Oregon daily emerald., May 03, 2005, Image 9

Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, May 3, 2005
“I’m going to put in a tape and show my son
how to play basketball: Just put your head . '
down and run into people. ”
Denver coach George Karl referring to Manu Ginobili’s style of play
after Game 3 of the Denver-San Antonio series
■ In my opinion
CLAYTON JONES
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Ducks bring
more to the
community
than money
While interviewing players after Oregon’s
spring football game on a sunny Saturday
afternoon, it hit me how much this football
team means to the local community.
I’m not talking about the money and
the attention it brings to the Eugene area,
but the excitement and unity it brings to
the people.
Almost 9,000 Duck fans attended the
practice game, most of them wearing yellow
and green. After the game, the gates
were opened, and fans flooded the field
seeking autographs.
As I walked from coach to coach, player
to player for “work,” I noticed how exciting
it was for those kids to meet the players.
The field was brimming with Oregon jerseys.
Whether it be Kellen Clemens’ No. 11 light
ning yellow, green or white jersey or a blue
No. 3 Joey Harrington Detroit Lions jersey,
these kids were showing a lot of spirit.
As players answered questions from
reporters, kids fought to get footballs, jerseys,
T-shirts or whatever they could get their
hands on signed.
The star-struck twinkle in the kids’ eyes
while watching these “larger-than-life” play
ers sign Oregon paraphernalia brings me back
to a time when athletes were more to me
than just people that help me get a story or a
good quote.
I think back to a time when I was 10 years
old, and I went to Civic Stadium (Now PGE
Park) to watch the Minnesota Twins play in
an exhibition game against the Portland
Beavers (when they were the triple-A affiliate
of the Twins).
I went with my little league team, and we
sat on the third-base dugout side, the same
side as the Twins.
Before the game, I squeezed through hun
dreds of kids to get an autograph. That was
when Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield and Kent
Hrbek were playing for the Twins, but I also
remember a smaller guy standing by himself
with no one around. Little did I know that
was the future American League rookie of the
year, Chuck Knoblauch.
He was doing what I wanted to do with my
life — play baseball. My nerves got the best of
me, and I eventually muttered something re
sembling a sentence and stuck my sweaty,
shaky hand toward him with my crumpled-up
ticket for him to sign. He took the ticket with
a smile, scribbled his name and actually told
ME, “Thank you!”
So when I was out there Saturday watching
those youngsters get so excited for auto
graphs, it reminded me (and possibly the
players) how vital a role this football program
plays in the fabric of this community, and
how the players’ actions toward kids could
stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Just like Chuck Knoblauch’s appreciation
and modesty has stuck with me.
dayton)ones@dailyemerald.com
Running Club coach
Tom Heinonen, who
competed in three
International
Cross Country
Championships,
helped increase
team participants,
bringing the number
of runners from six
to around 30.
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Running a team with heart
Former Oregon women's track and field and cross country coach
Tom Heinonen brings structure and enthusiasm to the running Club
BY KIM GAVIGLIO
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Running; it is one of nature’s most
primitive sports.
It is about your body and mind working
as one. Succeeding as a runner takes dedica
tion in the form of sweat, blood and tears
and a renowned coach to push athletes to
their potential.
For the Oregon Club running team that
coach is Tom Heinonen, a former Oregon in
tercollegiate women’s track and field and cross
country coach. Heinonen retired from his
coaching position after the 2003 track season
and agreed to coach the Club running team
starting in the fall that same year.
Before Heinonen became Club coach, the
running team included a grand total of
six members and no practice schedule or
consistent workouts.
“Before Heinonen we were begging to enter
a race, and now we race all the time,” said
Meriel Hartling, one of the original running
Club members. “It’s so great to know that
there will always be people to run with at
every practice. ”
Heinonen said his initial goal for the run
ning Club when he first arrived was “to give it
focus and stability while also increasing the
amount of runners participating.”
With an average of 30 runners showing up
for routine runs and 20 coming to speed ses
sions each week, it’s safe to say the Club has
reached Heinonen’s goal. As the Club grows,
Heinonen makes a point to know the first and
last name of every runner, bringing a team feel
to a once individual sport.
A typical week includes steady runs for
three days, alternating with three days of
speed workouts, one of which is a race on a
Saturday or Sunday.
