Sports brief
UO women’s basketball
signs final recruit
Bev Smith completed her first
recruiting class as head coach of
the Oregon women’s basketball
team with her fifth signing of the
spring Wednesday.
And Smith stayed in the country
this time.
After signing two recruits from
her native Canada, Smith received
a national letter of intent from
Hillsboro native Kayla Steen.
Last year at Clackamas Communi
ty College — one of 26 schools in the
Northwest Athletic Association of
Community Colleges — the 5-foot-8
guard averaged 22.8 points, 7.2 re
bounds and a league-best 7.1 assists
while leading Clackamas to a 26-6
record. She garnered MVP honors of
the NWAACC southern division for
the second straight year.
Steen joins 6-foot-3 post Carolyn
Ganes of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
6-foot-2 forward Yadili Okwum
abua of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saint
Mary’s transfer Corrie Mizusawa, a
5-foot-8 guard, and Hawaii transfer
Chelsea Wagner, a guard from
Springfield, on this year’s recruit
ing class. Mizusawa and Wagner,
however, are required to sit out a
season by NCAA regulations.
Because Steen is transferring
from a non-NCAA school, she is
eligible to participate for the
Ducks in the 2002-03 season.
Steen will help fill the void of the
departed Jamie Craighead, who
finished her career second on Ore
gon’s all-time three-point list.
“Kayla brings qualities that we
lose in our graduating players this
year,” Smith said. “She will be
able to play a little bit of a combo
guard for us. Her strength is the
ability to do the right thing for the
team, whether it’s hitting a three
pointer, getting after a rebound or
dishing off an assist.”
Steen adds to the already guard
heavy lineup that features All
American senior Shaquala
Williams, Alissa Edwards, Kourt
ney Shreve as well as sophomores
Brandi Davis and Amy Taylor.
“Kayla will be able to contribute
right away to our program, and
she’s got two years of being a strong
leader at the JC level,” Smith said.
“Plus, she’s a great student and has
great character.”
As a freshman at Clackamas,
Steen averaged 17 points, six re
bounds and six assists per game.
A four-year letterwinner from St.
Mary’s Academy in Portland, Steen
was a first-team all-league selection
as a junior and senior. She also
holds a state prep record with 10
three-pointers in a game.
— Adam Jude
Men’s
continued from page 13
conference because of an effective
weapon come postseason time:
balance. UCLA boasts an un
precedented five athletes that
lead the conference in their
events, including the Pac-lO’s
best shot putter, hammer thrower,
discus thrower, long jumper and
400-meter hurdler.
Scott Moser is the star for the
Bruins. The senior, who won the
discus title last year, leads the con
ference in that event and the ham
mer, where his best throw is more
than three feet longer than the best
throw of Oregon’s Adam Kriz, who
is ranked second.
Stanford — The Cardinal aren’t
as balanced as the Bruins, but
they are deeper. Much, much
deeper. Stanford’s distance crew,
which almost single-handedly
won the Cardinal the conference
title last year, will be back in ac
tion in Pullman.
Here’s just an idea of how good
Stanford^ distance runners really
are. In tne 5,000-meter race, 11 of
the 24 athletes with qualifying
times are Cardinal. The top four
runners are from Stanford, and five
of the top eight — the scoring posi
tions — hail from Palo Alto. If the
5,000 ends up like it should, Stan
ford would score 31 points, a huge
number for one event.
The contenders
Arizona State — The Sun Devils
should be the Sun Gnats of the Pac
10 Championships, picking up
small amounts of points in loads of
different events. Arizona State has
only one conference leader, and it
isn’t even an athlete, it’s the squad’s
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4x400 relay team.
But that doesn’t mean the Sun
Devils aren’t a threat to the confer
ence’s major powers. Five ASU ath
letes are ranked second in their
events, and at least one ASU ath
lete, senior shot putter David
Wood, has a golden chance to win
the crown in his event. Wood won
last year’s Pac-10 title in the shot
put, and his best mark this season
is only four inches short of the con
ference’s best mark.
Oregon — The Ducks, who fin
ished fifth at last year’s conference
championships, would win this
year if the meet was judged on
heart. Since stars John Stiegeler
and Santiago Lorenzo went down
earlier this year, the team has
pulled together and posted several
surprising marks.
But the meet is not judged on
heart, it’s judged on cold, hard
times and distances, The Ducks
have one conference leader in Si
mon Kimata and one champion
locked up in decathlete Billy Pap
pas, who won his title on Sunday.
But beyond those two, Oregon’s
athletes are lodged in the second
third-fourth range. The Ducks will
need to have several athletes per
form above their potential, but if
that happens, Oregon could com
plete the 2001-02 trifecta of Pac-10
Championships started by football
and men’s basketball.
