Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, April 30,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet
NBA Playoffs:
Portland at Dallas, Game 5
5:30 p.m., TNT
UO linebackers prepare for resurgence
Next year should be adifferent story for the
Oregon linebackers after a sub-par 2002 season
Spring football notes
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
How good is the Oregon linebacking corps going to be next
season?
Just ask them.
“We could be as good as we want to be,” Kevin Mitchell said.
“The thing is how well we gel as a unit. For us to do that, we
need to be able to know what each other is thinking. That’s
what it’s going to take. Pretty much a lot of bonding time.
“It’s one of those things where you’ve got to mold together
and become one.”
With Mitchell returning to practice last week, the group —
which is also expected to have Jerry Matson and David Martin
as starters — is going to be experienced.
Mitchell and Martin are both seniors while Matson is a jun
ior. Mitchell has been at the forefront of the Oregon defense
from the beginning of his tenure with the Ducks, and the other
two played significant roles last season.
Throw in Justin Andrews, Ramone Reed and fall newcom
er Marcus Miller, and that’s a pretty good recipe for success
come September.
“The linebackers are coming around rapidly,” Matson said.
“I think we’re going to be all right. Kevin’s going to really help us
out, and a lot of the guys are young. It’s interesting to see how
they’ve matured.”
Against the Oregon offense at the team’s third scrimmage last
week, the group held the running game down for the first half.
The second stanza was a different story, but overall, it was a
step up from the first two weeks of the spring.
Mitchell had an especially impressive performance in the
workout, considering he grabbed one interception in limited
work in his first chance this spring to hit people. He had been
out the first two weeks because of arthroscopic knee surgery
in January.
“I’m feeling all right,” he said at Tuesday’s practice. “It felt
good (to get back on the field). I was actually getting bored, and
it’s good to get back into the swing of things.”
He said he doesn’t know how much he will play in Saturday’s
spring game. That decision will come at the hands of head
coach Mike Bellotti and his coaching staff.
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Jason Willis almost notched a Pac-10 qualifying time at the Invitational.
Adam Amato Emerald
Kevin Mitchell had an interception in Friday's scrimmage, and now he's looking to lead atalented linebacker crew into Friday's spring game.
That’s spring for you
Oregon is stretching out its spring practices longer than most
Pacific-10 Conference programs.
Two teams, Washington State and Arizona, closed out their
workouts last week, albeit in different ways.
The Cougars ended their spring gridiron workouts with their
traditional Crimson and Gray Game on Saturday at Martin Sta
Willis catches
Track Town-itis
The former Duck receiver was signed by the Seahawks
after the NFL Draft on Sunday, but he’s found a new love
on the track and wants to return to score a Pac-10 time
Men’s track and field notes
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Jason Willis will head to the Seattle Seahawks minicamp this
weekend as a football player. But he said his recent experiences
on the track might just help him stay in Seattle.
The senior and former wide receiver for the Oregon football
squad ran in the Pepsi Invitational earlier this month as a fill-in.
But he ended up exploding, finishing third in the 100-meter
dash and second in the 200. He did it again at last weekend’s
Oregon Invitational, finishing third in the 200 with a time that
almost qualified him for the Pacific-10 Conference Champi
onships and helping the Duck 4x100 relay team to an almost
Pac-10 time in that event.
But on Sunday, Willis focused on football and the NFL Draft,
and finally he got a phone call from the Seahawks, who didn’t
draft him but signed him to a free agent contract. He reports to
minicamp Thursday.
“(Track) is definitely going to help me stay in shape, help me
for this weekend,” Willis said. “Receivers are running all the
time. Track’s helped me with my endurance, and definitely with
my speed.”
Willis said that despite his focus on performing well for the
Seahawks, the track bug has burrowed deep in his skin. Now
he wants to qualify for the Pac-lOs in the 200, which was his
specialty in high school. His time, 21.65 seconds, from the In
vitational is .21 seconds slower than the Pac-10 qualifying time.
He’ll have only one chance to qualify as there is only one week
end between the minicamp and Pac-lOs.
Turn to Track, page 8
dium. The Crimson group won 36-3 against its lesser-talented
opponents, but may have shown that Washington State has not
dropped off much, if at all, from the team that went to the Rose
Bowl last year.
“I think we showed today that we have pretty good depth,”
first-year head coach Bill Doha said.
Turn to Football, page 12
LaVoie rises,
but Ducks fall
on second day
Freshman Gregg LaNfoie ascends the leadertooard as
the Ducks drop one spot at Pac-1 Os in California
Men’s golf
Scott Archer
Freelance Sports Reporter
With three rounds down in the 2003 Pacific-10 Confer
ence Championships, Oregon found itself in a position it
didn’t want to be on Tuesday: worse than the day before.
The Ducks slipped one spot to seventh place after finish
ing the third round 48 over par at the 6,736-yard, par-72
Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calif. Oregon currendy
has a team score of 1,128, 47 strokes behind third-round
leader No. 11 UCLA.
The only surprise for the day was freshman Gregg
LaVoie’s impressive rise up the leaderboard. The freshman
had started the day tied for 25th overall, but rode a one
over-par 73 to climb six spots on the day. LaVoie is tied with
fellow teammate and senior John Ellis, who also had a major
move on the day, but in the wrong direction. After an im
pressive two opening rounds on Monday, which placed the
senior in a tie for 12th place, Ellis struggled with a 4-over 76
to slide seven spots.
Junior Jimmy White shot a 2-under-par 70 to finish the
day tied at 21st overall, followed by senior Chris Carnahan
at 28th overall. Redshirt freshman Kyle Johnson is currently
tied for 40th overall, after shooting a third round 6-over,
while junior Mike Sica shot a 9-over par, raising his three
round total to 241.
No. 11 UCLA remained the team to beat Tuesday after
posting a 5-under par third round, separating itself from
the rest of the field. UCLA is also playing on one of its
Turn to Golf, page 8