Sports Editor
Peter Hockaday
peterhockaday@dailyemerald. com
Monday, June 2,2003
— Oregon Daily Emerald
Sports
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Holliday sets collegiate record in vault
Oregon earns seven national invites along with
two wins in the first-ever NCAA West Regional
Women’s track and field
Jesse Thomas
Sports Reporter
Redshirt senior Becky Holliday found that she has yet to reach
her limit, along with six other Ducks who outdid themselves in
the first edition of the NCAA West Regional this weekend.
Holliday nearly touched the sky Friday after clearing 14
feet, 8 inches to win the pole vault competition by 10 inches.
A personal best improvement of two inches gave her the
collegiate record by 1/4 inch over former UCLA NCAA
Champion Tracy O’Hara in 2000. As the top-ranked colle
gian, she is now sixth all-time among Americans and ranks
fourth in the world this season.
“It was a fun day to compete, and the conditions were
great,” Holliday said of her mark that was nearly 1 1/2 feet
higher than the winners from the other three regionals na
tionally this weekend. “But a record only means more pres
sure and expectations, so I need to go back to work and pre
pare for NCAA’s.”
The Sparks, Nev., native was one of a handful of Ducks who
will see action in Sacramento, Calif., on June 11 for the NCAA
Championships. Redshirt senior Niki McEwen will also make
the trip after tying for third (13-61/4) in the pole vault, for her
seventh NCAA appearance.
Senior Mary Etter found new wind Saturday afternoon after a
disappointing finish (23rd, 44-8) in Friday’s shot put. Etter
stepped into the discus ring knowing it could be her last meet as
a Duck and let one rip for a 2-foot, 6-inch season best of 179-7.
The two-time All-American won the competition by nearly
three feet to earn her fourth NCAA appearance in the event.
“I didn’t feel so hot coming in,” Etter said. “And I started to
get down emotionally even before it started. But then I real
ized what I was doing and told myself, ‘No, you’re not going to
count yourself out — this is your last meet, and there’s no
reason you can’t throw well.’”
When senior Amanda Brown lifted off in Saturday’s triple
jump final, it was vintage Michael Jordan as it took a while to
come down. Her 7 1/2-inch personal best was enough to up
set the competition as she finished second (41-5) after a
ninth-place ranking coming in.
After a rough start in the prelims, Brown edged into the fi
nal where she earned her first NCAA appearance.
“Looking back over my career, I believe things happen for a
reason and I guess today maybe it showed that I was meant to
be a track athlete — and one that would go to nationals,”
Brown said after moving to second on Oregon’s all-time list.
The sophomore All-American duo of Elisa Crumley and
Roslyn Lundeen improved on pre-meet seedings to earn
Turn to Women's, page 12
GeoffThurner Oregon Media Services
Becky Holliday clears a bar at the West Regional in Stanford, Calif., on Friday. She later set the collegiate record in the event at 14 feet, 8 inches.
Men punch 10 NCAA tickets, leave some unpunched
The sprinters and hurdlers shine at the
NCAA Regional meet, and the Ducks
now look ahead to the national meet
Men’s track
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
The regional format giveth, and the region
al format taketh away.
The Oregon men’s track and field team came
away from the first-ever NCAA West Regional in
Stanford, Calif., this weekend with mixed re
sults. Ten Ducks (or Duck relay teams) quali
fied for the NCAA Championships in Sacra
mento, Calif., later this month. But Oregon also
had several athletes—victims of the regional’s
“finish in the top five or go home” format —
who could miss the season finale.
Among those who missed out were Trevor
Woods, who no-heighted in the pole vault, Fo
luso Akinradewo in the triple jump and Ryan
Flaherty in the 800-meter run. Woods is still
ranked 13th in the nation and will likely earn
a “wild card” NCAA berth.
Luckily for the Ducks, the qualifiers out
weighed the non-qualifiers at Stanford. Ore
gon’s 4x400-meter relay turned in a stunning
qualifying performance, and the Ducks got
similar better-than-anticipated performanc
es from Jordan Kent in the 200-meter dash,
Sarnie Parker in the 100 and Matt Scherer in
the 400. Kent and Parker both won their re
spective events.
“We had an outstanding series of individ
ual efforts one after another, especially on the
track,” Oregon head coach Martin Smith said.
“The two champions on top of the other qual
ifiers was an extra icing on the cake.”
Kent’s victory was a landmark for the
freshman dual-sport star, who said before
the meet that he didn’t anticipate making
the trip to nationals.
“The last seven weeks, I’ve felt better after
every weekend of training and have now added
Turn to Men's, page 9
Don’t ‘Pac’this conference; we’re just fine with 10, thank you
Say it isn’t so Pac-10, just say it is
n’t so.
Tell me you’re not going to listen to
the pundits who say the best confer
ence on the West Coast should ex
pand. Say you’re not going to add the
Utahs and San Diego States on a
whim, even after the Atlantic Coast
Conference pillages the Big East and
then dominoes fall around the nation.
Let me sleep easy. Tell me every
thing is all right. Tell me status quo
is what really matters most.
Just don’t fall to the level of the rest
of the nation.
It looks like
Miami, Boston
College and
Syracuse are
set to bolt to
the ACC, a
conference
best known for ,
its rabid college
basketball fans,
the Cameron
Crazies. Who
could blame
Hank
Hager
Behind the dish
Miami? The school hasn’t said its
pure intentions just yet, but come
on, it’s a no-brainer.
Let 'em do whatever they want.
Let the ACC become a 20-team su
perpower, for all I care.
What I care about is the Pacific-10
Conference remains just that: A con
ference of 10 teams all located on
the Pacific Ocean, or at least one
state away. There’s no reason to in
vite more teams, bloat the confer
ence and fall into the trap that seem
ingly every other conference has
gotten hooked on.
Money.
OK, Pac-10, this is where you
come into the picture. Utah,
Brigham Young, Texas Christian and
even San Diego State would not be
worth the price of admission into the
conference. No conference champi
onship in football would be worth it
to bring any of these schools — or,
for the most part, any other school
in the nation — into the fold.
This is where I say that Texas,
Colorado or Michigan would be
worth it. Texas and Colorado have
been coveted before, and I can basi
cally guarantee that they won’t be
for quite a while, if ever.
I’d rather see the Ducks take on
Washington and Arizona State be
fore the Utes or Horned Frogs. Be
sides, tradition still has to matter
somewhat these days. The Pac-10
has not ushered in a new school in
any of the major sports since 1978
when Arizona and Arizona State
were brought in.
Turn to Hager, page 9