Sports brief
Bibby’sshot
sinks Lakers’ stars
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The
conventional wisdom in the NBA
dictates stars win championships.
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson,
Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas,
Shaquille O'Neal.
And only stars beat other stars.
The Lakers have the stars in
O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The
Kings, though they have Chris
Webber, rely more on their talent
constellation, with six players
averaging in double figures in
the playoffs.
“They have the two greatest
players around,” Kings center
Vlade Divac said. “But we know
overall we are a better team.”
The theorem was tested again
Tuesday, and Sacramento's hunch
took the 92-91 victory. Mike Bibby
knocked down the winning shot
with 11.4 seconds left after a pick
from Webber freed him. Webber
scored 29 points.
The Kings lead the Western
Conference finals 3-2 with the
possible series-clinching Game 6
in Los Angeles on Friday.
Bryant scored 30, but his shot
bounced off the rim at the end of
the game. O'Neal, who scored 28
points, fouled out with 3:22
remaining.
The Lakers came into Game 5
emboldened by their good fortune
more than their play after Robert
Horry's winning basket Sunday.
— Sam Smith
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Kriz
continued from page 9
“I had the application for Oregon
and the application for Southern sit
ting next to each other on the table,”
Adam said. “I thought Oregon repre
sented the best of the best. Southern
Oregon was not the best of the best,
but I had a pretty good shot at getting
a scholarship there. Then I remem
ber I heard this song, and it was ‘Bit
tersweet Symphony,’ and I went
‘Yep, I’m going to Oregon.’ That de
cided it for some reason.”
Bittersweet, indeed, that Rachael
ended up in Eugene because of
sheer love, and Adam ended up
here because of sheer luck. But in
their own ways, the brother and sis
ter became true Ducks.
* * *
Adam, of course, ended up mak
ing the team as a hammer thrower,
despite his small size. He took a
redshirt year to beef up, worked on
technique and soon built his status
as a top thrower in the program.
In his first season focusing sole
ly on the hammer — though he’s
continued to “mess around,” as he
called it, in the shot put and dis
cus — Adam took eighth at the
Pac-10 meet. As a sophomore, he
took fourth.
This year he won it.
“It’s been incredible to watch
Adam (improve),” Rachael said. “I’d
love to walk in that guy’s footsteps.”
Rachael has also improved in her
two years here, in small ways. She
capped a disappointing freshman
season with an llth-place finish at
the Pac-lOs. She flirted with her
personal best of 5 feet, 7 and 1/4
inches several times throughout the
season, but never hit the big height.
She experienced similar frustration
through much of this season, missing
again and again at the big heights.
Then, toward the end of the year, she
went back to her high school roots,
messed around, had fun. At the Ore
gon Twilight meet, she threw the
javelin just for kicks. She went to the
Pac-lOs the next week and, not coin
cidentally, hit a new personal best in
the high jump at 5-71/2.
“Doing one event was killing
me,” Rachael said. “I need to be do
ing more than just one thing. The
javelin is such a fun event for me. I
miss those events where I can go
100 percent on each one and know
that I’m not going to have to save
anything for later on. ”
For Rachael, it seems, walking in
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her brother’s footsteps may not be so
difficult after all.
Adam has come a long way since
his days as a freshman, when he
said he was afraid of not making
the Duck squad. Today he stands
proud at the NCAA Champi
onships, where he said he will be
more relaxed than ever.
“This is gravy from here on out,”
Adam said. “There’s nothing to worry
about. At Pac-lOs there was a lot pres
sure on me. If we stood a chance of
getting a team title I needed to start off
with that 10 points. This week there’s
no pressure. I’m ranked 13th. Noth
ing’s expected of me. I can just sit back
and try to get a big mark. ”
Adam won’t have Rachael to
holler at him in Baton Rouge, she’s
staying home for a cousin’s wed
ding this weekend.
It’s fitting that Rachael will miss
Adam’s performance for another
family member, though she said
“Adam knows” the entire Kriz fami
ly will be willing him to do well.
Fitting. And perhaps even bitter
sweet.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
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Simon Kimata, seen here during his win in the Pac-10 800, runs today at the NCAAs.
