Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adanijude@dailyenierald.com
Thursday, April 11,2002
Running
from harm
■ Middle-distance runner Simon
Kimata may be ready for a race
at an NCAA title after years of injury
By Peter Hockaday
at Hayward Field.
With coach Steve Silvey temporarily
distracted, Kimata glances both ways
and makes his move, a nimble leap over
the fence that betrays his left Achilles
tendon injury.
“Simon!” coach Silvey bellows. “Don’t
do that on a bad Achilles. Don’t ever jump
fences. That’s the worst thing you could be
doing. Use your head.”
Caught.
The thing is, Kimata has been dodg
ing injury and leaping past responsibili
ty for most of his reign as the star 800
meter runner on the Oregon track and
field squad. His times in times without
injury, like his nation-leading 800 time
of 1 minute, 46.65 seconds this season,
paint the picture of a runner with wells
of raw talent.
But chronicle his injuries, and the pic
ture becomes complete.
As a star runner in junior college —
Butler Community College in El Dorado,
Kan. — he broke his shin and was forced
to sit out nine months, right before he was
scheduled to compete on a top-flight
4x400 relay team in Europe.
Last season he ran a 1:47.92 at the Texas
Invitational to land himself on the NCAA
- provisional list, then pulled a hamstring
in a relay in the same meet. He competed
in the Pacific-10 Conference Champi
„ onships, but a dismal performance there
convinced him to sit out the NCAA
Championships at Hayward Field. This
season he’s suffering a minor Achilles in
jury but will likely compete in the Wash
ington Dual meet at Hayward Field this
weekend.
Through all the injuries, Kimata keeps
one mantra.
Oregon Daily Emerald
inutes before his scheduled
practice Tuesday, Oregon mid
dle-distance runner Simon Ki
mata descends from the stands
Turn to Kimata, page 10
V : •
Jon House Emerald
Simon Kimata is looking to compete in his first NCAA Championships later this season.
Elite Pac-10
dominates
in softball
■ Oregon softball hasn’t found a win
in its first six conference games
—thanks to its powerful Pac-10 foes
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
A quick glance at the record of Oregon’s soft
ball team in the Pacific-10 Conference — 18-15
overall, 0-6 Pac-10 — and one might think that
they are playing at the level of a local high
school squad.
Looking at Oregon’s conference record last
year (1-20) would only back up that deduction.
But the Ducks’ record doesn’t tell the full story.
They just have the unfortunate distinction of
playing in a conference with seven other teams
ranked in the top 14 in the nation.
Holding the top three slots in the national
rankings, according to the April 3 poll, are No. 1
UCLA, No. 2 Arizona and No. 3 Stanford.
Rounding out the Pac-10 are No. 6 California,
No. 8 Arizona State, No. 10 Washington and No.
14 Oregon State.
Within the ranks of the Pac-10 are 13 of the
country’s 25 finalists for the inaugural USA
Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. In
cluded on the list are Jocelyn Forest of Califor
nia — who threw a three-hit shutout against
Oregon in her last outing Sunday — and three
members of the Arizona team, which the Ducks
will play twice this weekend.
The Wildcats (35-5 overall, 4-1 Pac-10) had
their streak of 70 consecutive home victories bro
ken in a 6-5 loss to UCLA on Sunday. The loss
also broke senior Jennie Finch’s 60-game win
ning streak. Last season, Finch was named the
Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and the Honda Award
winner as the nation’s most outstanding player.
Rained out
The Ducks’ doubleheader against Portland
State on Wednesday, a welcome break from Pac
10 play, was canceled due to rain. A makeup
date has not yet been announced.
Oregon returns to action at 2 p.m. Friday
against Arizona State, before they face Arizona
at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. All the
games will be held at Howe Field.
E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot
at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com.
No longer an ‘up-an-comer,’ Malone looks to impress in javelin
■After a stellar first season, sophomore
Sarah Malone has officially arrived this
year in the javelin competition in Texas
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Sarah Malone, the leader of one of the na
tion’s best javelin teams, is already having a
phenomenal year.
Last season, Malone placed second in the Pa
cific-10 Conference Championships and seventh
in the NCAA Championships. Just a freshman last
year, she had great expectations for herself. “Up
and-comer” would have been the best way to de
scribe her talent.
However, Malone is no longer an up-and-com
er. She has arrived.
That was evidenced Saturday in Austin,
Texas, when the Newberg native posted her best
throwing series ever. She started at 166-feet-6
inches, then 171-5 and 179-1. Malone scratched
on her fourth arid sixth throws but still finished
with a career best,' . Y Y ,
Her final mark of 179-2 was good enough to
eclipse her best mark by more than five feet, yet
still leaves her second in the nation. USC’s Inga
Stasiulionyte leads the collegiate ranks after post
ing a mark of 183-7 at the Stan
ford Invite earlier this season.
But there is solace for Mal
one. She is already on track to
a fine season and is guaranteed
a spot at this season’s NCAA
Championships in Baton
Rouge, La.
“Normally, I have my best
throws early, then go downhill, so I’m psyched
to keep improving through the competition,”
she said after capturing first at the Clyde Little
field Texas Relays. “That indicates I’m getting
stronger and gives me confidence that I’m clos
ing in on my goal of 180 feet.”
But “I also don’t like being second,” she said,
“and that gives me some motivation to throw
farther, too.”
• Making Malone’s feat even- more impressive is
Turn to Track, page.10.
Hi 1 .TL 4 i
1|| ^ ] i 1
1 PBk
j|P 1 /V ' w §
Sarah Malone, seen here taking seventh rn*last season’s NCAA Championships, has emerged
, asanationalforce torfhe bucks and is on the fast track to an All-American honor. ■