Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet:
NCAA Final Four
3 p.m. Saturday, CBS
Friday, April 2, 2004
Men's track succeeds in Texas
Redshirt freshman pole vaulter
David Moore turns in one
of the Ducks’ top performances
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Thursday marked a solid afternoon in
the young Oregon career of David Moore.
The redshirt freshman pole vaulter tied
for 10th, clearing 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches at
the 77th-annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Re
lays, improving on his mark of 15-11 two
weeks ago at the Oregon Preview.
Moore just missed a pair of attempts at
16-10 3/4, which would have been a per
sonal best. He cleared 16-8 3/4 at the 2003
Cardinal Invitational in Stanford, Calif.
The Orinda, Calif., native said he would
_ like to clear 17-6 by
MEN'S
TRACK
but I would like to go higher."
the end of the year.
"(Clearing 16-4
3/4 is) pretty good,"
Moore said. "I'm
not disappointed
Moore is in his first season competing
for the Ducks, after participating unat
tached in several meets during his redshirt
year. The former prep All-American
brought an impressive resume to Oregon,
finishing tied for seventh nationally as a
senior with a personal best of 16-6.
Despite his quality marks, Moore and
other Duck pole vaulters are often over
shadowed by freshman phenom Tommy
Skipper. Moore, however, said he enjoys
competing with Skipper and has no
problem with the attention the Sandy na
tive receives.
"(Skipper) is really good to jump with
and brings a lot of energy to our team,"
Moore said. "It's just a lot of fun to jump
with him."
Skipper is set to compete Saturday at the
Texas Relays.
Senior Trevor Woods and redshirt
sophomore Jon Derby also competed in
the pole vault for Oregon Thursday.
Woods tied for eighth, clearing the same
final bar height as Moore (16-4 3/4) but
finishing in a better position due to fewer
overall misses.
Derby finished with a no-height after
failing to clear his opening bar of 15-11.
All three Duck pole vaulters have al
ready met the Pacific-10 Conference
Turn to MEN, page 10
Erik R. Bishoff Photographer
Redshirt freshman David Moore cracked the top 10 in the pole vault Thursday at the 77th-annual
Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. He cleared 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
Women hammer
throwers miss
marks in Austin
Katie Kersh finishes last in the hammer;
while Megan Kriz fouls on each attempt
By Alex Tam
Sports Reporter
The Oregon women's track and field team took to the field
of competition for the 77th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Re
lays at the University of Texas at Austin.
The women sent only their throwers to the meet, which was
held at Mike A. Myers Stadium, the site where the 2004 NCAA
Championships will take place in two months.
In Thursday's competition, two Oregon women hammer
throwers participated. However, both athletes struggled in the
event and finished in the bottom part of the standings.
In the Flight 1 section of the hammer event, junior Katie
Kersh ended up in ninth place out of the 13 competitors.
Kersh, a transfer from Sierra Junior College in Sacramento, im
proved in each of her subsequent throws, however. The third
year Duck achieved a first mark of 49.10 meters that placed her
eighth heading into the second throw.
Kersh, also a two-time letterwinner
in softball and volleyball two years ago
in junior college, improved her second
effort to 49.72 meters. Despite the bet
ter score, Kersh moved down to ninth
place after Texas Tech junior Olivia
Clardy made a mark of 51.46 meters that vaulted her up to the
sixth position from the ninth spot.
WOMEN'S
TRACK
Kersh s last throw resulted in her best effort of the day at
50.22 meters or 164-09. Kersh's performance regressed from
last week when she led the Ducks after posting a score of 165
04 at the Stanford Invitational.
In the overall standings, Kersh finished in last place at 21st
among competitors who earned a legal mark. Colorado State
senior Loree Smith won the event after an impressive first
throw of 67.05 meters or 220-00. The mark topped the sec
ond-place finisher, Louisiana State sophomore Britney Hen
ry, by about 18 feet.
Kersh — a Willow Creek, Calif., native — has a personal
best in the hammer at 173-5, which ranks her second among
Oregon's hammer team and would be a qualifying mark for
the Pacific-10 Conference and Regionals.
