Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, April 10,2002
Javelin champ Stiegeler out for 2002 season
I _ I Ai! Dii Dninv _ *1 «Ti I 1 1 1 . ..
vjuim oiicyoici,
the current
national leader
in the javelin
toss, tore his
ACL Saturday in
Texas
J
Oregon Daily Emerald
The defending champ can’t
defend against injury.
Oregon junior John Stiegeler,
last season’s NCAA champion
in the javelin and this season’s
current national leader, tore the
anterior cruciate ligament in
his left knee and will not com
pete for the rest of the season.
“It’s a part of sports,” Stiegel
Cl aaiu. ll o a. gcUUUitt tJVtJry
time you go out there. I lost this
round, but
there will be
plenty more
rounds in
the future.”
The junior
thrower suf
fered the in
jury when he planted for his
fourth throw at the Texas Re
lays on Saturday, uerore
scratching from the competi
tion, Stiegeler won it with a
throw of 242 feet, 11 inches.
That throw earned him Pacific
10 Conference Field Athlete of
the Week honors for this week.
The Coos Bay native will
have surgery on the torn
medail meniscus in his knee
on Thursday, and will have
surgery on his ACL in six to
seven weeks.
In a supreme twist of irony,
Stiegeler’s nation-leading
throw of 247 feet could lead
the nation all season, and pos
sibly even through the NCAA
Championships. His throw of
252-10 in the NCAA Champi
onships last season beat the
next-best toss by a full 13 feet.
“I was looking forward to re
peating, and I felt like I would
have,” Stiegeler said. “I felt like
I had some big throws left in
me.”
The injury deals a serious
blow to the Ducks’ chances of
repeating last season’s ninth
place finish in the NCAA
Championships. At the meet
last season, Stiegeler’s national
title accounted for 10 of
Turn to Stiegeler, page 6
Adam Amato Emerald
Freshman pitcher Lindsey Kontra and the Oregon softball squad travel to Portland State for a doubleheader today. In 15
appearances this season, Kontra (5-7) has a 2.59 earned run average with 32 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Oregon softball travels
to Portland State for two
■ Softball travels to Portland State to
take on the Vikings hoping for revenge
of last season’s three tough losses
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon softball team has a wel
comed break from Pacific-10 Conference
play today with a doubleheader against
in-state rival Portland State (11-20 over
all, 3-5 Western Athletic Conference) at
the Erv Lind Stadium in Portland.
Losing their last six consecutive con
tests, the Ducks and their (18-15, 0-6
Pac-10) falling record do not reveal the
high level of play at which they have
been performing. In five of those six
losses, the opposing teams (Oregon
State, Stanford and California) defeated
the Ducks by a total of six runs.
Along with a desire to snap their six
game skid, memories of last year’s series
against Portland State are a primary mo
tivation for the Ducks heading into the
two-game set with the Vikings. Oregon
lost three of four games last year to Port
land State — two of those losses came
in heartbreaking fashion. It was Port
land State’s first series win against Ore
gon since 1985.
In the first game of a doubleheader on
April 3, 2001, Portland State senior Ki
auna Anderson belted a walk-off two
run home run off Andrea Vidlund to
win the game 4-2.
The second game was even more dis
astrous for the Ducks as they were
ahead 7-4 heading into the bottom of the
seventh. Sophomore Lisa Wangler, who
has since transferred away from Ore
gon, loaded the bases when she strug
gled with her control. Connie McMur
ren, one of the three mainstays on this
year’s pitching staff, relieved Wangler,
inheriting thebases-loaded, no-outs sit
uation. After striking out one Portland
State batter, McMurren walked Ander
son, allowed a double to Summer Con
roy and a groundout that scored Ander
son for the 8-7 game winning run.
Anderson, who also made a home
run-saving catch last season against the
Ducks, has since graduated, but Conroy
and others have returned. Nichole Ivie
(.325) and Monica Martell (.313) are
leading the way offensively this year for
the Vikings, and in the circle Morgan
Seibert has been outstanding. Seibert
(8-9) is one of only two Portland State
pitchers with more than 500 strikeouts
and was 3-0 against Oregon last season.
Oregon head
coach Brent Rincon
knows that his team
will have to play
well to come out of
Portland with two
wins.
“We don’t need
any motivation to go
play them,” he said. “It will give us an
opportunity to re-establish the things
that we do well. We’re looking forward
to two tough, hard-fought ball games. ”
Oregon’s double play combination of
second baseman Alyssa Laux and short
stop Lynsey Haij have been solid up the
middle all season. The primary leadoff
and second hitter role in the lineup,
Laux and Haij have combined for two
home runs to go along with excellent
averages (.280 for Haij and .341 for
Laux).
Vidlund is leading Oregon offen
sively with a .375 average and seven
home runs.
The pitching rotation of McMurren,
Lindsey Kontra and Anissa Meashin
tm by have a combined ERA of 2.32.
T'te Ducks return to conference play
on, day when they host No. 8 Arizona
State at 2 p.m. at Howe Field. Oregon
hosts No. 1 Arizona at 2 p.m. Saturday
and 1 p.m. Sunday.
E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot
at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com.
Oregon golfers stumble in final round of Western Intercollegiate
After standing
in second after
the first day,
the Ducks’
men’s golf
team finishes
in sixth place
Tuesday
By Jesse Thomas
for the Emerald
In golf, some days it just
doesn’t happen.
The Oregon men’s golf
team shot their worst round
of the tournament, 298, Tues
day and fell to sixth in the fi
nal standings of the 56th an
nual Western Intercollegiate
in San Jose, Calif.
The Ducks were in second
place after two rounds Monday,
firing off a 291 and 278, trailing
Washington by 23 strokes.
Oregon and Washington
have been in steep competi
tion recently as they tied for
second at the Cleveland
Southwest Invitational
March 4-5, and the Ducks
edged the Huskies by one
stroke in the Oregon Invita
tional two weeks ago.
Oregon’s final 867 was not
enough to hold onto their first
day position.
“Sixth is
still a de
cent fin
ish,” Ore
gon head
coach Steve
Nosier said.
“It was dis
appointing
that we couldn’t keep things
going in the right direction
like we have been, but I think
we’ll come right back.”
Washington stole the tour
nament and shot 834 to win
by 20 strokes over
Fresno State.
San Jose State, the tourna
ment host, took third with
856, followed by Kansas at
865, UC Irvine right behind
with 866 and Oregon.
Senior Brandon Harnden
shot a four over par 74 Tues
day and tied for 11th at two
over 212. Harnden had a ca
reer-best 65 in Monday’s
second round. Senior Aaron
Byers tied for 25th at 219 af
ter a disappointing final
round 79.
Turn to Golf, page 8