Sports Editor
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB:
Philadelphia vs. Arizona
5 p.m. Sunday, ESPN
Friday, May 7,2004
Jon Roetman
Roughing the passer
Oregon
vaulters
epitomize
teamwork
As senior pole vaulter Trevor Woods
prepared himself for an attempt at a new
season best during the Oregon Twilight,
• words of encouragement flowed from
the mouths of his Duck teammates.
The determined Coos Bay native then
- sprinted towards his takeoff point, lifted
himself more than 17 feet into the air
and tried desperately to avoid knocking
the bar from its resting place. Woods
cleared the bar by the slimmest of mar
gins, sending the crowd and his team
mates into an eruption of applause.
Judging by the reaction of Woods' team
mates, it was impossible to decipher who
had just set a new season best. Each Ore
gon vaulter expressed so much joy that it
would be easy to think that all four had
cleared the bar at the same time.
While track and field is often viewed as
individual competition, the team-oriented
aspect of the sport often goes unnoticed.
One peek inside the oval at Hayward
Field would introduce an observer into a
world where individual successes are
treated as team accomplishments. No
group of track and field athletes exem
plifies this mentality more than a quar
tet of Oregon pole vaulters. Tommy
Skipper, David Moore, Jon Derby and
Woods have about as much fun as ath
letes can while competing, and are con
stantly pushing one another to succeed.
"It's a great group of guys," pole vault
ing coach Mark Vanderville said.
"They're always helping each other."
While each athlete possess a different
level of athletic ability, no accomplish
ment goes unnoticed and no failure
comes without positive encouragement.
Skipper is the youngest and most
physically gifted of the four Ducks. The
freshman from Sandy set the school
record in early February (18-8 3/4) and
is routinely so far ahead of the competi
tion that he is left to vault against him
self by the end of the event. Despite his
success, the 2003 Track and Field News'
Boys Athlete of the Year often shows
more interest in the accomplishments of
his fellow Ducks.
Moore is a the second youngest of the
group and recently set a new season best
at the Oregon Twilight (16-5 1/2). The
redshirt freshman from Orinda, Calif.,
was a decorated prep athlete and knows
his best vaulting is ahead of him. While
Moore's marks are improving, he is usu
ally left to watch his teammates attempt
greater heights by the end of the event.
Still, Moore is always utilizing his time on
the field in a productive manner. When
he's not vaulting, the former prep All
American is discussing technique with
Vanderville or cheering on his teammates.
Moore is also one of the friendliest
guys you could run into. Helping answer
Turn to ROETMAN, page 10
UO heads out to silence 'Cat calls
Tim Kupsick Photographer
Second baseman Erin Goodell and the Ducks take to Arizona this weekend in search of at least one win.
The Ducks head into the desert
to play Arizona and Arizona
State in their final conference
road trip of the season
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
It has been 15 years since an Oregon soft
ball team won a game against Arizona in
Tucson, Ariz.
Just four times since Feb. 14, 1989, have
the Dud<s beat Arizona in Pacific-10 Confer
ence play.
__ Tonight at 7 p.m.,
1T^! >#"*' ^°- 10 Ducks
UP ffiV (37-14 overall, 9-6
SOFTBALL Pacific-10 Confer
- ence) have their best
chance in recent his
tory to change their fortune as they face No.
1 Arizona (48-3,12-2).
Oregon is 1-1 this season against the
Wildcats, with a 6-1 loss and 1-0 win at
Howe Field. The Ducks were the first team
to beat Arizona in conference play.
"I expect that it's going to be a great
game," Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen
said. "I think we're going to be a lot tougher
than they think we're going to be."
The Wildcats are coming off a 2-1 upset
by No. 7 Stanford at Arizona's Rita I Iillen
brand Memorial Stadium on Sunday. It was
Arizona's third loss of the season. The Wild
cats' first loss came in a preseason tourna
ment to Washington. Their second loss was
to Oregon.
"I know Arizona is going to be an angry
and upset team because of the fact that they
lost their last game as well," Arendsen said.
Turn to ‘CAT CALLS, page 9
UO quintet heads to start of Pac-lOs
Four men and one woman
will represent Oregon this
Friday and Saturday in the
decathlon and heptathlon
By Jon Roetman and Alex Tam
Sports Reporters
Entering an athletic event as the fa
vorite can be a double-edged sword.
On the positive side, an athlete can in
timidate his or her opponents before the
event even starts. On the downside, be
ing recognized as the one on top places
a giant target on an athlete's back.
In this year's Pacific-10 Conference
Championship decathlon, however, it
will be a school with a target on its back
instead of an athlete.
Oregon sports three of the confer
ence's top five decathletes, with compe
tition scheduled for today and Saturday.
Redshirt sophomore Andy Young
(first, 7,179 points), redshirt senior
Gabriel LeMay (second, 7,175) and red
shirt sophomore Ryan Voge (fifth, 7,054)
set conference-qualifying marks at the
Mike Maynard Wildcat Combined
Events decathlon during spring break.
The trio is determined to finish 1-2-3 at
Pac- 10s, but expects to have plenty of
competition.
"I don't think we'll have the respect of
our opponents," Young said. "I think
the/re going to think the same thing that
we think about them. They think that we
can be beaten and we think they can be
beaten. That's all there is to it."
A native of Newberg, Young is the
team's top returning finisher, placing
fifth as a freshman at last year's Pac-lOs
(7,017). Young's strengths are the pole
vault and the 1,500 meters.
LeMay is the oldest in the group and is
confident he can close his final season at
Oregon on a positive note. The Yoncalla
native is a second-year transfer from Lane
Community College who excels in the
400 and recendy set a personal record in
the pole vault at the Oregon Invitational
(16 feet 11/4 inches).
LeMay said the Ducks are well pre
pared for Pac-lOs because they face top
notch competition every day in practice.
"It's awesome," LeMay said. "Practic
ing with that kind of competition makes
you leam to react to pressure."
Regardless of how he finishes, Voge
has had a successful year by just getting
to where he is now. A walk-on who trans
ferred from New Mexico, Voge's spring
break performance in Tucson was a 606
point personal best. The Hillsboro na
tive's best events are the long jump and
the high jump.
While each Duck decathlete wants the
personal glory of being crowned Pac-10
champion, the trio's main goal is to do
well as a team and make it to nationals.
"I want to beat both of them badly,"
Voge said. "But I don't wish them to not
perform well. I want them to do as well
as they can but I hope in doing that, 1 still
beat them."
Oregon will also use one of its three
wild card entries to get freshman Tommy
Skipper into the field. The Sandy native
will make his event debut after focusing
on the pole vault this year.
"I'd like to be in a little better shape,
Turn to QUINTET, page 9
Lauren Wimer Senior Photographer
Gabriel LeMay enters today’s decathlon ranked second in the Pacific-10
Conference. The Ducks will send four men and one woman south.