Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Monday, May 5,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Mr , . ,5
Best bet
NHL Playoffs:
Dallas at Anaheim, Game 6
7:30 p.m., ESPN2
Hayward fans say farewell to Heinonen
lorn Heinonen coaches his
final meet at Hayward Field
while more Ducks earn
qualifying marks for regionals
Women’s track and field
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
Saturday’s Oregon Twilight marked
the end of an era.
For 27 years, Tom Heinonen has di
rected the Oregon women’s track and
field program. Saturday’s meet was
Heinonen’s last at Hayward Field.
“It just hasn’t sunk in at all,” Heinonen
said. “I don’t think it’s really going to until
I clear out my office and walk away. And
that’s in June. We’ve got three big meets
coming down the road ... I’ll be back at
Hayward Field on Monday.”
Heinonen’s last meet was also the last
home meet for 14 Oregon seniors. Two
of the seniors — Carrie Zografos and
Eri Macdonald — qualified for the
NCAA Regionals with personal bests in
the 1,500 meters. Macdonald trailed
Zografos for most of the race before a
spurt in the last 100 meters put Mac
donald (who finished in 4 minutes,
25.81 seconds) tenths of a second
ahead of Zografos (4:26.09).
“I was just trying to stay in it,” Mac
donald said. “I saw people within reach
and tried to get them.”
Saturday’s scattered wind and rain af
fected many field events.
Senior Mary Etter, who took first in the
shotput (48 feet, 2 1/2 inches), third in
the hammer throw (165-08) and sixth in
the discus (116-11), switched from the
spin approach to the glide approach in
the shot put because of the weather.
“I was surprised I hit 48-2 (in the
shot),” Etter said. “(The discus) was
horrible. There was no way to get any
kind of a grip on the disk. I don’t think
anyone really did well today. It was very
disappointing for my last home meet.”
Turn to Heinonen, page 14A
Tom Heinonen
addressed the
Hayward Field crowd
after his final meet as
women's track and
field head coach.
Heinonen says he'll
focus on less intense
endeavors like UO's
dubrunningteam.
Mark McCambridge
Emerald
Spring game doesn’t answer position questions
Adam Amato Emerald
Kellen Clemens outplayed Jason Fife at the spring game. Clemens completed 12 passes for almost 200yards and led three scoring drives.
The offense narrowly comes out on top in
Oregon’s final scrimmage of spring drills
Spring football
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti had reiterated
throughout the Ducks’ spring workouts that he would not
name a starting quarterback until the fall.
But you can be sure that Kellen Clemens made a
strong case for that appointment on Saturday at Oregon’s
spring game.
The redshirt sophomore completed 12 passes for 189
yards and led the offense on three scoring drives in the
white team’s 48-46 victory over the green in front of
9,087 at Autzen Stadium.
The offense, of course, was clad in white, while the de
fense wore green in a change in the annual spring game
format. Unlike years past, the No. 1 offense took on the
No. 1 defense. This was made possible by a points sys
tem, that was, well, a little confusing for the players.
“I don’t even understand it,” Clemens said. “I really
wasn’t sure what was happening. I kind of looked up after
we scored a couple times and it was still 23-23, and I was
going, ‘what?’”
Had the game been played in a traditional manner, the
white team would have come out on top, 27-0. But the
modified scoring format allowed the defense to post
points for interceptions (two overall), sacks (three) and
forced punts, among other scenarios.
All of that, though, was to show those in attendance
that the game meant more than depth and starting
assignments. For Bellotti and the players, getting out
Turn to Spring game, page 14A
Vincent leads Oregon ground attack at spring finale
Redshirt freshman Chris
Vincent leads the Ducks
in rushing and scores
the only rushing touchdown
Spring football
Jon Roetman
Freelance Sports Reporter
With the starting tailback posi
tion wide open, Saturday’s spring
game was an opportunity to im
press for a trio of Oregon runners
competing for the job.
Chris Vincent overcame nerves
and a fumble on his first carry to
stand out as Oregon’s most produc
tive running back. The 6-foot-1
inch, 218-pound redshirt freshman
finished the day with 60 yards on
10 carries and the game’s only
rushing touchdown.
“In the beginning, I had the jitters
a litde bit,” Vincent said. “But I got a
couple handoffs, got banged around
a little bit and I fell into place.”
Vincent has been in a three-way
batde for the starting job with 5-foot
-10-inch, 207-pound sophomore
Terrence Whitehead and 5-foot-ll
inch, 206-pound junior Ryan Shaw
over the spring. Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said he was impressed
with the quickness shown by Vin
cent but doesn’t think it was enough
to name a starter yet as each mem
ber of the trio was solid.
“Chris Vincent showed up today
with a step more speed than I had
seen in the other scrimmages,” Bel
lotti said. “I thought all of our run
ning backs showed a burst and also
showed tough running skills.”
Whitehead was the first back to see
action, entering the game with sopho
more quarterback Kellen Clemens.
The Ducks went three-and-out on
their first series but were able to sus
tain a drive during Whitehead’s sec
ond opportunity. Throughout the of
fense’s fourth series, during which he
broke several tackles to keep the drive
alive, Whitehead had a four-yard run
on a third-and-two situation. He also
had a two-yard carry down to the 10
yard line, setting up Clemens’ first of
three touchdown passes.
“It felt real good to help the guys
get down there and score,” said
Whitehead, who finished the day
with 49 yards on 13 carries.
After the offense failed to pick up
a first down on its opening series,
Shaw got a chance to show what he
could do as he entered the game with
freshman quarterback Johnny
DuRocher. Shaw didn’t disappoint as
he took his first handoff and explod
ed up the left side for an 18-yard
gain. Unfortunately for Shaw, this
would be his high point of the game
as he was held to eight yards on his
next nine carries, including a six
yard loss on the game’s final play
when he was met in the backfield
with a thunderous hit by junior
linebacker Jerry Matson.
Turn to Tailbacks, page 13A