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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2005)
Oregon Daily Emerald Monday, April 25, 2005 “I didn’t feel my best today, bat it’s just good to be here. It was great having the fans here clapping and cheering really load. ’’ Oregon freshman Galen Rupp on his first running event as a Duck 49ers pick two former Ducks in NFL draft Adam Snyder was chosen 94th overall and Marcus Maxwell went ninth in the seventh round BY JON ROE I MAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER Adam Snyder made quite a name for him self playing football on Saturdays. Now he’ll try his luck on Sundays. The former Oregon offensive lineman was selected by San Francisco in the third round of the National Football League draft on Sat urday. The 49ers traded a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick to Philadelphia to move into the 30th spot in the third round and chose Snyder as the 94th overall selection. Snyder spent his entire senior season with the Ducks at left tackle but has also played guard during his collegiate career. Several pro scouts project that he’ll play guard in the NFL. A three-year starter at Oregon, Snyder was twice named first-team All-Pacific-10 Confer ence and earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against Michigan in September 2003 in which the Ducks upset the Wolverines, 31-27. It was the first time since 1995 that an offensive lineman garnered such praise. Marcus Maxwell was the only other former Oregon player drafted this year. The 6-foot-5 wide receiver was also selected by San Fran cisco, taken as the ninth pick (223rd overall) in the seventh round. The former junior college standout caught 36 passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns during his two-year stint with the Ducks. Former Nebraska offensive lineman Richie Incognito, who attempted to join Oregon in the fall after being kicked off the Comhusker team for repeated violations of team rules, was selected by St. Louis as the 17th pick (81st overall) of the third round. In all, 33 athletes from Pac-10 schools were selected during the NFL’s two-day, seven round draft. Oregon State had three players chosen, in cluding defensive end Bill Swancutt, quarter back Derek Anderson and offensive tackle Doug Nienhuis. Swancutt, the 2004-05 Co Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, was tak en by Detroit as the 10th pick (184th overall) of the sixth round. Anderson was selected by NFL, page 14A ■ Women’s track and field u i"i ' Danielle Hickey | Photo editor Oregon senior Sofie Abildtrup left all of her competition in the dust as she won the women’s 400-meter race at the Oregon Invitational on Saturday. Ducks spread first-place wealth Oregon athletes performed well in varied events, including relays, sprints, javelin and shot put BY STEPHEN MILLER SPORTS REPORTER Before Saturday, the Oregon throwers had been almost exclusively achieving personal records and regional qualifying performances. Then Saturday rolled around, and a different group of Duck track and field athletes set their marks at the Oregon Invitational in front of 3,579 fans. Senior sprinter Sofie Abildtrup took the first step for all Duck runners with a first-place finish in the 400-meters. Stopping the clock at 54.37 seconds, Abildtrup exceeded the regional qualifying mark of 54.61 and beat second place finisher Loni Perkins of Montana by more than a second. Abildtrup also holds the Danish national record in the event. In past women’s 400 hurdles races, Oregon freshman Kasey Harwood came in first with teammate Kayla Mellott taking second. On Saturday, Mel lott crossed the finish line in second, but Harwood sat out with a strained right hamstring that she suffered in Thursday’s practice. “What I really wanted to do was just get out fast,” said Mellott, who qual ified for Regionals with a personal-best time of 60.15. “It was a nice mark to get out of the way for now. “I had my steps on, and I was pretty fatigued in the last 100, but I was still able to move up, and everything went according to plan. ” Senior Laura Harmon snatched a Regional qualifying spot in the 5,000 with a seventh-place finish at 16:39.37, only six seconds behind her personal record. In the 4x400 relay, Washington’s team time of 3:44.58 just edged out Ore gon’s 3:44.77. A race to the finish line developed as Washington’s Amanda Miller and Oregon junior Sara Schaaf sprinted neck-and-neck for the top spot a good nine seconds ahead of the other three teams’ anchor runners. The Huskies also received event victories from senior Kate Soma in the pole vault (13-6 1/4), sophomore Ashley Lodree in the 400 hurdles (59.65) and freshman Jennifer Nash in the 100 (11.98). The throwing events capped off with the javelin, in which Oregon’s Sarah Malone used another consistent effort to claim the victory. The fifth-year senior carefully worked on a runway slick from rain and landed a spear 173-1 to win her third straight competition of the outdoor season. “When it’s dry, you don’t think twice, but when it’s wet, you’re a little more cautious,” the two-time All-American said. “It was definitely some thing I was thinking about, and I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t throw farther." Oregon’s Brittany Hinchcliffe finished fourth in the hammer throw by landing a mark of 192-11 on her sixth and final attempt. Cari Soong of WOMEN, page 14A ■ Men's track and field Rupp debuts with top-five finish Despite suffering a fall early in his race, the freshman worked his way into fifth place BY BRIAN SMITH SPORTS REPORTER The Oregon men’s track and field team captured five indi vidual titles against some of the top collegiate and post-colle giate competition at the Oregon Invitational at Hayward Field on Saturday. However, no one individual was more closely watched by the crowd of 3,579 than Galen Rupp, the star recruit who ran his first race in Oregon’s green and yellow. Having been cleared by the NCAA a day earlier, the Central Catholic High School graduate finished fifth in the 5,000-me ters, the marquee event of the evening. Rupp finished with a time of 13:50.10 after falling mid-race. Unable to avoid a fall that occurred in front of him, the freshman dropped to 11th place near the six-minute mark of the race. Rupp jumped back up and spent the last seven min utes of the race gradually working his way back into the top five. “I don’t want to use that as an excuse,” Rupp said of the fall. “I didn’t feel my best today, but it’s just good to be here. It was great having the fans here clapping and cheering really loud, and I just look forward to more races here.” Rupp’s debut capped another successful day for Oregon on the track, which was highlighted by junior Richard Del Rin con’s performances. Del Rincon captured the 200-meter title and helped the 4x100 relay team win its second title in as many weeks. Oregon nearly topped last week’s time of 39.83 at the Gold en Bear Invitational and was only .2 seconds behind the all time record of 39.80. In the 200, Del Rincon finished with a time of 20.93, finish ing nearly one second ahead of Montana State’s Steve Heberly. MEN, page 14A Danielle Hickey | Photo editor Oregon junior sprinter Richard Del Rincon hands off the baton during the Ducks' 4x100 relay victory at the Oregon Invitational at Hayward Field on Saturday.
