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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2004)
Oregon Daily Emerald Wednesday, November 17, 2004 “Why would I want to help the (Timberwolves) win a title? They aren’t doing anything for me. ” Latrell Sprewell on his continuing negotiation troubles with the Minnesota Timberwolves ■ In my opinion CLAYTON JONES SEVENTH INNING STRETCH Actions by OSU player on soldier repulsive This is Civil War week. I should be analyzing whether Oregon can slow down Derek Anderson or if Oregon State can contain Oregon’s balanced offen sive attack. Instead, a horrible incident Friday night in Corvallis has me steaming. In case you haven’t heard, Oregon State football player Joseph Rudulph was arrest ed for punching National Guard Staff Sgt. Gabriel Sapp, on leave from Iraq, in the face because Sapp, who is white, is married to a black woman, according to police. Authorities said Sapp and his wife were dancing when a group of black men, later identified as Oregon State players, ap proached and started making comments about his interracial relationship. The altercation later resulted in Rudulph punch ing Sapp and knocking him unconscious. I know this is the sports section and we are supposed to be talking about the Civil War, but these actions are despicable. What point are you getting across assault ing somebody? What matter is it to someone if they are married to a person of a different race? It is none of their business. In a world where we are trying to bridge the gap of racism, this is a step back. I have another serious issue with this: It takes a disturbed and despicable human be ing to assault someone who is putting their life on the line every day in a land that is un stable and dangerous. Maybe this fires me up so much because I too am a soldier. I have spent most of the past six years of my life in the Army, both on active duty and in the National Guard. I know the work, dedication and sacrifice it takes to be a soldier and what it means to have free time at home with loved ones. Rudulph didn’t think. Yes, he is young, but he doesn’t realize there will be severe consequences to his actions. I applaud Mike Riley for suspending Rudulph. (The other players were sus pended, but Oregon State didn’t specify why they were suspended.) If he is found guilty of a crime connected with racial im plications, he should be kicked off the team immediately. There is no room for that anywhere. If the tables were turned and it was a white male assaulting a black male because his wife was white, there would be no hesi tation to kick him off the team, as their shouldn’t be. Rudulph should face the same penalty. If charged with a racially motivated as sault he could face up to five years in prison. I say, “Good.” But another question does have to be JONES, page 10 ■ Duck cross country Geoff Thurner | Oregon Media Services Seniors Ryan Andrus (82) and Eric Logsdon (86), seen here at the Pac-10 Championships in October, failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships with their eighth and llth-place finishes, respectively, at the NCAA West Regional in Fresno, Calif. Senior Laura Harmon was the only Duck harrier to qualify for the national meet to be held Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. and then JV there was In a surprise finish, Laura Harmon was the only Duck to qualify for the NCAA Championships BY BEAU EASTES DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER In a surprising turn of events, senior Laura Harmon will be the lone Duck harrier representing Oregon at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 22, as she placed ninth overall in the women’s NCAA West Regional on Saturday. Harmon, who has been domi nant all season long, was expected to qualify individually and did so as the second individual qualifier (ninth, 20 minutes, 52 seconds). The first seven finishers were from Stanford and Arizona State, who by finishing first and second at the re gional qualified their entire teams. “I was a little disappointed with the place because I was hoping to get top-five,” Harmon said. “But the bigger thing was to get to na tionals, so I can’t be too upset.” Although Harmon wasn’t as pleased with her finish as she would have liked, she chalked it up as an experience that should help her at the national meet. “I learned a lot of what I’m going to have to do,” Harmon said. “I’m anticipating a better race (at nation als). I need to be more reactive.” Harmon is the third Duck woman in the past three years to qualify for the NCAA meet, follow ing Carrie Zografos’ 33rd place fin ish in 2002 and Magdalena San doval’s appearance in 2003. The real shock came in the men’s race, where no runner will be repre senting the storied Oregon cross country program at the NCAA meet for the first time since 1991. The Ducks, who finished sixth with 196 points, will also be missing the na tional championships for the first time as a team since 2000. Senior All-Americans Eric Logs don and Ryan Andrus just missed qualifying individually for the championship meet under the NCAA’s complex system for select ing individual at-large bids. The first four runners at each regional not hailing from a qualifying team receive individual at-large bids to the national meet. Logsdon and Andrus finished eighth (30:41) and 11th (30:43) overall and fifth and sixth among those on teams that didn't qualify. For the women’s team, fresh man Sarah Pearson ran her best race of the season, placing 58th (22:07) and trailing only Harmon on the Duck squad. “I felt more confident coming into today than the Pac-lOs,” said Pearson, whose foot injury earlier in the season caused her to miss the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Octo ber. “I felt stronger this time.” Juniors Mandi Fitz-Gustafson (65th, 22:15), Sara Schaaf (74th, 22:24), and Haripurkh Khalsa (90th, 22:37) also contributed to the Ducks’ eighth place finish. On the youthful men’s squad, sophomore Patrick Werhane fin ished 40th overall (31:32) and third among Duck runners, his highest finish in his two-year career. Fresh man Chris Winter (71st, 32:36) and sophomore Kyle Alcorn (77th, 32:37) rounded out the scoring on the 8K course. The disappointing regional finish marked the end of Logsdon’s and Andrus’ remarkable cross country careers. Logsdon helped the Ducks to a fifth-place finish at nationals in 2002 and earned All-American hon ors in 2003 with his top-30 placing at the NCAA Championship meet. The track and field All-American in the 5,000-meter event will finish up his track eligibility in spring. Andrus, who graduated in the spring and plans to accept a job at Intel in Hillsboro after fall term, ends a collegiate career that started in 1997. After a mission trip and a transfer, Andrus ends his stay at Oregon as an CROSS COUNTRY, page 10 ■ Pac-10 volleyball Solid defense key to success in Pac-10 Digging and blocking have been essential in a conference loaded with offensive potency BY STEPHEN MILLER SPORTS REPORTER Defense has been the main theme in the Pacific-10 Confer ence this season. With so many teams utilizing a potent, well-balanced attack, the only counters are precise digging and authoritative blocking. USC possesses players that can successfully accomplish those tasks better than any oth er athletes in the conference. Libero Debora Seilhamer set a school record last week as she posted 45 digs against UCLA. That mark squeezes her in at No. 2 on the Pac-lO’s all-time list for digs in a match, behind Oregon’s Amy Barnes who recorded 50 against Cali fornia in 1995. Seilhamer, a sophomore, re ceived Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for that perform ance. The native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, has collected 373 digs this season and is averag ing 5.18 per game, which ranks fourth in the league and is higher than USC’s current record in that category. Senior Emily Adams is third in the conference in total blocks with 110 for the TVo jans. She is currently the Pac 10’s active-career leader with 414 in front of Cal’s Camille Leffall (411). Adams recorded a league-best 16 block assists against Washington on Sept. 25 and she is one of six Pac-10 players with four solo blocks in a match this season. Sixth-ranked USC and No. 17 UCLA will host the Oregon schools this weekend in Los Angeles. The Women of Troy swept both teams in three games earlier this season. They hold an all-time record of 32-5 against the Ducks and a 30-7 advantage over Oregon State. Lee's defensive efforts indispensible for UW Washington’s Candace Lee set a new' record for her pro gram as she became the Huskies’ all-time digs leader at 1,264. If the junior libero can hold her average of 5.72 digs per game she would break VOLLEYBALL, page 10 Courtesy | USC Sports Information USC sophomore libera Debora Seilhamer posted 45 digs against UCLA last week, the Pac-10's second-highest dig total recorded in a single match.
