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