Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Friday, May 21,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
MLB:
St. Louis vs. Chicago Cubs
5 p.m. Sunday, ESPN
Oregon gets
past Wildcats
in first game
Oregon’s Ani Nyhus threw her 10th shutout
of the season while breaking the single-season
strikeout record on Thursday in Florida
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
DUCK
SOFTBALL
Freshman Kayleen Hudson made an immediate impact for
Oregon on Thursday.
After the Ducks missed their starting right fielder for a week of
practice and the final three Pacific-10 Conference games of the
season, Hudson rejoined the team in Tallahassee, Fla., for Ore
gon's NCAA Regional Tournament trip.
In her first at bat back, after a week at home in Northglenn, Colo.,
due to the passing of her grandfather, Hudson led off the bottom of
the second inning with her first triple of the
season, off the right-center field fence at
Florida State's softball complex.
"When I was gone, I realized 1 had been
trying too hard," Hudson said by phone
after Thursday's win. "I was just up there to
hit today. I was happy to be back with the girls."
After Hudson's triple gave the No. 2-seeded Ducks a runner on
third for the second consecutive inning, designated player Ann
Marie Topps hit a single to center field that scored Hudson for
Oregon's lone run of the day.
Oregon shutout Bethune-Cookman, 1-0, in the first-round game.
Today, the Ducks face No. 3-seeded South Florida in another 9:30
a.m. game, to be broadcast on KSCR (1320 AM) Radio.
Topps, who has started half the Ducks' games this season, was 2
for 2 on the day.
"I just got up there and I knew that we just needed to hit the
ball," Topps said in the postgame press conference. "I did what I
Turn to WILDCATS, page 8A
WHAT’S the RACQUET?
Racquetball coordinator Alexis Karlson-Martini has dedicated time to the genesis of the Club
F
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
Alexis Karlson-Martini has helped the sport of racquetball at Oregon grow, even though she has
had to make sacrifices along the way. She will soon leave the Club, which will get a new
coordinator next year. Karlson-Martini has seen the good and the bad this year.
By Kirsten McEwen
Freelance Reporter
No one said it was going to be easy
Racquetball Club coordinator Alexis
Karlson-Martini took on the daunting task
of redeveloping a Club that has faltered in
past years. After being introduced to the
sport only three years ago, Karlson-Martini
made a promise to herself that she would
find a way to make the Club work, even af
ter finding out that it had struggled to keep
afloat in years past.
"This Club is a different racquetball
Club than we have had in years," Club
sports coordinator Sandy Vaughn said.
"Before, the Club coordinators have been
more focused on their own play, rather
than creating a true team. Alexis had the
goal of bringing in students who were in
terested in the sport and who had a wide
range of abilities."
For Portland native Karlson-Martini,
getting die Club back on its feet would re
quire individuals who were more focused
on the team's objective than personal
achievements. She first had to recruit play
ers who would be interested in being a
part of a Club that was starting completely
from scratch and who wanted to take on
the responsibilities that come with being
a part of a team.
Junior Karlson-Martini said that the in
dividualized nature of racquetball present
ed the biggest challenge to carrying out her
duty as Club coordinator.
'The first three months were really
tough," she said. 'The team had to realize
that they had to show up on time, they had
to come to practice because when you are
on a team, those things affect other people "
Turn to RACQUET, page 8A
Montgomery reportedly headed to NBA
Emerald
Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery, seen here during the 2002-03
season, should be announced as head coach of the Golden State Warriors
possibly as early as today. Montgomery has gone 393-167 with Stanford.
The Stanford head coach
has gone 393-167 in regular
season play with the Cardinal
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Just months after leading Stanford to
a 30-2 record and a berth into the NCAA
Tournament Cardinal head coach Mike
Montgomery is expected to bolt for the
NBA as early as today, ESPN.coin's
Andy Katz reported Thursday.
Golden State relieved head coach
Eric Musselman of his duties late
Wednesday,
opening the
door for Mont
gomery, a 26
year veteran of
the college
ranks, to sign
with the Warriors, according to an
anonymous Pacific-10 Conference
source quoted by The Associated
Press.
Katz reported that Montgomery is in
negotiations with the Warriors for a
four-year, multimillion dollar contract.
His departure marks the end of an
18-year run at Stanford. Montgomery
compiled a 393-167 overall record
with the Cardinal, leading Stanford to
12 NCAA Tournament appearances,
including an appearance in the Final
Four in 1998 and Elite Eight in 2001.
Stanford has been to the NCAA
Tournament the past 10 seasons and
has been ranked No. 1 in the nation
in three different seasons under
Montgomery.
He also took the Cardinal to three
io
National Invitational Tournament
appearances, winning the champi
onship in 1991.
"We're still all gathering this in,"
Stanford junior Nick Robinson told
the San Francisco Chronicle.
Montgomery led the Cardinal to
26 straight wins without a loss this
past season, coming close to a perfect
season. Stanford lost to Washington
in the final Pac-10 regular season
game, then swept through the Pac-10
Tournament before losing to Nevada
in the second round of the NCAA
Tournament.
Montgomery, who is set to be the
Warriors' ninth coach since 1994 and
22nd in the team's history, replaces
Musselman, who went 75-89 in two
seasons at Golden State.
"It's been a great two years," Mus
selman told the AP late Wednesday.
"The players have played their hearts
out. The organization's headed in a
great direction. ... I got an opportu
nity of a lifetime and will always be
grateful to the Warriors for that."
When Montgomery is officially
named head coach of the Warriors, it
will leave open a high-profile posi
tion at one of the top academic insti
tutions in the nation.
Maples Pavilion, Stanford's home
court, is currently undergoing a $30
million renovation and is expected to
be ready for play at the start of the up
coming Pac-10 season.
According to the (San Jose) Mer
cury News, Stanford athletic director
Ted Leland already has a contingency
plan in place for Montgomery's
Turn to NBA, page 8A
Alex Tam
Holding court
This year's
Team USA
must be
rescued
Team USA Basketball is in flux right now.
Only 12 years and three Olympiads
ago, the first Dream Team dominated the
world stage in Barcelona.
With names such as Jordan, Bird and
Magic, the 1992 squad defeated their op
ponents by an average of 44.5 points per
game. It was the first time ever that NBA
players took part in the world's largest
sporting event.
At that point, the assumption was the
United States would continue to stay atop
the basketball world as long as NBA play
ers played. There was no way countries
from Europe or Asia would be able to
compete with the Americans.
Many countries were simply defeated
before they even stepped on the court. Ihe
aura surrounding the professional athletes
who they watched on television was
Turn to TAM, page 9A