
port that we have from the student body. I thought
we had a game today, and I thought we were late
for it. The whole place was packed with cars.
“It was incredible.”
The Ducks practiced Monday, will practice to
day and then havelive days off for Thanksgiving
before reconvening for Civil War week. Bellotti
wouldn’t usually give that many days off to his
team but thinks it’s a reasonable break for a holiday
and expects a rejuvenated group when they return.
“I’ll say some things to them before they go
away, but I expect our kids to come back with fresh
legs, great purpose and great focus,” Bellotti said.
Turn to Football, page 6
f6 ?/
—-----**mh_
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon senior fullback Josh Line said he felt like a rock star after seeing the long lines of students
waiting outside Autzen Stadium to pick up tickets for the Dec. 1 Civil War game.