Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Friday, May 10,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
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A Hayward Holliday
“I saw her
through
some very
formidable
years.”
Rick
Baggett
Pole vaulting
coach at
Clackamas
Community
College
■Through tough times,
Becky Holliday has maintained
her composure and has
been a force for the Ducks
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
In late April, Tom Jordan, meet direc
tor for the Prefontaine Classic Grand
Prix, announced that only pole
vaulters who had cleared a height of 15
feet would be eligible to compete in this
season’s meet.
Except, of course, for Becky Holliday,
because of her local status.
Two weeks after Jordan’s announce
ment, Holliday, a diminutive yet talent
ed pole vaulter for the Ducks, is stuck
with a decision.
Should she vault at the meet even
though it is just a few days before the
NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge,
La., or take that Sunday off to prepare?
The decision may be a bit more com
plex than that, but that doesn’t mean
she isn’t giving it a serious thought.
“That’s the world’s best coming to
Hayward Field, and it’s my home field,”
she said. “Last year, when the Pre
fontaine came, I almost got into it. That
just amazed me. If I got a chance to do it
tliis year, I think I would want to. I think
it would be the best thing for me.”
It wasn’t always going to be that way
for the junior from Sparks, Nev.
Holliday starred at Reed High, claim
ing the Nevada state prep title as a sen
ior and finishing fourth the year before
that. That earned her a trip to Mt. Hood
Community College in Gresham.
However, Holliday would never com
pete for the school, citing problems
with the coach at the time. She decided
to transfer in December.
“When I went there, the coach said a
number of things he was going to do but
didn’t go through with them,” she said.
“Come December, it was either transfer
or go home. I took that year off, worked,
and took it as my redshirt year. It was
just a bad decision on my part.”
Holliday was lucky though, at the
time, to find Rick Baggett. The pole vault
ing coach at Clackamas Community Col
lege in Oregon City, Baggett had once
coached Holliday’s high school coach,
Todd Freitag, as well as current Oregon
volunteer coach Mark Vanderville.
In two years at Clackamas, Holliday
set a personal record of 14-4, was sec
ond best last season among collegians
and participated at the World Universi
ty Games in Beijing, China.
All of her accomplishments came dur
ing a tough and unstable time in her life.
“I saw her through some very formida
ble years, and she was willing and able
to make that progression,” Baggett said.
Now came the hard part. Georgia,
UCLA, Arizona and Nebraska all came
calling, hoping to get the vaulter to at
tend school. Holliday had a made an
impression on some of the nation’s
best track and field programs.
But there was also Oregon. The Ducks
suffered through a 60th place finish last
season at the NCAA Championships but
were on the rise.
Besides, if Holliday was to choose
the in-state school, it would offer her
a chance to vault at prestigious Hay
ward, as well as opportunity to stay
Turn to Holliday, pagelOA
Adam Amato Emerald
Junior Becky Holliday, in her first season as an Oregon pole vaulter, has already broken the school
record with a mark of 14-1.25, but she has a goal of clearing 15-feet.
Oregon Twilight not quite a highlight for many Duck athletes
■Several Ducks will not
compete in the Twilight, but
prepare for the Pac-10
Championships instead
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
For most of the athletes on Ore
gon’s track teams, the Oregon Twi
light meet, held Saturday evening
at Hayward Field, will be a chance
to get ready.
With the Pacific-10 Conference
meet looming on May 18, and
some decathletes and heptath
letes already starting competition
in the conference finale, every
move is made with the postsea
son in mind.
“Our whole mission, from the
beginning of the year, has been
working toward the goal of a Pac
10 championship,” Duck hurdler
Terry Ellis said. “Everything you
do is working toward that goal.”
Ellis is one of many Oregon
runners, on both the men’s and
women’s squads, who will sit
out Saturday’s meet. Ellis is re
habilitating his leg, but many of
the runners will sit out just to
preserve energy for the big meet
next weekend.
The sprinters “usually don’t
compete in the Twilight, it’s more
for the people out in the field who
want to improve their marks,” El
lis said. “You won’t find too many
runners out there.”
So the focus of Saturday’s Twi
light will be on runners trying to
break the Pac-10 time barrier,
field athletes searching for
improved marks and the post
collegiate talent that will be on
hand to entertain the Hayward
Field crowd.
The Twilight is usually high
lighted by the Bill McChesney
Memorial Mile, but that event was
moved to the Oregon Invitational
this year.
Instead, post-collegiate women
will headline, as former Duck
Lisa Nye will return to Hayward
Field for the first time since win
ning the steeplechase at the USA
Championships last summer. She
set a then-American record in the
event by running 9:49.91. The
field in Saturday’s steeplechase
also includes the third, ninth and
llth-place finishers from last
year’s USA Championships. The
steeplechase is scheduled to start
at 8 p.m.
For many of the Oregon ath
letes, though, the meet represents
a chance to finally qualify for the
Pac-lOs.
“This might be a meet for some
of the athletes to get ready who
might not be ready for Pac-lOs,”
Oregon sprinter Sarnie Parker said.
Several Duck athletes, including
Allan Amundson in the men’s 100
meters, Aaron Fonder in the high
jump, Amanda Brown in the
women’s long jump and Mary Etter
in the hammer, have chances to
make the Pac-10 meet.
Saturday’s meet will start at 4:30
Turn to Twilight, page 12A
Senior Kristi Hall,
who is hitting .231
with seven doubles
and two homers
this season, will
probably play her last
collegiate game this
weekend. Connie
McMurren will also
close out her career
with Oregon this year.
Adam Amato Emeralc
Ducks close out season on road
■Oregon softball heads
south to face No. 5 California
and No. 8 Stanford in its final
three contests of the season
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon softball team will
close out its season this week
end with a three-game set in Cal
ifornia. The Ducks (23-28 over
all, 1-17 Pacific-10 Conference)
will face No. 5 California (45-19,
9-9) on Friday at 2 p.m. and then
No. 8 Stanford (40-16, 5-13) in a
doubleheader on Saturday be
ginning at 1 p.m.
Since its win over then-No. 5
Arizona State, Oregon has lost
its last four Pac-10 games
— falling 6-0 to Arizona State,
2-1 to UCLA and 6-2 and 8-0
to Washington.
After the blanking at the
hands of the Huskies on Sun
day, Oregon head coach Brent
Rincon was upset with his
team’s passion and said it
lacked production.
“We will get it back before
next weekend,” Rincon said.
“We are going to continue to
compete and go to Cal and Stan
ford and get some victories.”
Only two of Oregon’s hitters
with more than 10 at-bats are hit
ting over .300 — Alyssa Laux at
.329 and Andrea Vidlund at
.319. Stanford’s Jessica Mendoza
(.386), Sarah Beeson (.384) and
Kira Ching (.333) are leading the
way offensively for the Cardinal,
while four California hitters are
hitting better than .300. First
baseman Veronica Nelson’s .349
and nine home runs is tops for
the Bears. She is followed by Ka
leo Eldredge (.317) and Courtney
Scott and Candace Harper, who
both are hitting .316.
The three-game weekend will
likely be the last collegiate
games for Oregon seniors Connie
McMurren and Kristi Hall. Mc
Murren, who will finish her
career high in the Oregon record
books in many pitching cate
gories, has an 8-11 record this
year with a 3.42 earned run aver
age. Hall has hit for a .231 aver
age this season with 13 RBI,
Turn to Softball, page 10A