Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, May 16,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
UO softball’s straggles may cost Rincon job
■Afteragain missing the
postseason, the Ducks close
the books on another year and
perhaps on coach Brent Rincon
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the second consecutive season,
the Oregon softball team will be the
only Pacific-10 Conference team not
selected to make an appearance at the
NCAA Tournament.
Although the team posted a 22-11
record outside of the Pac-10, the Ducks
were 2-19 against the other seven teams in
what is regarded as the best softball con
ference in the nation. Oregon State (38-23),
the lowest ranked team in the conference,
received a No. 2 seed in one of the eight
first round regionals of the NCAA Tourna
ment. Washington (43-16), Arizona (48
10) and UCLA (50-6) all were given No. 1
seeds, while Arizona State (40-18) and
Stanford (43-18) earned No. 2 slots. Cali
fornia (48-19) received a No. 3 seed.
“Aside from wins and losses, I was
pleased with the team’s efforts this sea
son,” Oregon interim head coach Brent
Rincon said. “In light of everything, it
turned into a pretty good learning expe
rience. We actually had a lot of growth
not only in individuals, but also as a
team — that includes not just playing
growth but also personal growth and ca
maraderie growth.”
Heading into its 2002 Pac-10 season,
Oregon had won nine of 11 games but in
their first Pac-10 game against Oregon
State on March 29, the Ducks hit a brick
wall. Although the games against many
of the top teams in the nation were close,
the Ducks couldn’t manage a win in
their conference until they faced Ari
zona State on April 27. The margin of
victory in nine of Oregon’s 19 Pac-10
losses was two runs.
“I think we demonstrated that we can
play with pretty much any body in the
country, but we need to retool our inten
sity and our preparation to compete at
this level,” Rincon said.
Although the team was outmatched
in many of its games, Oregon battled
Turn to Softball, page 14
Adam Amato Emerald
Oregon interim head coach Brent Rincon, who may not return next season, led the Ducks to a 23-30 overall record.
Oregon
golfers
shooting
for NCAA
■The Oregon men’s golf team
is ‘thinking win’ today as it begins
regional play in New Mexico
By Jesse Thomas
for the Emerald
Vying for its first trip to the NCAA
Championships since 1999, the Oregon
men’s golf team begins a shootout today
against the best teams in the region.
The Ducks will start this afternoon on
the back nine at the NCAA West Re
gional, played on the 7,368-yard, par 72
South Champions Course in Albu
querque, N.M..
The top 10 teams and two individu
als will advance to the NCAA Cham
pionships May 29-June 1 in Colum
bus, Ohio.
“We’re not going down there think
ing about 10th place, we’re thinking
about winning,” Oregon head coach
Steve Nosier said. “If we’re in first, we
know we’re going to nationals, but if we
fall a bit short of that, then hopefully
we’re still somewhere in the top 10.”
Oregon enters as the 11th seed and
will be paired with No. 10 Nevada and
No. 12 Ohio State for today’s first
round, beginning at 12:18 p.m., and Fri
day’s second round. Final round pair
ings for Saturday will be based on team
standings after the first two rounds.
“We haven’t played at New Mexico in
a few years, but I’ve seen it when the
wind is really blowing and the course
plays extremely long and I’ve also seen
it when there is no wind, and if that’s the
case, it will be a shootout,” Nosier said.
Turn to Golf, page 16
Bruins, Cardinal lead
Pac in different ways
■ UCLA and Stanford should battle for the Pac-10
men’s crown, but several teams could make a run
and make the conference championship interesting
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Pacific-10 Conference Championships of track and
field are never dull in any way. The conference’s best athletes,
all competing as individuals in the ultimate team competi
tion, inherently put on a thrilling show.
But there is an element of predictability
involved when previewing the meet. Some
teams simply won’t have the talent to hang
around with the big guns, the UCLAs and
Stanfords that are brimming with numer
ous scoring athletes.
With that said, the following is a break
down of the conference meet, in the cate
gories of favorites, contenders and pretenders, and in the or
der they would finish if the meet was scored on current
season bests. Enjoy.
The favorites
UCLA — The Bruins have the best shot to win the
Turn to Men’s, page 16
Kriz helps out in pinch at Oregon Twilight
Rachael Kriz, most recognized in the high jump, filled in with spot duty
at the Oregon Twilight, gamering third place in the javelin.
■ Rachael Kriz is Oregon’s savior in the clutch, especially
when it comes to the javelin
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
It has been two seasons since Rachael Kriz, a sophomore
from Toledo, Ore., has thrown the javelin spear.
Until now.
With Roslyn Lundeen and Elisa Crumley sitting out at the
Oregon Twilight on Saturday in prepara
tion of the upcoming Pacific-10 Confer
ence Championships, Kriz — who has ex
celled in the high jump this season — was
called upon to pull double duty.
And while Kriz didn’t steal the show,
she sure didn’t disappoint, either.
Kriz finished with a top throw of 130-05,
not good enough to finish ahead of team
mates Sarah Malone and Charyl Weingarten, but better ran
George Fox’s Gina Coolen. In fact, the throw gave her third
place by more than 15 feet.
Not bad for someone who doesn’t practice the event on a
regular basis.
“I made a deal with Sally Harmon, our throws coach, tb it if
I jumped 5-7 in a meet (high jump) she’d let me a throw a
javelin in practice since I used to do it in high school and I
miss it so much,” Kriz said. ‘‘In practice I threw it over the 40
Turn to Women’s, page 16