USC — The Trojans are bal
anced, but not as strong in their
balance as their cross-town rivals,
the Bruins. Still, a mixture of track
and field semi-stars, along with a
few upsets, could propel USC into
the upper third of the final confer
ence standings.
The Trojans’ strength is in the
field, but fast sprinters have led
them to the conference’s top 4x100
relay time. Still, conference leaders
Julien Kapek in the triple jump and
Dawid Jaworski in the high jump
will earn USC’s bread at the confer
ence finale.
The pretenders
Arizona, Washington State, Cal
ifornia, Washington — These
teams have an impressive number
of conference leaders among them
— five in all — but little to no
depth. Arizona has the best shot to
finish closer to the “contenders”
group, but only because of two
conference leaders and four ath
letes that rank either second or
third in their event. Host Wash
ington State has strong sprints,
but little to impress in the field.
Washington has two conference
leaders, but only five other scor
ing athletes. For these teams, the
conference meet should prove
long and pointless.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
Women’s
continued from page 13
line and she was like ‘OK.’ So I
asked her if I could be in this meet
and she said it was fine and (assis
tant coach Mark Stream) said it was
fine. I was pumped.”
Don’t think Kriz’ attempt at the
javelin didn’t go unnoticed. Mal
one, who took the meet with a
throw of 166-10, had some kind
words for her teammate.
“She was just out there having
fun,” Malone said.
Better yet, is there a future for
Kriz in the javelin?
With all four javelin throwers re
turning next season, it may not be
likely, but there’s no reason not to
dream, at least in Kriz’ mind.
“It’s looking like a possibility,” Kriz
said. “Sally says there could be a fu
ture there. We’ll see what happens.”
For the record, Kriz — who will
be converging on Pullman, Wash.,
to compete in the Pac-10 Champi
onships in the high jump — took
fifth in her common event, but was
at a height of 5-7.
Full steam ahead
The injury bug has stayed away
from the Ducks for most of the sea
son, and the week before the Pac-10
Championships is no different.
Field stars such as Amanda
Brown, Lundeen and Malone
have all been sidelined with vari
ous injuries, but are now ready
for the championships and are at
full strength.
Alicia Snyder-Carlson and
Janette Davis have also suffered
through injury-plagued seasons,
but are back in business in the run
ning events.
Oregon will go into the champi
onships with the full squad of 24 al
lowable by the conference.
Coach knows best
Head coach Tom Heinonen, Har
mon, Stream and volunteer coach
Mark Vanderville have all had suc
cessful collegiate and post-colle
giate careers, so paying attention to
what they say, at least in the ath
letes’ minds, is vital.
There will be a full week after the
Oregon Twilight to practice for the
culmination of the season for most,
and while rest and relaxation is in
the books, listening to the coaches
is also on the plate.
“Whatever Tom tells me to, but I
really don’t know what I’m going
to be doing,” junior Eri Macdon
ald said.
What if...?
The Ducks, in the final regular
season ranking, were named as the
12th best team in the nation by
www.team-power.org.
Oregon, conveniently placed
two spots ahead of Washington —
a team they defeated in a dual
meet earlier this season — is only
behind two Pac-10 schools. Peren
nial power UCLA has held the top
spot for most of the season, and
Washington State is holding on to
the seventh spot.
What if, though, it all came
down to the Ducks and Bruins or
Oregon and Washington State for
the Pac-10 title?
Either way, the Ducks lost. First,
UCLA clobbered Oregon 129-73,
with the Ducks then losing to the
Cougars, 106-96.
UCLA, theoretically would
have no problem with the rest of
the conference, defeating Wash
ington State 126-77.
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Golf
continued from page 13
The Ducks had a strong finish this
spring with six straight top-six fin
ishes since the beginning of March.
Most recently, Oregon finished fifth
at the Pacific-10 Conference Cham
pionships at the end of April.
Four of the Duck’s five golfers
have season stroke averages with
in two of par. Senior Aaron Byers,
from Albany, leads the Ducks with
a 72.4 stroke average followed by
junior John Ellis at 72.6 strokes
per round.
Junior Chris Carnahan, another
Albany native, is third for Oregon
at 73.2 with Portland native Bran
don Harnden , a senior captain, at
73.6. Sophomore Mike Sica, who
averages 75.3 strokes per round,
will play fifth for the Ducks.
Oregon will face tough competi
tion to reach nationals including
Pac-10 champion USC as the West’s
No. 1 seed, followed by Texas, Fres
no State, Washington, San Diego
State and Arizona.
It has been four years since the
Ducks last played in Albuquerque,
at the 1998 NCAA Championships.
That Oregon team finished tied for
27th and did not make the second
round cut.
But with their consistency this
year, the Ducks said they plan to go
much further.
Jesse Thomas is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.
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