Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hank hager@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, June 3,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NHL Stanley Cup Finals:
Calgary vs. Tampa Bay
5 p.m., ABC
Men's tennis season brings optimism for future
The Ducks will return seven players next season
including all-conference players Sven Swinnen and
Manuel Kost; an even better season could come
By Clayton Jones
Freelance Reporter
After three seasons of being the doormat of the Pacific-10 Con
ference, the Oregon men's tennis team dusted itself off and
showed a glimpse of the team it could become.
MEN’S
TENNIS
This season, the Ducks shook their four
year Pacific-10 Conference losing streak,
upset a top 20 opponent and made their
first appearance in the NCAA team tourna
ment since 2000.
"It was definitely our coming out party
this year," ninth-year head coach Chris Russell said. "We made
progress with die Pac-10 and that is a big step."
Russell said their strength of schedule helped the team out im
mensely. Before the conference season started, Oregon played No.
14 Rice, No. 28 Georgia Tech, No. 37 Minnesota and a noncon
ference match against rival Washington, which was then ranked
18th in the nation.
"We haven't had a schedule like this before, and the comperi
don early in the season helped," Russell said.
In the match against Washington, the Ducks fought hard and
pulled off the upset 4-3. It marked only the fifth victory for the
Ducks over the Huskies in 112 tries.
"The Washington victory was a monumental victory and really
put the wheels in morion for the season," Russell said.
Oregon went into Pac-10 play 8-4, but dropped its first three
matches. The slow start didn't deter the hopes of the Ducks as
they went into a home match against No. 34 Arizona State. The
Sun Devils were the last team Oregon beat in Pac-10 play back
in 2000.
Oregon fell behind 2-0 but came back and won four of the next
five matches to upset the Sun Devils and end their losing streak in
the Pac-10.
Oregon finished the season with losses against No. 3 UCLA,
No. 4 USC and No. 23 Washington. The Ducks were on the bub
ble of making the tournament with a record of 9-10 and their
postseason fate depended on the tournament committee.
The team continued to practice, and it paid off as it was an
nounced it would travel to Mississippi to face Vanderbilt.
The Ducks bowed out to the Commodores, 4-0, but Russell be
lieves the experience was priceless.
"We had exposure to a lot of good tennis, and we can use that
experience for next year," Russell said. "This season was very suc
cessful for us, but we still have things we want to accomplish."
Turn to FUTURE, page 16
Sven Swinnen
achieved the highest
national ranking in
program history at
No. 16. Swinnen’s
21-8 record moved
him up to third all
time at Oregon in
career singles
victories at 60.
The Switzerland
native returns next
year for his senior
season along with
six other Ducks.
Danielle Hickey
Photo Editor
Wisconsin transfer reaches NCAA meet with UO
Bree Fuqua earns her first
automatic bid to the NCAA
Championships in Texas
By Alex Tam
Sports Reporter
Bree Fuqua is reaping the benefits
of her decision to come to Oregon.
The first-year transfer from the Uni
versity of Wisconsin took fourth place
in the shot put at Saturday's NCAA
West Regional Qualifier in North
ridge, Calif.,
and will make
her debut at the
T*R_/VC!r Kl NCAA Cham
- pionships
beginning June 9.
The junior from Poison, Mont.,
achieved a personal record on her
first throw when she tossed the shot
52 feet, 8 3/4 inches. Her subsequent
attempts, though, showed no im
provement. Fuqua's mark held up
over the rest of the competition to
finish in the top five and earn an
automatic bid to nationals.
Her personal best inches her closer
to Oregon's all-time shot put record
holder, Quenna Beasley, who threw
53-1 1/2 in 1983.
"1 accomplished what I wanted to
do," Fuqua said. "1 never had done
the regional system before because 1
redshirted last year, so 1 wasn't sure
how it was going to work. But I knew I
was going to be in the top five. After I
threw my first throw, I was pretty sure
I was in. The first throw felt good, but
the rest didn't feel good at all. 1 wasn't
really sure why."
Fuqua has battled multiple injuries
during her collegiate career, including
Turn to TRANSFER, page 16
Tim Kupsick Photographer
Paul Swangard, who heads the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center as its managing
director, says he’s confident in the direction the center is headed.
Swangard,Warsaw Center
building on first 10 years
Paul Swangard has kept
the Warsaw Center going
strong a year after Rick
Burton's departure
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Paul Swangard sits in his fourth
floor office at the Lillis Business
Complex. On a wall is a signed Pavel
Bure jersey from his days with the
Vancouver Canucks. Outside are
copies of Sports Illustrated and
Sports Weekly, spread out on a desk
where students from the James H.
Warsaw Sports Marketing Center re
lax in between classes.
Swangard is the managing director
of the center, which has been called
the best in the nation by Sports Illus
trated and is considered by many as
a successful breeding ground for
sports executives.
The catch: Just last year, the cen
ter's executive director, Rick Burton,
left to serve as the commissioner of
Australia's National Basketball
League.
Last year, the center celebrated its
10th anniversary. And starting in the
fall, its official identification will be
SBUS (Sports Business), replacing
the familiar MKTG (Marketing).
How do you go forward through
all that?
Enforce what you've been doing.
Build on it. Add to the foundation
that has allowed the center to culti- >
vate relationships with companies
such as Nike, Adidas and Safeco In
surance — the namesake for Safeco
Turn to WARSAW, page 14