Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, October 4, 2005
“It took me 17 years to get 3,000
hits in baseball. I did it in one
afternoon playing golf. ”
Major League Baseball’s all-time home run leader
Hank Aaron, who knocked 755 over the fence.
■ In my opinion
LUKE ANDREWS
EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION
Volleyball
has chance
for season to
remember
Watching Oregon’s home volleyball match
Thursday against California made me proud to be
a student at the University Of Oregon.
I must be honest; entering this year, I knew lit
tle to nothing about the history of Oregon volley
ball, except that it was typically a losing, Pacific
10 Conference bottom-dwelling program.
You’d never guess that judging from the noise
of the proud 726 that packed McArthur Court
to watch Oregon take on the 14th-ranked Golden
Bears and the season-high 1,040 that
witnessed Oregon battle defending national
champion Stanford.
Though the Ducks fell in both matches, it was
quite a sight to see the green and yellow fanatics
support this 2005 Oregon squad.
It’s a testament to the pride and loyalty of the
University’s fan base when a team that has won
only one of its last 22 Pac-10 games manages to
draw a crowd like that.
Heck, even the Duck dragged its pasty, white,
slightly deformed behind to Mac Court.
While the Ducks may not win the Pac-10, the
fans and players have a chance to be a part of
something special: a noble rebuilding effort.
It’s a chance to bring an atmosphere to Mac
Court that parallels a packed Maples Pavilion
at Stanford.
It’s been a privilege to have the opportunity to
cover this Oregon team, which has been playing
inspired volleyball under first-year head coach
Jim Moore.
Moore is a passionate man and coach who
cares greatly for his players. He brings a fiery atti
tude each night and you can expect great things
before his career is over.
Watching him erupt off the bench with unri
valed intensity makes it difficult to maintain any
sort of professionalism on press row. It’s safe
to say: He’s won over many, including me,
in Eugene.
His team plays hard for him, and the nucleus
of players he has left over from last year’s team
mixed with a crop of talented newcomers will
give plenty of reasons for Oregon’s faithful to ap
plaud this season.
Sure the Ducks have started their Pac-10 sched
ule 0-4, but three losses were against
ranked opponents.
In last Friday’s loss to Stanford, Oregon hit
0.179. Consider that the Cardinal held six previ
ous opponents under a 0.100 hitting percentage
and it quickly becomes evident that Oregon is
headed in the right direction.
Not to say that Oregon’s climb won’t be a
tough one in a talented Pac-10 conference. Six of
the conference’s 10 teams are ranked and three
competed in last year’s final four.
If the Ducks can maintain their level of play
demonstrated in the first game against the Cardi
nal, a narrow 30-28 loss, the Ducks can compete
with the majority of the conference’s teams and
eventually that winning mentality will
shine through.
“If we play like we did in the last two games
against Cal and first game (against Stanford),
ANDREWS, page 12
Oregon wins at Brown and Gold
Senior midfielder Andrea Valadez sends in a cross during Oregon’s Sept. 23 win over South Dakota State.
At Friday and Sunday’s tournament in Laramie, Wyo., Valadez scored her first goal of the season in a 2-1 win.
Goalie Jessie Chatfield earns
MVP honors as the Ducks get
their eighth win this season
BY SCOTT J. ADAMS
SPORTS REPORTER
The Oregon women’s soccer team proved
that it can win on the road when it marched
into Laramie, Wyo., and won the Brown and
Gold Tournament, defeating Nevada (4-4-1) 2
1 on Friday and host Wyoming (3-3-3) 1-0 on
Sunday. The Ducks (8-1-1) are flawless on the
road this season, boasting a 4-0 record. They
have stayed perfect going into this week
thanks to clutch defensive play.
On Sunday, the Ducks topped the Cowgirls
in unusual fashion, sitting on an early lead
and watching their defense preserve a win.
Oregon senior midfielder Caitlin Gamble
stuck an unassisted shot in the back of
Wyoming’s net a little more than four minutes
into the first half, giving the Ducks the lead.
The Salt Lake City native made the most of a
critical mistake by goalkeeper Jamie Scarcliff,
who could not haul in a save off of a previous
shot. The ball deflected from Scarcliff to an
unforgiving Gamble who buried it in the open
net. It marked the second goal of the season
for Gamble and the seventh of her career. Af
ter the game, Wyoming head coach Anne
Moore marveled at the Ducks’ resilience and
reflected on her goalkeeper’s costly mishap.
“We had to resort to playing their game,
which was a little disappointing. However,
they are an extremely tough team and this
was a good team to face heading into confer
ence play next weekend,” Moore said. “Over
all, it was a very even game and our one mis
take in the first half ended up costing us a
chance to win.”
Gamble’s goal sparked the Ducks to stay
strong despite playing at 7,000 feet above sea
level. Tournament MVP and Oregon freshman
goalkeeper Jessie Chatfield and the defense
took it from that point. Chatfield delivered an
other solid performance, notching five saves
en route to her sixth shutout of the season. It
posts her fourth scoreless outing in the last
five games and extends her own school
record. The play of the young goalkeeper this
season has the mark of a veteran and has
SOCCER, page 12
Duck teams secure top-four finishes
Zoe Nelson helps the women to second place while
Galen Rupp leads the men to the fourth spot
BY KIM GAVIGLIO
FREELANCE REPORTER
This season’s Oregon cross
country team is showing the run
ning world that a flock of Ducks is
a dangerous thing — cross its
path and you will get run over.
Over the weekend the Ducks
traveled to Salem to compete in
the Willamette University 31st an
nual Charles Bowles Invitational.
The men’s and women’s teams
both finished the race with im
pressive times, which ensured
Oregon top-four finishes.
Zoe Nelson and Katie Leary
helped the Ducks earn a second
place finish behind No. 30 Wash
ington. Nelson took fourth place
in the 5,000-meter race with a
time of 17 minutes, 14 seconds; a
mere 12 seconds behind
first place finisher Dee Olson
from Idaho.
Nelson, a true freshman,
clocked in at 5:26 for her first mile
and managed an 11:07 split. This
was Nelson’s second straight
race where she finished first
for Oregon.
“Collegiate racing still feels a lit
tle new, but I’m starting to get a
little more comfortable,” Nelson
said. “The level of talent was
higher this time, and there were a
lot more people to run with today,
so I wasn’t really worried about
the pace or splits. I didn’t have
much of a strategy, more just run
my own race and try to finish
top five.
“I felt pretty good throughout,
although I was a little concerned
at the end because I don’t have
the best foot speed and didn’t
want anyone to pass me. I did my
best to pick up the last 300 meters
on the track, and I finished okay,”
Nelson said.
Leary, a redshirt freshman, was
the top second runner from any
team finishing sixth with a time
of 17:17.
“This was a nice confidence
Oregon distance runner Galen Rupp (79) made his collegiate cross country debut
with a sixth-place finish (23:58) at Willamette University’s 31st annual Charles
Bowles Invitational.
booster,” Leary said of her person
al record. “I haven’t PRed since
my senior season, so this was ex
citing. I’m still getting back into
racing mode and getting my skills
back, but I felt strong the whole
way. It was nice to have Zoe up
front so I could work off her.”
Leary and Nelson were not the
only standouts for the women on
Saturday; the entire team had an
impressive performance. The top
five Ducks had a 34-second gap be
tween the first and fifth runner, av
eraging paces between 5:33 and
5:44 per mile. Sarah Pearson,
Amber McGown, Dana
CROSS COUNTRY, page 12