Oregon daily emerald., May 22, 2002, Image 5

Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamj ude@dailyemerald .com
Wednesday, May 22,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Best Bet
NHL playoffs:
Colorado vs. Detroit
5 p.m., ESPN
Athletic Department plans to add women’s sport
Senior Associate
Athletic Director
Renee
Baumgartner
says Oregon has
six potential
sports, and a
new one will be
added by 2004
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
Duck fans will soon have another var
sity sport to cheer for.
With increased revenue from the ex
pansion to Autzen Stadium and a desire
to provide a more gender-equal opportu
nity for future Oregon athletes, the Ath
letic Department will likely add another
women’s sport to its repertoire by 2004.
“We are looking at a variety of sports,
and obviously putting together informa
tion on facilities, budgets and start-up
costs, and trying to make the best decision
for the University,” said Renee Baumgart
ner, senior associate athletic director.
Baumgartner, who said that the
timetable may change, listed six
potential sports as being in the running
for the open slot, including crew, field
hockey, gymnastics, lacrosse, swimming
and water polo. She also mentioned
equestrian as another potential option.
When the University added soccer as
a women’s sport in 1996, the Athletic
Department noticed the general growth
of the interest of women’s soccer in the
state and in Eugene and “felt like that
was an interest that we should meet,”
Baumgartner said.
The decision for the next sport will
be made by a similar process — by
weighing the interest of the region and
the economic interests of the Univer
sity. The Athletic Department has sent
out surveys to students and communi
ty residents regarding their prefer
ences of what should be the next
women’s sport at Oregon, and the re
sults have varied.
Presently, crew and lacrosse are
women’s Club Sports teams at Oregon,
and as a result, they could make the
transition to a varsity sport easier than
what it would take for swimming or wa
ter polo — which would require build
ing an entirely new facility.
Crew coordinator Erin Koenig said
that turning the open weight women’s
crew team into a varsity sport “would
be a great opportunity.”
“To make us varsity would allow us
to be competitive with schools like
Washington and Cal,” she said.
During the Pacific Coast Rowing
Championships on May 18, Koenig and
her three fellow rowers in Oregon’s top
women’s open weight boat defeated the
strong Stanford boat.
There may be potential complica
tions that arise if crew is adopted as a
varsity sport. Only the open weight
women would achieve varsity status,
leaving the men high and dry, which
could cause controversy with funding
and boathouse space.
Despite the unforeseen potential
problems, the Athletic Department is
looking forward to its new addition.
“I think that we are making really
good progress and are excited about the
opportunity to add another women’s
sport,” Baumgartner said.
E-mail sports reporter Chris Cabot
at chriscabot@dailyemerald.com.
Holliday, Linnen at odds in pole vault
■ If nothing else, a heated rivalry
in the pole vault has come out
of the Pac-10 Championships
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Going into Sunday’s pole vault com
petition at the Pacific-10 Conference
Championships, Oregon junior Becky
Holliday was ranked third in the con
ference, just behind UCLA’s Tracy
O’Hara and Arizona’s Amy Linnen.
O’Hara currently holds the top spot
in the nation in the outdoor season,
while Linnen — the
indoor season leader
— is third, just be
hind Holliday’s best
mark of 14-1.25.
When the num
bers gave way to ac
tion, Linnen came
out on top at the Pac-10 meet, while
Holliday took second, followed by
O’Hara at No. 3.
Suffice to say, Holliday and O’Hara
are not happy Linnen was able to over
take them in Pullman, Wash. But
adding even more fuel to the fire, Holli
day and O’Hara are good friends, while
Linnen is on an island all her own.
That has created some hard feelings.
“We are both kind of bitter about the
whole Amy Linnen thing,” Holliday
said, upset while riding on a bus back
to Eugene on Sunday.
Despite the results at the Pac-10
Championships, Holliday is confident
she and O’Hara will be able to overtake
the Wildcat when the three meet again
in Baton Rouge, La., at the NCAA
Championships next week.
Linnen “already had her good
meet,” Holliday said. “She had her
day, and she never has two good
meets in a row.”
If anyone is looking for a hyped-up
event next week, look no further than
the pole vault. It has the makings of be
ing something special, if not a trash
talking bonanza.
Duck meat
For the third straight season, Oregon
was shut out of the Pac-10 Champi
onships, failing to win a single individ
ual event.
The team saw Holliday, sophomore
Sarah Malone (javelin) and junior Jen
ny Brogdon (high jump) take second
place. However, no Ducks were able to
break out past that barrier and give
Oregon a much needed 10-point boost.
The last Duck to take an individual
event?
Turn to Women’s, page 6
Junior pole vaulter Becky Holliday was unhappy after finishing*second in Pullman, Wash., on Sunday.
However, she is confident she can overtake Arizona’s Amy Linnen for first place.
UO golfers ‘proud’
despite missing cut
■Although it ‘should be’ in the NCAA Tournament,
the Oregon golf team is happy about its 2002 season
By Jesse Thomas
for the Emerald
It’s all said and done now — just a
little earlier than they anticipated.
The greens are a little quieter and the
fairways a little smoother.
The season has come to a close for
the Oregon men’s golf team, with the
Ducks finishing 12th on a three
round total 885 at the NCAA West
Regional in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Ducks fell just three strokes
shy of 10th place, which would
have given them a bid to the NCAA
Championships.
“With the talent that we had, we
should still be getting ready for na
tionals,” senior Aaron Byers said
after finishing his last collegiate
tournament. “There is no reason
why we’re not.”
The most upsetting part is that
Oregon did not get the job done at re
gionals, mainly because of the first
round of 300, head coach Steve
Nosier said. But that does not matter
anymore, because the Ducks said
they had a great season.
“We’ve showed that we can play
with anybody,” Nosier said. “Our
scores were as low as anybody in
the nation.”
The Ducks proved that they could
compete with the best and beat the
best. After the TaylorMade Waikoloa tournament in
Hawaii from Feb. 13 to 15, the Oregon men began pulling
it together.
In their next tournament, two weeks later, the Ducks
finished second, and then at the end of March they went
on to win their own tournament, the Duck Invitational.
And through their next three tournaments, Oregon fin
ished in the top six every time.
Despite not making their first NCAA Tournament since
1999, the Ducks said the most important thing is the rela
tionships they built with one another.
“We grew stronger as individuals and as a team,” Byers
said. “The friendships and bonds will last a lot longer than
just one tournament.”
Those bonds and friendships were made between the
five consistent tournament competitors — Byers, senior
Brandon Hamden, juniors John Ellis and Chris Carnahan
and sophomore Mike Sica.
As individuals, Byers played first for Oregon with a sea
son stroke average of 72.3, followed by Ellis at 72.7. Car
nahan’s stroke average was 73.4, with Harnden at 74.0 and
Sica anchoring with a 75.4 average.
Oregon will lose Byers and Harnden next year. Both of
the graduating Ducks plan to turn professional in the fall.
Turn to Golf, page 8