Oregon daily emerald., July 19, 2005, Image 5

Sports
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, July 19, 2005
“The coach was very competitive. ”
Pennsylvania State Ttooper Thomas B. Broadwater after a Pittsburgh
area T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt a mentally
disabled teammate so he wouldn’t have to put the boy in the game
staHn TRACK
Vin Lananna, new associate athletic director and director
of track and field and cross country, has coached for 30 years
BY scorn. ADAMS
FREELANCE REPORTER
The off-season for Oregon’s track and field
and cross country squads got a little more
exciting last Wednesday when Vin Lananna
was announced as the new associate athletic
director and director of track and field and
cross country.
Lananna is one of the nation’s premiere
track and field coaches and has been an hon
oree for NCAA Cross Country Coach of the
Year four times in his 30-year career.
Alongside Oregon Athletics Director Bill
Moos, Lananna held his first press conference
last week in front of a crowd of 100 at the en
trance to Hayward Field, expressing his ex
citement to coach in Eugene.
“I see this as a community, not just a uni
versity,” Lananna said. “The sport of track
and field needs a spark, and this is the place
to do it.”
Lananna is currently wrapping up his stay
at Oberlin College in Ohio as the director of
athletics and physical education. Prior to
landing there in 2003, he coached at Stanford
for 11 years and transformed the Cardinal
men’s and women’s program into a combined
juggernaut. Four NCAA team titles went to
Lananna’s cross country and track and field
teams, highlighting their 36 top-10 finishes in
the nation. NCAA track and field individual ti
tles were claimed by 22 of his athletes. Lanan
na’s teams racked up 17 team titles waged by
45 individual champions at Pac-10 Conference
level. Lananna is a seven-time Pac-10 Coach
of the Year for cross country alone and has
two more coach of the year awards for track
and field for 2000 and 2001.
Lananna began his coaching career at his
alma mater, C.W. Post College, in Greenvale,
N.Y., in 1975, after graduating with a bache
lor of arts degree in history and psychology.
Lananna was the head coach of the Pioneers
cross country team, coaching some of the for
mer teammates who had joined him in finish
ing fourth in the NCAA Division II Champi
onships in 1974.
Lananna then took a track and field head
coaching spot at Dartmouth College in 1980
and rose to assistant athletic director for track
and field and cross country in 1985. His Big
Green teams nabbed six top-20 cross country
finishes including back-to-back second place
efforts from 1986 to 1987.
Lananna’s career reached U.S. and interna
tional levels as well. He was the men’s assis
tant coach for the 2004 Olympic Games and
1999 World Championships. He was also the
junior coach for the 1990 and 1996 World
Cross Country Championships. His lengthy
resume and numerous accolades have kept
him in the crosshairs of Moos, who, at the
conference, recognized the countless times he
tried to rope Lananna into a job at Oregon.
“My vision has shown where we want Ore
gon track and field to go,” Moos said. “I knew
we needed Vin Lananna to get there.”
Efforts have finally paid off for Moos, who
could not be happier with the addition of
Lananna, whose contract guarantees him at
least five years in Eugene.
“I am thrilled with Vin’s decision to join the
University of Oregon’s intercollegiate athletic
LANANNA, page 6
Vin Lananna
speaks at a
recent press
conference
announcing
his new po
sition as
Oregon’s as
sociate ath
letic director
and director
of track and
field and
cross coun
try. Lananna
signed a
five-year
rnntrart
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
Emeralds fly past Hawks on Sunday
Eugene came back after a 12-7 loss on Saturday
to overtake the Boise Hawks 9-1 on Sunday
BY SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
The Eugene Emeralds (12-14)
hadn’t scored more than seven runs
while losing seven of its last eight
games, but that was all forgotten
Sunday after the team hammered
the Boise Hawks (11-15) 9-1.
The Emeralds used a six-run sev
enth inning, highlighted by a three
run homer off Nick Hundley’s bat,
to blow open a close game.
“I was just looking for a pitch to
drive a couple of runs in and fortu
nately he (the Boise pitcher) hung it
up,” Hundley said of the slider
slapped over the left-field wall.
