Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adam jude@dailyemerald. com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald. com
Friday, April 12,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Best Bet
Seattle at Texas
5:00 p.m., FSN
Oregon track enters must-win meet vs. Huskies
■With several key injuries,
the Ducks’ team focus becomes
more important in the annual
Washington Dual this weekend
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the second time this outdoor
season, the Oregon men’s track and
field team will face another team in
head-to-head competition.
But for the first time this sea
son, the team aspect will mean
something.
The Ducks will take on the
Huskies from Washington in the
93rd Washington Dual meet at Hay
ward Field on Saturday. Oregon has
won 60 of the 92 meets overall, and
29 of the last 35, but the Ducks are
currently reeling from injuries to
stars John Stiegeler, Santiago Loren
zo and others, so this weekend’s
meet could be a benchmark for Ore
gon’s young season.
“I feel like we need to win these
ones in order to
have confidence
for later meets,”
Oregon middle
distance runner
Ross Krempley
said. “If we can’t
win the Washington Dual, we can’t
win the Pac-lOs.”
Krempley referred to the Pacific
10 Conference Championships,
held May 18-19, where the Ducks
haven’t placed in the top three since
1996 and haven’t finished first since
1990. The Pac-10 meet is one of two
remaining scored meets after the
Washington Dual, and the NCAA
Championships is the second of
those meets.
“It’s just real different from a big
invitation meet,” Oregon head
coach Martin Smith said after last
year’s Washington Dual, which the
Ducks won 87-75. “It encourages
every kid to be a part of the team and
to contribute to the chance of the
team doing well. It helps bring a
team together.”
Little did Smith know that a year
later, his team would need that sense
of team more than ever. With Stiegel
er and Lorenzo not competing, and
NCAA qualifier Simon Kimata limit
ed by a minor injury, the Ducks will
need to scramble for points this
weekend and in future meets.
“I definitely feel like the team is
pulling together, not just for this
meet but for the meets coming up,”
Krempeley said.
This weekend, Hayward Field
will be all green, yellow, purple and
gold. Washington finished eighth at
last season’s Pac-10 Championships
and lost star sprinter Ja’Warren
Hooker to graduation.
Most events have clear-cut fa
vorites this weekend, and only the
pole vault will feature two NCAA
qualifiers. Washington junior vaulter
Brad Walker is currently fifth in the
nation with his best jump of 17 feet, 8
1/4 inches. Oregon’s Trevor Woods
has a best height of 17-6 1/2, which
was good enough to land him on the
NCAA provisional list.
The pole vault competition is
slated to start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
On the track, Washington NCAA
qualifier Mike Hill will square off
with Oregon’s Pac-10 qualifier, Brett
Holts, in the steeplechase at 1:15 p.m.
to kick off the running events.
Kimata will test his injured left
Achilles’ tendon in the 800 at 2:55 p.m.
The first event is scheduled for 12
p.m. Saturday. The last men’s field
event, the discus, is scheduled for
3:20 p.m. The last track event, the
4x400 relay, is scheduled to begin at
3:50 p.m.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
a SHOT at it all
■ Mary Etter has come on as a tangible
force for the Ducks this season, already
placing sixth in the nation in discus
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
When Mary Etter and Mariela Guante were budding
track and field stars, the two attended a camp to
gether in 1998 in North Idaho, beginning what has
turned into a friendly rivalry.
Since then, Guante has gone on to become a force at the
shot put at Louisiana Tech, while Etter continually places
high in the discus and shot put at Oregon. Etter even partici
pates in the hammer throw, although her notoriety has come
from the former two.
Their friendship came to a rise last week when the Texas
Relays came calling. Guante edged Etter out of first place in
the shot put by less than one inch.
Etter would go on to take both sections of the discus throw
in Austin, but her match-up against Guante was something
that she will remember for a while.
“I beat her last year, and she beat me this time,” Etter said,
laughing. “Her number’s up. I love her, but she’s going down.”
If the two are to face-off again this season, it will have to be in
the NCAA Championships, held in Baton Rouge, La., in May.
Etter. a junior, is close, having already earned an NCAA provi
sional qualifying mark in both the discus and shot put, the only
Oregon woman to do so in two different events this season.
After placing 19th in last season’s NCAA Championships
in the discus, Etter can’t wait to get back.
“Last year at nationals, I don’t know what happened,” she
said. “I had never performed so poorly. Now that it has hap
pened, I’m aware that I can crack under pressure.”
But that doesn’t mean she will. Under the intense scrutiny
of the Texas Relays, Etter was stone cold, although she had to
be after a tough first day.
After placing 16th in the hammer throw the previous day,
Etter began her discus throws in the “B” section. Hours later,
she had taken both the “A” and “B” sections. According to
Texas athletic officials, other women have accomplished the
Turn to Etter, pagelOA
Geoff Thurner Oregon Media Services
Not just a standout in the discus, junior Mary Etter has taken steps to improve in the shot put and
hammer as well. The junior has claimed two NCAA provisional marks this season.
Ducks dual
with UW in
Pac-10 meet
■The Ducks participate in
their only Pac-10 dual meet
of the season against their
Pacific Northwest rival
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
On the heels of an impressive show
ing at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
last week in Austin, Texas, the Oregon
women’s track and field team takes on
a tough Washington squad Saturday.
And the potential
for more is just at the
Ducks’ fingertips.
Oregon took home
five first-place finish
es in Texas, which in
cluded stellar marks
from juniors Mary Etter and Becky Holli
day, and sophomore Sarah Malone.
Malone led the field in the javelin
throw, and was followed up closely by
freshman Elisa Crumley and junior
Charyl Weingarten. Add freshman
Roslyn Lundeen — who did not make
the trip to Texas due to an injury — to the
mix, and Oregon is a force in the event.
“This is certainly the best group
we’ve ever had, and maybe the best
foursome any school has ever had,”
head coach Tom Heinonen said of his
javelin squad.
Turn to Women’s, page 10A
Ducks to host Arizona, ASU
■ Oregon softball continues
its Pac-10 season with contests
against No. 6 Arizona State
and top-ranked Arizona
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Pacific-10 Conference season
marches on for the Oregon softball team
as they host three games at Howe Field
this weekend.
The Ducks (18-15 overall, 0-6 Pac-10)
face No. 6 Arizona State (33-9, 3-2) at 2
p.m. today and then No. 1 Arizona (35-5,
4-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Leading the way for the Sun Devils is
third baseman Phelan Wright with a
.460 batting average, six home runs, and
13 doubles. She is second on the team
with 30 RBI. Shortstop Kara Brun and
first base/outfielder Nichole Thompson
are also batting better than .400.
Arizona State pitcher Kirsten Voak, a
two-time All-American, has 881 career
strikeouts — the most in school history
and fifth all-time in the Pac-10. This
season Voak has a record of 7-3 with a
0.95 ERA and 90 strikeouts to go along
with just 10 walks.
The top-ranked Wildcats have
Turn to Softball, page 10A
HB
Adam Amato Emerald
Second baseman
Alyssa Laux and the
Oregon softball team
host No. 6 Arizona
State and No. 1
Arizona for three
games this weekend.
Laux is hitting .341
with a home run, five
doublesand nine RBI.