Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Monday, April 28 2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NBA Playoffs:
Sacramento at Utah, Game 4
7:30 p.m., TNT
Smith, Wrighster taken in fourth round
Three Oregon players were
selected at the NFL Draft held
in New York this weekend
Football
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Fans last season at Autzen Stadium
would oftentimes see Onterrio Smith
break open an 8-yard run immediate
ly followed by a pass to George
Wrighster that stretched out the op
posing defense.
Fitting, then, that the two would be se
lected one after another in the NFL Draft
on Sunday.
Wrighster became the first Oregon
player selected in the draft when Jack
sonville took the tight end with the 104th
overall pick — a fourth round selection.
Smith was then grabbed by Minnesota
with the next pick.
The Vikings also took wide receiver
Keenan Howry in the seventh round as
the 221st overall selection.
For Smith especially, it is a signifi
cant drop from where he was expect
ed to be taken. ESPN.com and SI.com
both had the running back going in
the late second round, maybe even
higher. However, as Saturday — the
first day of the draft — passed, all
was quiet. Only six running backs
were chosen in the first three rounds.
Sunday proved to be a better day
for the group. Kentucky’s Artose
Pinner and LSU’s Domanick Davis
went early in the fourth before Smith
heard his name called.
For Wrighster, it is exactly where
the Van Nuys, Calif., native was
expected to be chosen.
“I know he’s an athletic guy who can
catch the ball,” Jacksonville head
coach Jack Del Rio said. “He’s good af
ter the catch. He adds another weapon
to the offense.”
Howry, who caught 40 passes for
784 yards during the 2002 season, was
the 29th receiver chosen. When he en
tered the draft, most pointed out his
playmaking ability on punt returns,
where he averaged 14.3 yards per re
turn last season.
In addition, running back Allan
Amundson was signed as an undrafted
free agent by San Francisco.
Back to college
The weather Friday at Autzen Stadium
had a touch of hail, rain and sun — all in
a two-hour span.
Suffice to say, it was unpredictable. Yet
the same could be said about the third
Oregon scrimmage.
“I thought for the first half our de
fense was awesome,” head coach Mike
Bellotti said. “They came out ready to
Turn to Football, page 12
Adam Amato Emerald
Onterrio Smith dropped to the fourth round of the NFL draft, despite
expectations he would be chosen in the second on Saturday.
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Carrie Zografos (41) and Nicole Feest (10) battled in Saturday's 5,000. Feest notched an NCAA regional time in the race.
Women hit marks
despite bad weather
A change of pace in Saturday’s
Oregon Invitational allowed
the track athletes to shine
with some huge personal bests
Women’s track and field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Saturday was a different scenario from
your usual Oregon women’s track and
field meet.
The sprints and hurdles were run on the
backstretch because of unforgiving winds.
The field events did not draw the usual
enthusiasm and applause, because of a
minor cancellation of the pole vault and
no Oregon competitors in the javelin.
And the oval was the scene of person
al bests, heartbreak and the highlight of
the afternoon.
From senior Eri Macdonald’s seventh
place finish in the 800 meters to freshman
Nicole Feest’s 25-second personal best in
the 5,000, the Oregon Invitational provid
ed a bit of everything.
“I, honestly, so didn’t expect this,” Feest
said of her 16 minute, 57 second finish,
which earned her a regional qualifying
mark. “I felt pretty comfortable and I tried
to stay calm. I underestimated myself be
cause I did not expect to do so well.”
“She is so tough,” Oregon head coach
Tom Heinonen said. “When she knew she
had to run at the stage where most people
start to slow down at about six laps, she
attacked and left the group and struck out
on her own. She’s a tiger, she really is.”
Senior Carrie Zografos made her 5,000
debut after a hip injury delayed her re
turn. Zografos’ time of 17:01.93 left her
seconds shy of the regional qualifying
mark of 17 minutes.
“I really wanted to get regionals, but it’s
so good to be back,” Zografos said. “I did
n’t know what to expect. This was hard; it
was mentally hard to stay focused. ”
Zografos will run the 5,000 at the Pacif
ic-10 conference meet and expects to
qualify for regionals and dip under the 17
minute mark.
Yet despite some heartache the compe
tition allowed for personal bests to pop
out all over the track. Senior Janette
Davis broke the 54-second barrier in the
400 for the first time.
Davis ran a personal best and won in
53.87 seconds. The senior from Medford
also earned a spot as Oregon’s fourth
fastest all-time in the event.
“In this weather, I just gave it to God
and did the best I can do,” Davis said. “I
always have the potential but finally put it
all together. I just had to run my race.”
Davis now sets her sights at 53.3, which
would be third all-time at Oregon. She
hoped to run that mark Saturday, but ex
pectations changed after the winds
picked up.
After Davis raised the bar, others
followed suit.
Senior Heather Murtaugh hit a .23-sec
ond personal best in a second place finish
in the 200 meters. Murtaugh fell short to
Montana States Lacy Hinzpeter by a mere
.01 of a second.
“It felt so good,” Murtaugh said of her
Turn to Women's, page 13
Duck individuals stand out of Oregon Invite crowd
Adam Kriz, Eric Mitchum and
Samie Parkertum in impressive
performances Saturday
Men’s track and field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Oregon head coach Martin
Smith doesn’t like to talk about
his team after a meet — he prefers
instead to laud the Ducks’ individ
ual efforts.
But if a whole is the sum of its
parts, the Ducks are going to be a
whole heap of trouble for other con
ference teams when the Pacific-10
Conference Championships roll
around in mid-May. They proved as
much with a strong team showing at
Saturday’s Oregon Invitational at
Hayward Field.
“We took several positive steps
forward today,” Smith said Satur
day. “We’re 21 days out from the
conference meet, and the most im
portant thing at this point is to
continue to make gradual im
provements at each meet.”
Oregon athletes scored several
important marks at the massive
meet. With more than 30 teams
from across the nation there to pro
vide competition, Adam Kriz threw
an enormous personal best in the
hammer — twice — and shrugged it
off afterwards.
“I expect to get PRs at this point;
I expect to win meets,” Kriz said.
Eric Mitchum had Hayward
Field’s strong winds at his back and
ran a blazing-fast 110-meter hurdles
race, while Samie Parker also capi
talized to run a fast time in the 100.
Foluso Akinradewo had a season
best in the triple jump.
But it was Oregon’s new qualifiers
that stole the show at the end of
Saturday’s meet. The sun came out
and shone on the Oregon 4x400 re
lay team, which barely qualified for
the NCAA West Regional, and Eric
Logsdon, who turned in a much
needed qualifying time in the 5,000.
“You only get so many chances to
run the 5K,” Logsdon said. “So we
were definitely targeting this meet.”
Earlier in the day, freshman
jumper Chad Glason qualified for
regionals in the high jump. He said
the presence of former Duck
jumpers Jason Boness and Kyley
Johnson helped him jump higher
than he’s jumped this season.
Boness, who won the competition,
and Johnson graduated last year
and both competed unattached.
“Those two are pretty good,” Cla
son said. “They just take you under
their wing.”
The surprise of the day came
from John Stiegeler, and it wasn’t a
pleasant surprise. The javelin star,
Turn to Men's, page 14