Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, November 26,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Online exclusive
Read a preview of tonight's
women's basketball game
at www.dailyemerald.com
Ducks wait on postseason destination
The Ducks could be headed to
the Seattle Bowl, but likely wont
find out for sure until Dec 8
Football notes
Adam Jude
Senior Sports Reporter
Jason Fife doesn’t know what
lies ahead for the Oregon football
team. He just wants to get back on
the field.
“I don’t care who we play. I don’t
care when we play. I just want another
shot at somebody,” the junior quarter
back said after Oregon’s 45-24 Civil
War loss in Corvallis.
He’ll likely get his chance next
month in a bowl game, but the Ducks
won’t find out where theyll end up un
til this weekend at the earliest. Oregon
(7-5 overall, 3-5 Pacific-10 Confer
ence), which finished eighth in the
Pac-10, will probably have to wait until
the final Bowl Championship Series
poll is released on Dec. 8 before mak
ing its travel agenda for the bowl game.
“I haven’t given it a lot of thought,”
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said
of his preferred bowl game. “We want
to go to the best bowl game possible
and compete against the best team
available.”
Because of an NCAA suspension,
California (7-5, 4-4), which tied for
fifth in the conference standings, can
not compete in a bowl game, leaving
the Pac-10 with seven bowl-eligible
teams, including Oregon at No. 7.
If they played in a bowl this week,
the Ducks would likely be headed to
Seahawks Stadium on Dec. 30 for the
Seattle Bowl, which made a one-year
agreement with the Pac-10 last week.
A team from the Atlantic Coast Con
ference — right now, either Georgia
Tech (7-4) or Clemson (7-5) — is also
slated for a Seattle Bowl bid.
The Pac-10, however, could have
two teams eligible for one of four BGS
bowls. Washington State (9-2,6-1) and
USG (9-2,7-1) are both in the running
for the Rose Bowl, but if USG beats
Notre Dame this Saturday, the Trojans
would likely be in the running for one
of the three remaining BGS bowls —
the Fiesta, Oregon and Sugar bowls.
If USG does get a BGS bid, all the
other Pac-10 teams would move up in
the bowl standings. That would put the
Ducks in the Silicon Valley Classic in
San Jose, Calif., on Dec. 31. Fresno
State, which lost to Oregon on Sept. 7,
has already accepted an invitation to
the Silicon Valley Classic, and bowl of
ficials usually don’t like to pair teams
that have already played each other.
The inaugural San Francisco Bowl,
scheduled for Dec. 31 at Pac Bell Park,
is also a possibility for the Ducks, but
only if the Mountain West Conference
doesn’t have a third bowl-eligible team.
Air Force and Colorado State are the
only two Mountain West teams eur
rendy bowl-eligible.
While they wait to hear about their
bowl fate, the Ducks will take this
Thanksgiving week off and reflect on a
disappointing season, which saw the
Ducks climb to No. 6 in the country af
ter a 6-0 start.
“It’s been a tough year,” senior tail
Turn to Football, page 6
mrt
GeoffThurner Oregon Media Services
Jason Hartmann won his third All-American honor by placing 18th at the NCAAs in Indiana
Five All-American harriers
lead Oregon at nationals
The Oregon men’s cross country squad
finishes fifth at Monday’s NCAA
Championships
Cross country
Mindi Rice
Freelance Sports Reporter
One year after the Oregon cross country squads
missed having any All-Americans, they are bringing
home five following Monday’s NCAA Championships.
Redshirt senior Carrie Zografos earned the honor,
along with the top four Ducks on the men’s side.
“To go from being a walk-on to an All-American is
such an exciting feeling,” Zografos said. “Especially for
someone who just started running cross country barely
three years ago. And to do it in (women’s head coach)
Tom (Heinonen)’s last year means that much more. It’s
a special way to end it, for both me and him, and some
thing neither of us will forget. ”
Senior Jason Hartmann, in his last season of cross
country eligibility, earned his third cross country All
American honor, becoming only the eighth Duck ever
to earn the title three times. Hartmann finished 18th
overall to lead the Ducks on the 10,000-meter course in
30 minutes and 17.9 seconds.
