Sports Editor.
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald.com
Friday, May 16,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
Best bet ,
NHL Playoffs:
Minnesota at Anaheim, Game 4
7:30 p.m., ESPN2
Softball ousts Nittany Lions in NCAA Regionals
The Ducks earn the 10-8 win
over Penn State in regional
play Thursday and face
Oklahoma State today
Softball
Mindi Rice
Sports Reporter
Two doubles, one triple and a
three-run home run led Oregon
past Penn State in a two-hour and
34-minute game in the NCAA Re
gional first round Thursday.
In Fullerton, Calif., the No. 3
seeded Ducks survived a late come
back by No. 7 Penn State in the sev
enth inning for the 10-8 win.
“We’re really pleased to get off
to a good start,” head coach Kathy
Arendsen said. “We stepped up
when we had to. I’m proud of
our effort.”
Oregon, led by designated player
Amber Hutchison’s two singles and
a double, had a season-high 13 hits
in the win. Andrea Vidlund, Jenn
Poore and Janell Bergstrom each
had two hits.
After a scoreless first inning,
Penn State struck first with two
runs in the second. The Nittany Li
ons scored both runs on a sacrifice
fly-efror combination.
The Ducks answered immediate
ly in the bottom of the second. First
baseman Alyssa Laux singled to
right field. Poore followed with a
triple to right field to score Laux.
Bergstrom drove in Poore with a
single for Oregon’s second run.
Anissa Meashintubby and Nittany
Lion Marisa Hanson pitched two
shutout innings each to slow the
pace of the game.
In the top of the fifth, Penn State
scored two unearned runs from
three hits and two defensive errors.
Oregon rallied in the fifth for
three runs. Third baseman Lynsey
Haij hit a one-out single to center
field. Right fielder Beth Boskovich
followed with a walk. Vidlund hit
her 13th home run of the season to
give the Ducks the 5-4 lead.
“It was an inside pitch about belt
high,” Vidlund said. “I was expect
ing a change-up, and actually, this
was perfect. I was thinking base hit
or line drive, and I came out with a
home run. Even better.”
The Ducks padded their lead in
the sixth with a five-run inning.
Bergstrom led off with a bunt single
to the pitcher. Jackie Eliades pinch
ran for Bergstrom and advanced to
third on a double by Erin Goodell.
Ashley Richards hit a groundout to
shortstop, and Eliades scored on an
error by the shortstop.
Hutchison followed with a single
to right field, driving in Goodell.
Haij walked, then advanced to sec
ond on a fielder’s choice by
Boskovich. Hutchison was out at
third, while Haij and Boskovich
were both safe.
Vidlund singled to center to score
Haij. Laux reached on an error by
the shortstop, while Boskovich
scored, and Vidlund advanced to
Turn to Softball, page 8
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Jordan Kent has only raced twice during the regular season, once each in the 100 and 200, but he won both races.
Kent get
Jordan Kent is the ultimate
competitor, and irregular training
this spring shouldn’t stop him
from performing well at Pac-1 Os
Men’s track and field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
Sure, the Oregon men’s basketball
team had its season cut brutally short by
Utah, but most of the Ducks at least got
some vacation time out of the deal.
It was spring break, after all. So Luke
Ridnour and Luke Jackson went to Mexico,
supposedly to sip margaritas or oggle girls
on the beach or some such nonsense. The
rest of the guys went home to their families
or went on other various vacations.
Freshman Jordan Kent, who sat out the
basketball season as a redshirt but still
traveled with the team all season, stayed in
Eugene for that vacation. He had a week
until he was scheduled to report to his
“other” team, the Oregon track squad.
He had seven days of vacation. But by
the middle of the third day, Kent was on
the track running sprints and long-jump
ing into the Hayward Field sand like a kid
on the playground.
“I could see it in his face, in his body
language, his energy. It’s hard to redshirt,
especially if you’re a competitor,” said
Oregon basketball head coach Ernie Kent,
who holds the dual title of Jordan’s coach
and father. “And he is a competitor.”
Let’s get one thing clear at the outset:
Jordan Kent does not have wings on his
I
enough
back. He doesn’t wear a halo on top of his
head. He carries no harp.
Jordan Kent is not the savior of Oregon
track and field.
But he is Oregon’s only dual-sport ath
lete to compete in his sports back-to
back. He’s one of the few basketball-track
dual athletes in recent Pacific-10 Confer
ence history. And he’s the type of athlete
who doesn’t want a break, doesn’t need a
break. Vacation is for pansies.
Kent is a competitor.
And as the Ducks head to the Pac-10
Championships in Los Angeles this
weekend, Kent has a real opportunity to
score points in three or four different
events, a rarity in the Pac-10 track realm
of focused athletes and specialization.
Kent will definitely run the 100-meter
dash and the 200, and he will run either
the 4x100 or 4x400 relay, depending on
who you talk to. Which relay he runs will
probably be a meet-time decision.
This weekend is when we find out the
results of The Great Jordan Kent Experi
ment. We find out if it’s possible for an
athlete to just be an athlete, or whether
every athlete, great or not, is susceptible
to an attack of the “ings” — training,
weightlifting, scheduling.
“He’s got all the tools; sky’s the limit,”
Oregon sprints coach Steve Silvey said.
“But in college, you’ve got to work out,
and sometimes you’re at a disadvantage
when you’re coming out of another sport
on the first of April.”
Kent’s first year as a Duck has been
about restraint and controlled attack for
him and the many coaches around him,
Turn to Kent, page 8
Duck track heads to Pac-lOs with high expectations
WOMEN: The Ducks head South in search
of individual victories and a strong team showing
Women’s track and field
Hank Hager
Sports Reporter
Los Angeles is the city of surf and fun in the sun.
That won’t be the case for the Oregon women this week
end. With the Pacific-10 Conference Championships loom
ing large for the track contingent, only one thing will be on
each member’s mind.
Winning.
The event, held at USC’s Cromwell Field, features the
conference’s best. Oregon, which finished sixth last season
with 67 points, is poised to send a strong contingent
down South.
The first event begins at 10 a.m. with the hammer event,
and the final event starts at 5:05 p.m. Sunday.
Leading that group is Becky Holliday, not only the best in
the conference in the pole vault, but also in the nation. Her
Turn to Women's, page 10
Adam Amato Emerald
Amanda Brown leads the Ducks into the Pac-10 Championships.
MEN: Several Ducks lead the conference in their
events, but the team will need points from other
sources to win it all in Los Angeles this weekend
Men’s track and field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
The word “team” doesn’t contain an “i.” But in order to win a *
Pacific-10 Conference title this weekend, the Oregon men’s
track team will need a heck of a lot more than one “i” to step
up and lift the “team.”
Track and field is an individual endeavor, but once a year
the teams of the Pac-10 go head-to-head-to-head to deter
mine a conference champion. This year’s version of the Pac
10 Championships starts Saturday and concludes Sunday at
Cromwell Field in Los Angeles. The meet uses a point-scoring
system that awards 10 points for first, eight for second, six
for third, five for fourth, etc., down to one point for eighth in
every one of the 21 events.
In order to move up from last year’s second-place finish, the
Turn to Men's, page 12