Brian Cavanaugh led off the sev
enth inning with a first-pitch dou
ble off the right-field wall. Daryl
Jones followed with a single, be
fore Billy Richardson knocked an
RBI double over the center fielder
that scored Cavanaugh.
“I just tried to relax at the plate,
let the pitches come to me and try to
put a good swing on it,” said
Richardson, who reached base in all
five at-bats. “I believe it was a slider
that he (the Boise pitcher) hung.”
Kelvin Vazquez followed with a
four-pitch walk to load the bases be
fore Mike Sansoe hit a two-RBI sin
gle, plating Jones and Richardson.
Hundley’s homerun followed a
strikeout by Drew Davidson. Chase
Headley popped out and Will Ven
able struck out to end the inning.
"They were getting good pitches
to hit and getting the barrel on the
ball,” Eugene manager Roy Howell
said. “You get a big fly in the middle
and it all just comes together. ”
Vazquez led off the bottom of the
first inning with a solo homerun,
the only run scored by either team
until Eugene added a run in the
sixth. Sansoe, who reached base on
an error to begin the inning, scored
after the ball was thrown away dur
ing a pick-off attempt on Cavanaugh
at first base.
Cavanaugh followed Sansoe’s
at-bat with a bloop single that al
lowed Sansoe to reach third.
Boise answered in the top of the
seventh, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Back-to-back groundouts by Mark
Reed and Jose Rios allowed Bran
don Taylor to score after he stroked
a double to start the inning.
“If you go put a run on the
board, the pitching staff needs to
go out there and shut them down,”
Howell said.
The Emeralds’ offensive out
burst didn’t stop in the seventh, as
they added a run in the eighth.
Cavanaugh hit a double and
reached third base on a wild pitch
during Jones’ next at-bat. Jones
was walked and Richardson was
hit by a pitch before Sansoe laced
an RBI single up the middle that
scored Cavanaugh.
Eugene starting pitcher Stevie De
Eugene's Brian
Cavanaugh
collides with Boise
first baseman
Chris Gaskin
during a pick-off
attempt.
Cavanaugh’s three
hits helped spark
the Emerald
offense to a 9-1
victory over Boise
Sunday.
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
labar collected his third win of the
season after pitching six scoreless
innings and allowing only three hits
and one walk.
“I was just trying to locate the
fastball today,” Delabar said.
“Throw strikes and get outs.”
Boise had runners in scoring
position in each of the second,
third and fourth innings; howev
er, Delabar pitched out of every
jam without giving in.
“I was rushing at the begin
ning,” Delabar said. “I was a lit
tle shaky, a little nervous.”
Every Emerald batter reached
base at least one time. Ca
vanaugh and Richardson each
finished with three hits.
Boise Hawks rout Eugene
Ems 12-7 on Saturday
Boise scored six runs in the ninth
inning to win 12-7, despite connect
ing on only two hits in the inning.
To begin the ninth, Scott Hode
was hit by a pitch. Hode stole sec
ond and reached third on Jonathan
Mota’s sacrifice attempt. Back-to
back errors on infield ground balls
allowed the Hawks to score twice
and take the lead. The snowball
continued from that point.
Sansoe finished with four hits
and drove in runs in the second and
fourth innings. Sansoe’s RBI single
in the sixth broke a 5-5 tie.
shawnmiller@dailyemerald.com
Coach adds
ten recruits
to women's
soccer roster
The players will join women's
soccer head coach Tara Erickson
in her first year at the University
SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
A soccer mentality was the key ingredient
first-year women’s soccer head coach Tara Er
ickson looked for in recruits, and after signing
three Division I transfers and seven freshmen,
Erickson is looking forward to her inaugural
season on the Duck sidelines.
“They have the mix of athleticism, mentali
ty and experience,” Erickson said. “They can
do some great things.”
Tiffany Smith, a graduate of Sheldon
High School in Eugene, transferred from
Portland State University, where she
played one year under Erickson before the
two departed for Oregon.
“Tiffany is a very versatile and athletic play
er who will just get better and better as her ca
reer goes along,” Erickson said. “She is some
one who has a tremendous upside.”
“Athletically she can compete and mentally
she can compete.”
Erickson hopes the year the two spent to
gether at PSU will translate into Smith help
ing bridge the gap between the sidelines and
the field.
RECRUITS, page 6