Heinonen incorporates sprint, middle dis
tance and long distance in the workouts. He ad
justs workouts according to the team’s physical
endurance, when the next race is and how the
runners are performing on a given day.
Heinonen competed in the International
Cross Country Championships in 1968, 1969
and 1970 prior to coaching at Oregon for
27 years. He is the only women’s coach in
NCAA history to win multiple national titles in
outdoor track and field and cross country.
After his team won three national champi
onships, Heinonen was deemed NCAA coach
of the year. He was also the Pacific-10 Confer
ence Coach of the Year eight times.
According to Heinonen, the hardest part
about the transition from the Division I program
to the Club team was the budget restraints.
“My budget went from $750,000 to $600,"
Heinonen said. “The Club team is a self-help or
ganization. These runners compete because
they really enjoy the sport, not because a schol
arship is holding them accountable. There is no
sense of entitlement in Club sports. All the ath
letes have to buy their own shoes and pay their
own entry fees to compete.
“Club athletes are passionate about
their sport on a different level than an inter
collegiate athlete. It is the pure reason Club
sports flourish.”
Some runners have used the Club as a
stepping stone to take their talent to a new
HEINONEN, page 10
IN BRIEF
Runner Eric Logsdon shatters
previous personal best record
Oregon redshirt senior and All-American dis
tance runner Eric Logsdon joined Oregon’s all
time-fastest list in the 5,000 meters after running
a personal best at the Cardinal Invite at Stanford
on Sunday. He improved on his previous record
by nearly eight seconds.
The Canby native entered the meet with a
previous best of 13:48.12 from the 2004 Oregon
Invitational. With his time of 13:40.21 on Sun
day, Logsdon moved into eighth place in front
of Matt Centrowitz and Steve Fein. Logsdon’s
time is also only three seconds behind current
seventh-place holder Ken Martin.
Logsdon also became the fastest Oregon
5,000-meter runner in more than 20 years. The
last Ducks to enter the top eight, Bill McChes
ney Jr. (school record, 13:14.80) and Jim Hill
(sixth, 13:30.52), did so in 1982.
In the race Sunday, Logsdon finished ninth
overall and was the fourth-fastest collegian in
his section, trailing only Wisconsin’s Chris
Solinsky (sixth, 13:38.92), Colorado’s Brent
Vaughn (seventh, 13:39.69) and William and
Mary’s Ed Moran (eighth, 13:39.70).
Nike’s Abdi Abdirahman won Sunday’s race
with a time of 13:28.57. He finished ahead of
Nike’s Jonathan Riley (13:30.05), Wisconsin’s
Matt Tegenkamp (13:31.98), Wisconsin’s unat
tached freshman Matt Withrow (13:35.32) and
Nike’s Bolota Asmerom (13:37.14).
— Brian Smith
Churchill Odia to join Oregon
basketball squad in 2006
Former Xavier point guard Churchill Odia has
signed an offer for athletic aid to Oregon, men’s
basketball head coach Ernie Kent announced
on Monday.
The 6-foot-6 freshman from Lagos, Nigeria, is
expected to enroll in classes at Oregon this sum
mer. He will sit out and redshirt the 2005-06 sea
son in accordance with NCAA transfer rules and
will have three seasons of eligibility beginning
in 2006-07.
When Odia becomes eligible, both of
Oregon’s point guards, Aaron Brooks and Kenny
Love, will be seniors.
“Churchill is a very versatile player who will
be able to come in and learn our system as he
sits out a year,” Kent said. “He is a prototypical
point guard for our system, and he has a
tremendous feel for the game. And we can uti
lize his height and athleticism at the other wing
positions as well.”
Odia was a member of the 2004 Nigerian
national team that played in the Olympic
qualifying tournament. He was also a part of
the 2003 Nigerian junior national team that
lost to Kent’s United States’ team at the
World Championships in Greece.
“I’ve met a number of players like Churchill
through my involvement with USA Basketball,”
Kent said. “And getting a player like Churchill to
come to Oregon is another example of the divi
dends of that work paying off.”
Odia averaged 8.8 minutes, 1.6 points and 0.9
rebounds in a total of 25 games for the Muske
teers last season and played only a combined
four minutes during the team’s last six games.
— Oregon Media Services