Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, April 23, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB:
Atlanta vs. Florida
5 p.m. Sunday, ESPN
One Year Wonder
Sofie Abildtrup has made a positive impression on Oregon’s track
and field team during her year here
By Alex Tam
Sports Reporter
Sofie Abildtrup is quickly becoming one of Ore
gon's most recognizable athletes.
The 23-year-old's popularity soared after her per
formance at the Pepsi Team Invitational two weeks
ago, when she pulled a hat trick of victories in the
200, 400 and as the anchor of the 4x400 relay
team. However, the Ducks will compete without
her at the Oregon Invitational meet at Hayward
Field today because she's getting physically tired
and has decided to wait for the Pacific-10 Confer
ence Championships in May.
People started recognizing the native of Fred
eriksberg, Denmark, immediately following the
Pepsi Invite as one of the Ducks' best sprinters this
year, despite this season being her first and most
likely last one in Eugene.
"I think it’s just great that people acknowledge
what I do," Abildtrup said. "People are a little bit
more private in Denmark."
One of those encounters occurred recently when
she was grocery shopping alone at the PC Market
of Choice on Franklin Boulevard near the Oregon
campus. While browsing through the store, a man,
who Abildtrup estimated was in his 50s, ap
proached to introduce himself.
"He told me, 'I just wanted to welcome you to
Oregon and I think you did a really good job,'"
Abildtrup said.
Abildtrup, though, detects one common char
acteristic among most of the people who ap
proach her.
"It’s kind of funny because I've been stopped a
couple times after that meet and it's almost always
men in their 50s," she said jokingly.
Her teammates laugh off those incidents, since
they know the type of person Abildtrup is; she's
considered one of the nicest people on the team.
"She's a sweetheart," teammate and sprinter
Michelle Donovan said. "She's just got a very cute
sense of humor and is very energetic and polite.
She's very good with talking to new people and
she's just great with everyone."
Back on the track, her talents are no laughing
matter.
Abildtrup's track career began almost 12 years
ago in Denmark when some of her friends were
working out and encouraged her to give it a try.
"I thought it was fun," Abildtrup said. "We had
a good group of girls for a couple of years for the
club I competed for."
In 1996, she realized her potential as a runner after
a track meet in Portugal. She remembers finishing
Turn to WONDER, page 8
Gon
'TRACK & FIELD
Geoff Thumer Oregon Media Services
Junior Sofie Abildtrup is one of Oregon’s top sprinters in the 200 and 400-meter events.
Pitcher Ani Nyhus
is 17-7 this season.
She threw a
no-hitter, setting
the Oregon record
for 16 strikeouts
during a March 27
game against Utah
State. The junior
transfer has been
named Pacific-10
Conference Pitcher
of the Week twice
this season.
Erik R. Bishoff
Photographer
Transfer of POWER
Junior transfer Ani Nyhus made the transition from
junior college to the top-15 program this season
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
|he Oregon softball coaching trio
of Kathy Arendsen, J. Gaudreau
-L and Mike White has either luck
or recruiting know-how on its side.
Most likely, it's a little bit of both
that helped the Ducks nab Ani Nyhus
from Central Arizona College and
propel her into the circle of a Division
I, Pacific-10 Conference, top-15 pro
gram. In fact, Oregon's success this
season can be traced to Nyhus. Her
17-7 record thus far refleas a small
part of her contribution from the cir
cle. In a March 27 victory against
Utah State, Nyhus set a single-game
strikeout record with 16 strikeouts on
her way to a no-hitter in the second
game of a doubleheader. From the
seventh inning of that doubleheader's
first game, through April 4, Nyhus
pitched 38.1 scoreless innings. She
also threw two one-hitters in the
same span.
Nyhus has also thrown four
shutouts and two one-hitters against
Pac-10 opponents, and has started all
but two of Oregon's conference
games, earning herself a 5-2 Pac-10
record. Arendsen recalled when Ny
hus first caught her attention.
"(Assistant coach J. Gaudreau)
and 1 were at the Canada Cup in the
summer of 2002 and saw (Nyhus)
pitch," said Arendsen, Oregon's head
coach. "We thought she was going to
be a freshman in junior college, so
we had her on our list to watch for
this year."
Turn to POWER, page 10
Holliday
ready for
rematch
Brandon Holliday has added
motivation to win the 400
hurdles at the upcoming
Oregon Invitational
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Brandon I lolliday remembers.
The former Pacific-10 Conference 400
meter hurdle champion was competing in
his signature event during the Pepsi Team
Invitational on April 10 at 1 layward Field.
Despite battling the tight turns that
came with being stuck in lane one, the
Beaverton native ran a respectable time of
51.52 seconds, which was more than one
second better than the nearest competitor.
Fellow Duck and
sophomore Eric
Mitchum, who was
victorious in the
110 hurdles earlier
in the day, finished
.05 seconds ahead of Holliday, winning
the event that the senior prides himself on.
"It did bother me, just not as much as
people think it did," 1 lolliday said. "I defi
nitely wasn't happy about losing. Nobody
wants to lose. But it's not like I lost to
some guy off the street. Eric's a good ath
lete and he's stepping up his game every
race. I was upset at myself, not at him."
Mitchum conceded that I lolliday's sec
ond-place finish was likely due to him
running in lane one, where the tightness
of the turns can wear on an athlete during
longer races.
"Running in lane one is hard to do,"
Mitchum said. "It's rough on the inside."
Still, not coming in first in the 400
Turn to REMATCH, page 8
Except for one.
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3» W Jss Sk TO?
TRACK
Mother’s
death still
difficult
for Reed
Six months after his mother’s
death, Ramone Reed is now
challenging for a starting spot
as a linebacker for the Ducks
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Debra Fite would have wanted it this way.
She would have wanted her son, Ra
_ mone Reed, to re
W*%. u |j gr^ gygp" turn to Oregon. She
1L# UP ¥%* would have wanted
FOOTBALL him to get back on
-— the field and into
the classroom.
She would have wanted things to go back
to normal for the Berkeley, Calif, native.
Fite was particularly close to Reed, a 21
year-old senior linebacker for the Ducks.
After Fite passed away on Oct. 13, Reed
tried to get things back to normal.
Turn to DIFFICULT, page 9