Men
continued from page 9
can score points, the Ducks could
end up in the top 10 for the second
year in a row. It took 27 points to
propel Oregon to ninth last year.
Judging solely from national
rankings, the Ducks would score
only eight points this year, which
would have earned them 29th at the
national meet last season. But the
Oregon athletes busted predictability
last year and at the Pac-lOs this year,
and at least a few Ducks are talking
about doing it again.
“If things go well, I’m looking to
score a lot more (decathlon points)
than Pac-lOs,” Pappas said. “I’m
not going into nationals expecting
to win. There are a lot of good guys
there. But I’m trying to do the best
for myself.”
Harris, too, echoed the senti
ments that anything can happen at
the NCAAs.
“The guys are running the top
times in the country, so every
body’s good,” Harris said. “All bets
are off. If you’re the first one or the
last one to qualify — if you’re not
on your ‘A’ game — it’s going to be
tough to win.”
The senior hurdler is one of four
in the group of seven with NCAA
experience. Last year, Harris sur
prised the field by making the semi
final heat in the 110 hurdles. This
year he wants to surprise the field
by making the finals, where only
eight athletes compete, so he would
automatically score points.
“I want to get further than last
year,” Harris said. “I want to
improve.”
Pappas and Hartmann are the
only two returning athletes who
scored in the NCAA meet last sea
son. Pappas finished eighth in the
decathlon, while Hartmann finished
third in the 10,000-meter race.
Woods joins Harris in looking to
avenge last year’s loss. Woods no
heighted despite high expectations
heading in, and this year enters
with even higher expectations after
he broke the fabled 18-foot barrier
earlier this season.
But whatever happens, one thing
is sure: The NCAA Championships
won’t be predictable.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
at peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
Women
continued from page 9
Oregon’s participation at the
championships beginning Thurs
day at 1 p.m.
Malone, a sophomore, finished
seventh in the 2001 version, held
at Hayward Field, while Crumley
and Lundeen, the two newest ad
ditions to Oregon’s NCAA contin
gent, are looking to get their feet
wet in Louisiana.
Ending Oregon’s weekend down
in the South, junior Mary Etter will
make her third appearance at the
NCAAs in the discus on Friday.
Holliday, a junior transfer from
Clackamas Community College,
follows up a third-place finish in
the Pacific-10 Conference Champi
onships a week ago with her first
NCAA appearance.
However, it should be familiar
territory for the pole vaulter.
Fellow Pac-10 athletes, Ari
zona’s Amy Linnen and UCLA’s
Tracy O’Hara, will be accompany
ing Holliday to the Champi
onships, with O’Hara ranked first
in the nation and Linnen second.
“It’s between the three of us,”
Holliday said, “the top three in the
Pac-10. I just have to go out there
and have a good day, and I know if
I PR, I’ll take the title.”
At the Pac-10 Championships,
Holliday finished a disappointing
third, especially considering her
personal best is 14-4, set in 2001
while competing for Clackamas.
It was even more disappointing
for the Sparks, Nev., native though,
because Linnen, a sophomore took
first. O’Hara and Holliday have a
friendly history of competing
against one another, and for
O’Hara, the NCAA Championships
will be her last competition in a
UCLA uniform.
Suffice to say, if Holliday fails to
claim first, she will be rooting for
O’Hara.
“It’s her senior year, and we’re
really good friends,” Holliday said
of O’Hara. “I’d rather see her get
first. She said she’d rather see me
get first than Amy, too. We don’t
want a sophomore coming up and
beating us.”
The Championships will be a
culmination of sorts for Holliday,
at least for the collegiate season. In
what she has described as a tough
season, especially with becoming
acclimated to the Oregon squad,
Holliday is a favorite to start the
Ducks off on the right foot.
Oregon finished with two
points in 2001. If Holliday can
place in the top three as expected,
it will give Oregon at least six
points after one day, which would
have placed the Ducks at No. 37
this past season.
“Toward the end of the season,
I’m getting closer to the heights
I’ve wanted,” Holliday said. “I’m
definitely peaking right now.”
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.