The other Oregon entrant, sophomore Megan Kriz, also en
dured a tough day. Kriz, a transfer from Portland State and one
of several other transfers on the team, failed to produce a le
gal mark as she fouled on each of her three attempts.
The Oregon women are still in a transition period under
first-year head coach of the entire track and field program,
Martin Smith. New assistant coach Lance Deal is overseeing
the throwers units and is leading the ongoing effort to rebuild
Turn to WOMEN, page 9
Football team begins spring workouts Saturday at Autzen
The Ducks return a core
group of players who
had an impact in 2003
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
NEW YORK — As much as
things have stayed the same for the
Oregon football team, just as much
has changed.
Gone are the likes of Keith Lewis,
Kevin Mitchell and Sarnie Parker, play
ers who have become institutions in
recent years. They've helped lead the
Ducks to bowl after bowl, but now
move on to become professionals.
Back are Kellen Clemens, Demetrius
Williams, Devan Long and a whole
core group of players who have burst
onto the scene in recent seasons.
It's this group that will get its chance
to get on the gridiron as a team Satur
day as Oregon opens spring practices.
The group will start its first of 15
NCAA-mandated practices at 11 a.m.
at the Autzen Stadium-Casanova Cen
ter complex area.
The last time the Ducks opened
up spring practices, they were com
ing off a flat, uninspired loss to
Wake Forest in the Seattle Bowl.
This year, Oregon is four months
removed from a one-point loss to
Minnesota in the Sun Bowl.
Despite the differences in the
two seasons, Oregon head coach
Mike Bellotti said the Ducks won't
run practices any differently. There
are still holes to fill and players can
get rusty after having some time
off, even
though most
have been
FOOTBALL working out
_ since the
game against
the Golden Gophers.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity
with this team," Bellotti said. "I think
there are several key positions open on
offense and even more on defense.
Opportunity creates excitement."
Among those positions are line
backer and the secondary. Mitchell and
David Martin will move on, leaving
Jerry Matson as the only returning
starter at linebacker.
Bellotti mentioned Ramone Reed,
Justin Andrews and Anthony Trucks as
prime candidates to fill those vacated
spots, although Tmcks will not partici
pate during the spring because of
shoulder surgery.
While there are spots to be filled,
there are also players that saw little
or no action during the 2003 sea
son that will need to catch up. That
includes Haloti Ngata, injured
against Mississippi State, and wide
receiver Keith Allen, who was ex
pected to fight for a starting spot
opposite Parker. Allen, however,
was lost for the season in August.
"Ihe biggest tiling for all those guys
is we want to get them back into game
condition," Bellotti said. "We will go
one step at a time."
Clemens returns after a super soph
omore season. The Bums native led
the Oregon offense with precision in
the Sun Bowl, putting the exclamation
point on a strong finish to the season.
Bellotti wouldn't say there is no
quarterback rotation, much like last
season with Clemens and Jason Fife.
After all, he expects a lot out of the
soon-to-be junior.
"A quarterback has to lead by
example and by their commitment to
work ethic," Bellotti said. "He also has
to pull people along."
Joining Clemens behind center
will be Johnny DuRocher, who
spent last season as the team's
third-string quarterback but never
played, allowing Oregon to redshirt
him. DuRocher has the inside track
on the backup position.
However, that doesn't take into
account Dennis Dixon, one of Ore
gon's top recruits prior to last sea
son. He grayshirted the season,
choosing to enroll at Oregon for
winter term.
"I still have yet to see him throw a
football," Bellotti said. "I know he is an
excellent athlete He is somewhat raw."
In addition to Trucks, wide receivers
Marcus Maxwell and Kyle Weather
spoon will be held out of spring prac
tice because of injury.
Oregon will spread its 15 prac
tices out over a month, with the an
nual spring game set to be played
on May 1.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Emerald
Oregon head football coach Mike Bellotti and
the Ducks begin their 15 spring practices at 11
a.m. Saturday. It is the team’s first official
practice since its 1-point loss to Minnesota in
the Sun Bowl four months ago.