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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 14, 2002)
Sports Editor: Adam Jude adamjude@dailyemerald.com Tuesday, May 14,2002 NBA playoffs: San Antonio at Los Angeles 7:30 p.m., TBS UO women’s tennis fells to No. 11USC in NCAA ■ATter upsetting no. unlv in the first round, the Ducks’ season ends Sunday at the - hands to their Pacific-10 foe By Peter Martini for the Emerald From the football team to the men’s basketball team, Oregon has had incredible post-season success this year, and it continued over the I weekend with the women’s tennis team. The No. 39 Ducks upset No. 18 UNLV Satur day in the first round of the NCAA Tourna ment, before los ing Sunday to No. 11 USC in the second round. Against the Rebels, Oregon won TENNIS the doubles point and three singles matches for a 4-2 victory. No. 88 freshman Daria Panova beat UNLV’s No. 102 Paulina Janus, 6-4, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot. Sopho mores Davina Mendiburu and Courtney Nagle won at the bottom two spots in the lineup to give the Ducks the victory. Senior Janice Nyland’s match was suspended because the Ducks accumulated the four points before her match ended. Junior Monika Gieczys lost in straight sets, and senior Vickie Gunnarsson lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. “It was the best match we’ve ever played, and it was really perfect timing,” head coach Jack Griffin said. “It was a lot of fun and they fought through a lot of adversity. It was a great atmosphere. They just want to make this year even more and more special and they’re doing a good job of it.” The win was Oregon’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 1999, when the Ducks beat South Florida in the first round. Against USC, the Ducks strug gled early in doubles and were not able to upset the Trojans’ top two doubles teams. Nagle and Mendiburu lost, 8-5, to No. 6 Tiffany Brymer and Jewel Peterson. Nyland and Panova lost, 8-4, to No. 31 Anita Loyola and Luana Mag nani. Turn to Tennis, page 8 If it LOOKS like a DUCK and WALKS like a DUCK • • • ■The future looks good’ with the selection of three male students to wear the Duck suit By Adam Jude Oregon Daily Emerald In an ideal world, Oregon cheerleading coach Laraine Raish would have Daisy and Donald Duck roaming the sidelines at Oregon sporting events next year. Instead, Raish selected three male stu dents — joining two male veterans — to wear the Donald Duck suit, Oregon’s tradi tional Disney mascot, to continue entertain ing crowds at Autzen Stadium and McArthur Court. “I have not had a girl Duck for so long, and I’d like to have one,” Raish said after Thursday’s mascot auditions at Mac Court. “But when (she’s) out there, it’s obvious that she’s a girl.” And being a girl often doesn’t fly in the Duck suit — especially with the physical dif ferences (height in particular) that distin guish the students who wear the mascot suit. “The guys just have the Duck walk,” Raish said. “What I’m looking for are peo ple who can eventually conform to what the other Ducks look like because we prefer that they all look similar.” Four students, including one female, au ditioned for the role of being the Duck next year, a position that requires four students plus one alternate. After short personal inter views with four panelists, including Raish, the contestants performed a musical skit with the Duck suit on and then participated in an improv routine with various props. “The hard thing is I like them all,” Raish said. Although she doesn’t like to choose who will be the Duck based on physical character istics, Raish said, “It would be nice if they were about the same height.” The physical similarities are needed at games or events that require two people to share the Duck duties, such as football and basketball games, where each person wears the suit for one half. Raish and the three other judges dis cussed their evaluations of the candidates Wwiiliw Thomas Patterson Emerald One of four students auditioning to be the Duck pleads his case with the judges Thursday at Mac Court. Five students will share the mascot responsibilities next year. Thursday evening, where the three male students were rated the best in the five cate gories, which included personality and time commitment. Raish announced the winners Friday morning. “I was really surprised,” said one of the winners, a sophomore pre-education major. “I really didn’t know what to expect.” The judges, however, expect a great fu ture from the new mascots. “The future is good for the Duck and for the University of Oregon,” said Karl Lude man, a former Oregon cheerleader who served on the panel of judges. “It always -seems like we have good seasons when the crowd gets into it; the crowd gets into with the Duck. So when you have a good Duck, the crowd gets into it. “It looks like it will be a good year for the Ducks.” Despite having just four applicants, the panelists said this year’s group was the best to ever try out to be the Duck. “This is the best audition I’ve ever seen,” said one of the veteran Ducks, who helped facilitate the tryout. “The overall turnout was great in terms of talent.” Ironically, despite standing in front of Turn to Duck, page 8 Oregon men’s golf team takes new attitude into NCAA Regional ■With two weeks to prepare, the Ducks say they are ready to advance to the NCAA Tournament By Jesse Thomas for the Emerald After a two-week break from competition, the Oregon men’s golf team is making the final touches to their game and preparing for the NCAA West Regional, which be gins Thursday. After finishing fifth in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships April 27, the Ducks received a bid to re gionals as the No. 11 seed to compete in Albuquerque, N.M., later this week. Last year, Oregon walked away from the NCAA Regionals in 18th out of 24 teams. But the Ducks said the course last year did not fit thqir style of play. “We made more doubles and triples than any other team,” junior John Ellis said of last year’s per formance. “You can’t make twos and threes and expect to do good.” Ellis finished first for Oregon last year in regionals, but is expecting a lot more from himself and of the team. His main focus has been on perfecting his short game and he said the key to doing well is to not make any mental errors. Junior Chris Carnahan came in fourth for Oregon at Pac-lOs in a tie for 35th and said being consistent and maintaining focus are two keys to Ore gon’s shot for qualifying for nationals. “We need to stay focused through the whole round and grind it all the way out,” Carnahan said. The Ducks will be paired with Nevada and Ohio State for the tour nament’s first two rounds. Oregon knows they are both good teams but is still happy with the pairing and their chances. “We have a good chance of win ning,” Ellis said. Regionals will be played on the South Champions Course in Albu querque, N.M., as opposed to the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis last year. The Ducks like their chances this time around much better. With the course playing long and assuming it will be windy, Oregon Turn to Golf, page 8
