>
i
SPORTS
From the other side...
by
Staci Beard
Fines and
musings
On Sunday, April 22, the
Portland Trail Blazers de
molished the Los Angeles
Lakers 130-88. Before you
start popping open the cham
pagne, ft would be wise to
remember that the Lakers
rested three healthy starters:
Magic Johnson, James Wor
thy and Mychal Thompson.
As a result of Coach Pat
Riley’s choice to sit them out,
NBA Commissioner David
Stern fined the Lakers
$25,000. The fine was levied
because Stern felt that the
fans had been cheated be
cause the stars of the team
were off the floor.
I think that is the only
justifiable reason for the fine.
You can’t have the commis
sioner looking over every
coach’s shoulder and fining
them for not playing players.
If you wanted to be equal
and fair, every team that did
not play a healthy player on
the bench would have to be
fined. Where would coach
ing strategy go?
A couple things do
bother me though, the way
Riley characterized the game
as “insignificant.” I know it
wasn’t for the Pacific Divi
sion championship, but it
wasn’t a charity game either.
Also, what are the Los An
geles fans doing blaming us
for the fine? It is not like we
are a favorite of Stems. Re
member the NBA was threat
ening us with a lawsuit be
cause of the Sports Action
game.
Personal Notes
For four years I played
softball at Milwaukie High.
It was a lot of fun but the one
thing I didn’t get to do was
play at the state tournament.
The first time I came
dose was my sophomore year.
I played on JV but was
brought up to some varsity
games. That team was ex
pected to make the. trip to
state, but due to fighting and
injuries the team never made
My senior year was the
next closest time. That time
we were; inexperienced and
fell a few games short of the
playoffs.
Now those team mem
bers I played with my junior
and senior years are now
seniors and are ranked
. number one in the state. Last
year they went all the way to
fourth in the AAA State
Softball Championships.
I guess I just want to
know why they were all born
too late. *
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT
May 2,1990
Page 8
Thinclads compile excellent numbers at U of O
By Dan A. Fulton
Staff Writer
The Clackamas Cougar track
team had a sensational outing at
the U Of O Open and the U of O
Invitational, coming away with
some impressive numbers against
some excellent competition in a
non-scoring meet last Saturday.
This meet was mostly four-
year schools with the exception of
the Cougars who were the only
community college in the running
events. There were some athletes
from other community colleges
there but only in the field events.
In the Open, Jean-Maree Lil
lard placed second in the discus
with a toss of 135’6". Nylen fol
lowed Lillard with a two spot of
her own in the javelin throwing it
141’10". In the high jump, David
Bate leaped his way to the bronze
capturing third jumping 6’8 3/4"
over the bar. Mike Hieb had an-
other impressive performance
finishing third in the javelin with a
toss of 204’8".
Kyle Riggs improved his per
sonal* record in the 110 meter
hurdles and finished third cruis
ing in at 15.4.
McCrum, Beardall, and Moore
had some outstanding perform
ances but all finished sixth against
the tough four-year school com
petition. In the 1500m, McCrum
had a time of 3:55.5 which is a 6
second improvement on his last
time, which is a season best and a
community college record.
Beardall ran the 5,000m in 14:51.8,
which is the Northwest best, and
his personal record by more than
10 seconds. Moore, who ran the
3,000 steeple chase in 933.2, came
out with a personal best time and
now leads in the northwest title.
“These three had very signifi
cant performances against some
of the best competition in the
state,” commented Mike Hodges.
In the Invitational, Clacka
mas had some great numbers from
their top aces. Gabe Crane came
out with the only Gold medal in
the400m. Crane outran the four-
year schools in a time of 52.1 which
was a personal record and a school
record.
Crane also finished sixth in
the 110 meter hurdles racing in
14.5, which is a school record that
broke his own from 1988. Nav
Larson fell short and had to settle
for second in the 200m crossing
the finish line in 21.4 seconds which
was a personal record.
Lillard came back from the
Open and tossed the shot put in
the Invitational finishing second
heaving the ball 44’2". In the relay
competition, the men, with the
team of Fish, Crane, Gibson and
Larson, finished third in both the
400and the 1600meter relay. The
Cougars only took 42 seconds to
finish the 400 meter relay, and
3:19.6 in the 1600 meter relay which
is now a season best for the squad.
“It was a real honor to have
been chosen to come here and to
have great performances from
everyone was icing on the cake,”
commented Hodges.
The Cougars will hold the
Clackamas Invitational this Sat
urday at 11 a.m. which will involve
10-12 community colleges from
Oregon and Washington. This is
a non-scoring meet.
Next week the State Champi
onships begin followed by the
Northwest Championship two
weeks later.
“This meet will be a chance to
get some super performances from
our team and not put any pressure
on them at the samé time,” com
mented Hodges.
Competitiveness makes Northcutt strong player
•
by Staci Beard
Sports Editor
One of the things that sopho
more shortstop Kristi Northcutt
hates the most when playing soft-
ball is... having a ball get past her.
“I will do anything to get an
out; I will sacrifice my body to get
an out. In the infield you get those
hard shots which I will dive for to
get that ball,” explained Northcutt
In addition to her defensive
skills, Northcutt is near the top in
most offensive categories. Her
batting average in the first 20 games
is a strong .368, placing her as the
second highest on the team while
her 12 RBIs ties for the team lead.
Speed is another asset that
Northcutt possesses being a per
fect 8-8 on the base paths in stolen
bases
“Northcutt leads the team in
RBIs and in runs scored. She is
hitting for a good average and,
with the speed, can turn a single
Winning became
such a habit last
year...lt was a n
awesome feeling
holding that trophy
into a double by stealing second.
She hits well with runners on base
and is a really good defensive player.
Northcutt makes it look easy,”
explained Coach'Paul Fiskum.
Northcutt has been on team
softball since her seventh grade
year. But she learned baseball first
with the help of six older bro the rs.
Kristi Northcutt heads toward first on another one of her hits.
Northcutt Is second on the team with a .368 batting average.
Photo by TtaZtawy
Love of the game has kept her
with it.
“I love the game. I played
baseball when I was younger and
went to baseball camps. It is a fun
game that I enjoy. It also helps to
relieve the stress,” stated
Northcutt.
Attitude has been one of the
areas that Northcutt has worked
to improve. .
“fam keeping my head in the
game this year when last year I
would get down. I Xvant to help
keep myself up and the team up
through the whole game,” ex
plained Northcutt.
Fiskum has also noticed a
difference.
“She is helping herself to stay
up most of the time and doesn’t
get down after a mistake. She is
also handling criticism much bet
ter,” explained Fiskum.
Although a little disappointed
with how the season has gone so
far, Northcutt still feels they have
a chance repeating as champions.
“We are a better defensive
team than we have shown. I don’t
know why we are playing the way
we are there is not excuse. But we
will get back to NWAACC tour
nament,” explained Northcutt.
Winning the NWAACC tour
nament again is a feeling Northcutt
would like to repeat.
“Winning became such a habit
last year. It was a surprise that we
won but we had the talent and
ability. It was an awesome feeling
holding that trophy,” enthused
Northcutt.