Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterh0ckada5A@dailyemerald.com
Monday, April 14,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
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Kent leads Oregon to Invitational win
Adam Amato Emerald
Jordan Kent won Saturday's long jump and almost won the 4x100-meter relay.
The Ducks win eight of 18 events in an
impressive team victory Saturday at home
Men’s track and field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Early Saturday afternoon, Oregon freshman Jor
dan Kent had the Pepsi Team Invitational long
jump in hand, so he ditched the long jump pit, ran
across Hayward Field, changed quickly into a
sprinting uniform and switched spikes. He ran
back across the infield, getting to the track’s Bow
erman curve just in time to run the anchor leg of
the 4xl00-meter relay.
As the large Hayward crowd swelled around
him, Kent got the baton at the same time as Min
nesota’s two-time All-American, senior Andy
Wholin. Kent and Wholin battled down the home
stretch, but Kent’s tired legs couldn’t catch
Wholin, and the Gophers took the relay by less
than a second.
But even if Kent didn’t catch Wholin on this day,
he gave the crowd the sense that he’ll be catching
— and passing — opponents for a long time as a
Duck.
“I think I did one too many long jumps,” Kent
said. “But it was a lot of fun to finally get out here
and get my feet wet.”
Kent’s first meet as a Duck coincided with
Oregon’s first team-scoring meet of 2003. And
with the help of a Kent-led, talented freshman
class and a strong upperclassmen contingent,
the Ducks dominated the competition at the
Pepsi Team Invitational. Oregon won early and
often, finishing with 211 points to second-place
Minnesota’s 171. Washington finished with 113
and Colorado ended with 108.
“As a team, you saw a lot of good athletic efforts
out there today,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith
said after the meet.
The most surprising athletic efforts came on
the track. Reversing the Duck stigma, Oregon
won with sprinting and faltered in the distances.
Football players Samie Parker, who won the 100,
and Jason Willis, who finished third in the 100
and second in the 200, had a lot to do with that.
Then there were the freshmen: Eric Mitchum
took the 110 hurdles and the all-freshman 4x100
relay team finished only .20 seconds behind
Minnesota. The Ducks scored 33 points in the
100, 200 and 400, but scored only 22 in the 800,
1,500 and 3,000.
But the day started with success on the field.
John Stiegeler, who won the 2001 javelin national
championship but redshirted last season with a
knee injury, won Saturday’s javelin section and fel
low Duck Adam Jenkins finished second, giving
Oregon a quick 16 points in the team competition.
Stiegeler, whose 220-foot throw was far short of his
pre-injury Oregon record of 252-10, said he still is
n’t happy with where he’s at in his comeback.
“I couldn’t get it to quite come together today,”
he said.
The Ducks’ field success continued as Adam
Kriz won the hammer competition with a seven
foot personal best of 217-10, which put him fifth
on the national list and fifth all-time at Oregon.
Kent followed with his win in the long jump, and
then the track stars took over. By mid-afternoon,
the Ducks had the team competition won.
The victory over Minnesota was a notch in Ore
gon’s belt for the season, as the Golden Gophers
were the top-ranked dual meet team coming out
of the indoor season. Minnesota was ranked 15th
in Trackwire.com’s rankings headed into the meet,
and the Gophers have talent comparable to several
Pacific-10 Conference teams. The Ducks will head
to Los Angeles for the Pac-10 Championships in
Turn to Men's, page 10
Women shine with nine wins at Hayward Field
Oregon wins its first five events and
never looks back on the way to the
important team win over three squads
Women’s track and field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
By the time 2 p.m. Saturday rolled around,
the Oregon women’s track team had everything
kicked into full gear: five events in the bag and
five personal victories for the Ducks.
After the rocket start, junior Abby Andrus
had a comeback victory in the 100 hurdles on a
sour stomach and senior Eri Macdonald ran a
63-second last lap of the 800 meters to secure
the victory.
All en route to an Oregon team victory. The
Ducks had 204 points in the Pepsi Invitational,
while second-place Minnesota had 172. And
Oregon made it look easy from the start, when
sophomore Roslyn Lundeen improved her sea
son best to win on the last throw of the javelin.
“The win is obviously nice and I’m just happy
to be in one piece,” said Lundeen, who nursed
injuries early in the season.
“It seems like our kids competed with a lot of
heart,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said.
“They knew it was competitive, and they react
ed by being competitive and putting lots of good
marks on the board. This is our best meet of the
season by far.”
Oregon’s throwing arsenal continued in usu
al fashion. After Lundeen’s season best, senior
Jordan Sauvage hit 185 feet in the hammer to
secure the win and nine points for Oregon.
Senior Mary Etter followed suit with a victory
in the discus by throwing 176 feet, more than
six feet past her previous season best. Etter also
went on to finish second in the shot put behind
Minnesota’s Alean Frawley.
“It’s about time,” Etter said of finally
throwing past 170 feet in competition. “I’m
kind of tweaking things in my forearm.
There will be no problem getting 180 if I get
that stuff down.”
The pole vault was the fourth victory of
the five that proved no different than usual
on Oregon’s part. Washington’s Kate Soma
was the only competitor who had a mark
close to that of any Duck. Soma had a rough
day as she could not clear 12-11 1/2 on her
third attempt.
After Soma was out, Oregon seniors Nike
Turn to Women's, page 10
Ducks play sloppy
in first scrimmage
of spring season
Chris Vincent leads the Ducks with 41 yards
rushing in Saturday’s first scrimmage of spring
Spring football
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Kellen Taylor’s fumble late in Oregon’s scrimmage Saturday
typified the Ducks’ sloppy play during their first day inside
Autzen Stadium during spring practices.
On a reverse, the wide receiver never got a handle on the ball,
and kicked it to the sideline, costing the Oregon offense a 10
yard loss.
Overall, it was an inconsistent scrimmage for both the of
fense and the defense.
“I thought we were a little sluggish,” head coach Mike Bellotti
Turn to Football, page 10
Adam Amato Emerald
Junior catcher Jenn Poore walked three times in Sunday's game and
was picked off in her steal attempt during the first inning.
Softball splits
Pac-10 weekend
at Howe Field
Oregon splits three home games against
Washington and UCLA, with the Ducks’ one win
breaking their Pac-10 win total for 2002
Softball
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
Despite taking out the No. 2 team in the nation — Pacific
10 Conference foe UCLA — on Saturday, the Ducks couldn’t
find a rhythm on Friday or Sunday, surrounding the win
with two losses.
No. 20 Oregon (21-13 overall, 3-7 Pac-10) pulled out a
tight 5-4 win after letting UCLA catch up in the seventh in
ning Saturday. The game also featured a one-outing debut of
Turn to Softball, page 12