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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2005)
Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, April 8, 2005 “I’m going to fight it, because I’ve never taken steroids or anything like that. ” Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez on his 10-day suspension for using steroids IN BRIEF Lacrosse to compete in exhibition during conference downtime The Oregon women’s lacrosse team has a bye from conference play this weekend. However, the Ducks will still see some on-field action as they head up to Portland to take on the Portland Club in an exhibition match at 11 a.in. Saturday. The Ducks (3-9 overall, 0-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) boast the same full-strength squad they’ve maintained all season, with the exception of freshman defender Ashley Beghtel, who left the team this week. “We’re just staying healthy, working hard and getting better everyday,” Oregon head coach Jen Larsen said. Larsen declined to comment on the reasons behind Beghtel’s mid-season departure. This past week has been a very progressive one for the Ducks, who came up with their first road victory and saw freshman midfielder Jen May named the MPSF’s co-player of the week. “I was really excited to find out,” May said. “It’s so cool that our program finally has its first player of the week. ” May cited a dynamic offense as the propellant behind her inspired play. “Our offense finally clicked,” May said about last weekend’s game against Davidson in which she scored five goals. “We put everything togeth er, and it felt awesome. ” May said the Ducks are capable of finishing the season in the top three of the MPSF. “This is just an amazing team,” she said. “We don’t have many upperclassmen, but we’re each other’s leaders, and everyone is just really excited for the future.” Stefanie Loh Oregon softball heads south to the Grand Canyon State The 25th-ranked Oregon softball team will start possibly the toughest road trip of the season as it takes the field against No. 17 Arizona State in Tempe today and No. 2 Arizona in Tlicson on Saturday and Sunday. The Ducks (22-11 overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Con ference) are coming off a tough 2-1 loss to No. 13 Oregon State on Wednesday. Pitcher Amy Harris gave up only three hits, though two of them were home runs. Oregon garnered only one hit against the Beavers. In today’s game, Oregon will be facing a Sun Devil (26-10, 3-1) team also fresh off a Wednesday loss to its in-state rival. Arizona State fell to Arizona 1-0 at home and only managed two hits while striking out 15 times against Wildcat ace Alicia Hollo well. Arizona State starter Katie Burkhart (10-5) pitched well in the loss, giving up one unearned run on four hits and recording six strikeouts. In the weekend games against the Wildcats (29-3, 3-1), the Oregon pitching staff will try to slow down a dominant Arizona offense, led by outfielder Caitlin Lowe. She is hitting .496 on the season and is the conference leader in hits (56) and is second in stolen bases (20). — Clayton Jones Mischief at the Masters in weather and golfing AUGUSTA, Ga. — What started as a wet Masters soon turned into a wacky one. Tiger Woods hit a shot into Rae’s Creek — with his putter. Billy Casper hit five shots into the water on one hole and took a 14, the highest score on any hole. He made history, but not the record books, because after adding up his score of 106, he de cided not to turn it in. David Toms was standing over a putt on the 14th when a gust blew it back onto the fairway. Ernie Els, on the other hand, spent more time in the trees than in the fairway. Indeed, opening day was full of surprises. After 5 1/2 hours of rain delay, the first round ended with only 24 players finishing. Australia’s Mark Hensby was one of them, tallying a hard-earned 69. Players are to return at 9:45 a.m. today to com plete the first round, and barring any more weather delays, the tournament should be back to normal — if there is such a thing at Augusta — by the weekend. — The Associated Press ■ Women’s track and field Oregon races for third straight win Eight Duck athletes took home individual event titles at last year's Pepsi Team Invitational BY STEPHEN MILLER SPORTS REPORTER The track and field outdoor season is in full swing, and it appears as though Oregon women field athletes will remain in the spot light this weekend. Hayward Field welcomes Missouri, Indi ana, Washington and the fans of Tracktown, USA to participate in and watch the 16th Annual Pepsi Team Invitational on Saturday. Events are scheduled to start at noon. The Oregon women are hoping to claim a team win in this meet for the third straight season. Last season, the Ducks accumulated 184.5 points to claim the team crown, and eight athletes captured individual event titles. Two weeks have passed since the women’s squad last competed as a whole. The wait for sprinter Sofie Abildtrup has been even longer, and the excitement sur rounding the start of her outdoor season is noticeable. “It’s been almost three weeks, because I didn’t compete at the (Oregon) Preview, so this is my first outdoor meet,” said Abildtrup, who will be competing in her second and last season at Oregon. The Herning, Denmark, native is already in the Oregon record books for the three sprinting events. She is 10th all-time in the 100-meter dash, seventh in the 200 and third in the 400. The senior said she trained hard during the indoor season but did not go full throttle because she is more focused on suc cess in the outdoor season. “Over this season, I’ll probably focus mainly on the 400,” Abildtrup said. This weekend, however, Abildtrup said she will compete in the 200 and both team relay events but not in the 400. “The 200 will be a good run for me to get my speed up and prepare for running the 400 later on,” she said. Abildtrup is expected to be a catalyst for Oregon’s short-distance group, especially after an impressive showcase of talent last season. “Last year I didn’t know what to expect Emerald Oregon senior sprinter Sofie Abildtrup, seen here last season, did not compete in the Oregon Preview but is slated to run at the Pepsi Team Invitational. and what the competition was like,” Abildtrup said. “I definitely had really good competition last year, and I also surprised myself with the results I got, and I’m hoping to continue in that positive way.” Abildtrup’s main competition in the 200 will be Indiana sophomore Stacey Clausing and Washington junior Lauran Dignam. On the field side, Oregon’s throwers are expected to score more than their share of points this season. As expected, names like Bree Fuqua and Sarah Malone sat atop the scoring lists for three of the four throwing events at the Oregon WOMEN, page 6 ■ Men’s track and field Oregon-Indiana battle recommences Oregon high jumper Jeff Lindsey, seen here last season, will compete in his first event for the Ducks in more than a month. The junior leads all Duck returnees in the high jump with a collegiate best of 7-1 3/4. Last month, the Hoosiers edged the Ducks by one point for fifth at the NCAA Championships BY BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTER The eighth-ranked Oregon men’s track team returns to action as the Ducks com pete in the 16th Annual Pepsi Team Invitational beginning Saturday at noon at Hayward Field. It marks the second straight weekend the Ducks compete at home as well as the rebirth of the Ducks’ scored-meet track and field tradition. Oregon will face Washington, Missouri and No. 6 Indiana, which is fresh off its team victory at the Indiana Relays last week. The Hoosiers will make their third trip to Eugene for the event, having last competed in 1997. The Huskies will make their eighth Pepsi Invitational appearance and will battle the Ducks for the 94th time in the school’s history. MEN, page 6