Hartmann finished in the top 20 for the first time in
his career, after placing 37th, 35th and 50th over the
past three years.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Andrus finished 30th
overall, running the course in 30:30. Andrus earned
the Ducks’ second All-American honor, while dramati
cally improving over his 236th-place finish in last year’s
national meet.
Eric Logsdon, a redshirt sophomore, earned 37th
overall, improving over his 2001 finish of 156th. Logs
don ran the course in 30:36.5, and earned his first All
American honor.
Right behind Logsdon, finishing the course in
30:37.8, junior Brett Holts improved over his 96th
place finish in 2001 to finish 39th, and fourth for the
Ducks. Holts also earned his first All-American honor,
as one of the last Americans to earn the honor out of the
participants.
Redshirt junior John Lucas wrapped up Oregon’s
scoring with an 86th-place finish, taking the course in
31:13. Lucas finished 117th in last year’s NCAA meet.
Also running for the Ducks were junior Noel Paul
son, who finished 125th overall, and freshman Shane
Ahlers, who placed 175th overall. Paulson finished
176th in last year’s race.
“This season has been building into a crescendo, so
to finish it like this is pretty emotional,” Andrus said.
“It’s been an intense year and we’ve been so dedicated
that it’s been a special season. We also wanted to make
this race a good one for Jason. He’s worked so hard and
been such a great leader. ”
The men’s fifth-place team finish is its highest na
tional finish under head coach Martin Smith. The
men’s squad also earned fifth place in 1998, when
Smith was an assistant coach, as Steve Fein led the
Ducks with an 18th-place finish.
The lone Oregon women’s entrant, Zografos, fin
ished 33rd individually in her final collegiate harrier
meet. Zografos ran the 6,(XX)-meter course in 20:31.4.
In her other NCAA appearance as an Oregon harrier,
Zografos finished 220th in 2000.
Zografos’ All-American distinction marked the 31st
All-American cross country honor that Heinonen has
seen his harriers earn during his 28 years at the helm.
Mindi Rice is a freelance writer for the Emerald.
Men fend off late Northridge runs
to win John Thompson Challenge
The Ducks pull out their first close
win of the season, and say they will
learn from the experience
Men’s basketball
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
If Monday night’s basketball game was a
horror movie, then California-State North
ridge would be the bad guy who keeps com
ing back at the end.
The Matadors just wouldn’t die.
But despite the monumental efforts of the
Northridge players, the No. 10 Oregon men’s
basketball team improved to 2-0 on the
young season with an 86-77 victory in front
of 8,560 fans at McArthur Court. The win
gave the Ducks the title in the two-day John
Thompson Challenge.
“As I’ve stated before, we’re not going to
blow out every team every night,” Oregon
head coach Ernie Kent said. “But this was
good for us. We didn’t play our best game, and
it forced us to fight through adversity. ”
The Ducks didn’t put away the game until
the final minutes. The Matadors tied the
game with 3:17 remaining and got within two
points with less than two minutes on the
clock. But the Ducks hit five of six free throws
down the stretch and came up with two key
defensive stops over the final minutes to pull
out the win.
Forward Luke Jackson led the Ducks with
23 points on the strength of 12-for-12 shoot
ing from the free-throw line. Five Oregon
players scored in double figures, including
Brian Helquist, who notched a career-high 11
points and added nine rebounds.
“We won,” Helquist said, when asked what
it felt like to score a career high.
That phrase applied to the feelings of most
of the Ducks after Monday’s close win, their
first close game after averaging more than
121 points in two exhibition games and the
season opener.
“This showed we can play another type of
game other than an up-tempo game,” said
senior forward Robert Johnson, who had a
double-double with 12 points and 10 re
bounds.
The Matadors made it close throughout
the second half. Northridge started the sec
ond frame with a 14-7 run, but Oregon an
swered with a 21-8 run of its own to make the
score 61-51 with 11:15 remaining. The Mata
dors slowly crawled back into the game as
the Ducks turned the ball over on seven
straight possessions, and Northridge even
tually knotted the score with an easy lav-in
Turn to Basketball, page 6
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Brian Helquist scored a career-high 11 points in Monday's win.