Oregon daily emerald., May 10, 2004, Image 7

Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Monday, May 10, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB:
Cleveland vs. Boston
4 p.m., ESPN2
Skipper wins Pac-10 decathlon championship
i-if^.e€5C>n
Freshman
Tommy Skipper,
seen here earlier
this season,
moved up from
fourth place
after Friday’s
competition to
win the Pac-10
decathlon
championship.
The Sandy native
won despite
making his
collegiate debut
in several events.
Erik R. Bishoff
Photographer
All four of Oregon’s Pac-10
decathlon entrants wind up
in the top five in Tucson
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
The title of Pacific-10 Conference de
cathlon champion can now be added
to Tommy Skipper's already impressive
athletic resume.
The freshman from Sandy, who was
a last-minute wild card addition to the
field in Tucson, Ariz., won the de
cathlon with an automatic NCAA qual
ifying total of 7,589 points.
Despite a lack of training in many of
_ the 10 events,
in& H H $$**** MjT Skipper used
1L# UP Ink two second-day
event wins to
- move up from
fourth place and
defeat Arizona State's Joshua Kinna
man by 105 points (second, 7,484).
Skipper's second-day wins came in the
pole vault and javelin — the two events
with which he is most familiar. His pole
vault clearance of 17 feet 4 1/2 inches
was nearly a foot better than the rest of
the field, while his top javelin mark
(203-10) was his collegiate best and 18
feet better than the rest of the field.
More impressive, however, was Skip
per's ability to succeed in the rest of the
events, many of which marked his col
legiate debut. He finished first in the
100-meter dash (10.69 seconds) and
the shot put (44-6 3/4), second in the
high jump (6-5 1/2) and discus (143
4), third in the 400 (50.26) and ninth
in the long jump (20-6.5) and 1,500
(5:21.46).
"I was doing some great jumping,
with the help of our trainers (who got)
the whole team ready by giving mas
sage workouts," Skipper said. "Coach
(Bill) Lawson is the man. He really gets
the team fired up to compete."
Skipper said the pole vault will re
main his focus when it comes time for
the NCAA Championships.
Along with Skipper, Oregon saw three
other decathletes finish in the top five
and reach the NCAA provisional stan
dard (7,000). Redshirt sophomore Andy
Young finished third (7,372) with a 193
point personal best. The Newberg native,
who entered the decathlon ranked No.
1, finished the second day with a win in
the 1,500 (4:21.94), part of a 1-2-3 Ore
gon event sweep.
Four of Young's second-day marks
were decathlon personal bests (discus,
pole vault, javelin, 1,500), including a
more than seven-inch improvement in
the pole vault (second 16-4 3/4).
Redshirt senior Gabriel LeMay fol
lowed in fourth place with a 158-point
personal best (7,333). The Yoncalla
native finished strong on both days,
winning the 400 Friday (48.78) and
finishing second in the 1,500 Saturday
(4:25.94). LeMay entered the de
cathlon ranked No. 2, four points be
hind Young.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Voge fin
ished fifth with a 191-point personal
best (7,245). The Hillsboro native
recorded diree personal decathlon bests
on the first day, including high jump
(6-9), shot put (40-10 1/4) and long
jump (23-8).
"The team's camaraderie really is
good," Skipper said. "We work well to
gether."
On the women's side, redshirt senior
Abby Andrus finished third (5,325) in
the heptathlon with a 21-point person
al best as Oregon's only entrant.
The Peoria, Ariz. native moved up
from fifth after Friday's competition on
the strength of her performance in the
800. Entering the heptathlon's final
event, Andrus was in a three-way battle
for third with Washington's Grace Vela
and Washington State's Julie Pickier,
but distanced h^self from the compe
tition with a winning time of 2:18.48.
Andrus trailed only a pair of top five
ranked collegians in final standings —
Arizona State freshman Jackie Johnson
(first, 5,603) and California junior
Brooke Meredith (second, 5,475).
"It was a good day for Abby, and
bless her heart because she earned
every point," assistant coach Rock
Light said. "I was not surprised one bit
because she was determined to get
third for the team's sake, even though
she was ranked fifth beforehand. She
got a personal best score, and that's all
you can ask."
Contact the sports reporter
at jroetman@dailyemerald.com.
Wildcats, Sun Devils
hold No. 10 Ducks
scoreless in three
Oregon was shut out in
three games by Arizona
State and Arizona over
the three-day weekend
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
It was not a good weekend in the
desert for the No. 10 Oregon soft
ball team.
The Ducks hoped to feed off an
April 25 upset of No. 1 Arizona
when they faced the Wildcats in
Tucson on Friday. Instead, Oregon
dropped a 5-0 decision to the Wild
cats before heading to Phoenix,
where the Ducks gave unranked Ari
zona State its second and third con
ference victories of the season.
Oregon (35-17 overall, 9-9 Pacif
ic-10 Conference) went 0-3 in its
trip to the Arizona schools.
"Now we have to focus on play
ing at home and closing out the
Pac-10 season on a high note," Ore
gon head coach Kathy Arendsen
said after Sunday's loss.
DUCK
SOFTBALL
The Ducks
close their
conference
season this
weekend,
hosting
Stanford in a single game Friday
and California for a doubleheader
Saturday.
In Friday's 5-0 loss to the Wild
cats, Oregon had four hits but
Turn to SCORELESS, page 8
Oregon loses bid for NCAA berth
Michelle |
Timpani,
pictured at
a previous
game, finished
tied for 47
that the NCAA
Regionals in
Stanford, Calif.
Tim Bobosky
Photographer
UCLA's Hannah Jun captures
the individual title at the NCAA
West Regional with a 7-under 209
Saturday in Stanford, Calif.
By Brian Smith
Freelance Reporter
The Oregon women's golf team possessed a
flair for the dramatic this season.
Saturday was no dif
ferent.
Starting the final
GULF* round of the NCAA West
- Regionals in 10th; the
Ducks needed a solid
round of golf to have a chance at continuing
their impressive 2003-2004 season.
The Ducks got that impressive start and
more in the form of a birdie on the second-to
last hole from junior Johnna Nealy, pro
pelling them into a three-way tie with No. 15
Texas and Washington State for the eighth and
final spot.
Turn to NCAA, page 10