So much can happen in two weeks.
Oregon athletics have made sure June hasn’t lived up to its typical billing of being a slow news month.
Since finals week began, the Oregon wrestling team sued the University for their right to compete, several Ducks took state or national honors, Oregon football season tickets continued to sell out, and one former Duck coach and player passed away.
Oregon Wrestling
On June 9, Equity in Athletics Inc., a group of athletes, parents, alumni and fans that is representing the wrestling team, filed a lawsuit against the University in Marion County Circuit Court to allow wrestling to compete next year.
Ron Finley, former Oregon wrestling coach and director of Save Oregon Wrestling, said the lawsuit has nothing to do with baseball’s addition as a Division I sport at Oregon. Instead, the lawsuit was the only way the team felt it could get answers from the University that cut the sport after the 2007-08 season.
“We’re just tired of the runaround,” Finley told reporters.
Hildahl secures Oregon Amateur crown
Sophomore Duck golfer Kate Hildahl won the 99th annual Oregon Women’s Amateur Saturday, beating a former Duck in the final.
Hildahl, from Tualatin, beat current Linfield College women’s golf coach and 1993 Oregon Women’s Amateur champion Karly Mills Cramer 6 and 5 to win the title. Mills Cramer, 34, played at Oregon from 1992-95.
The championship was held at the Bend Golf and Country Club, and is considered one of the premier amateur tournaments in the state.
The tournament starts with two rounds of stroke play to qualify for the final match play pairings. Hildahl led the field after her first two rounds by two shots. Freshman Duck Monika Graf was third after the first two rounds.
Hildahl defeated two golfers Friday, including former Oregon women’s golf head coach Lara Tennant, to advance to the final.
“I was so happy with being the medalist,” Hildahl said in a press release.
“Today she was the better player,” Mills Cramer said. “I had some opportunities, but she just kept draining putts. What are you gonna do?”
Baseball coach Krause passes away
Former Oregon player and coach Mel Krause, 80, died on the morning of Friday, June 13 after being diagnosed last November with acute myeloid leukemia.
On April 19, the Oregon athletic department held a celebration of life in Krause’s honor that drew almost 1,000 people.
Krause addressed the crowd at the celebration, saying “There’s no crying in baseball. This has been a fun afternoon, a fun day, not a sad day.”
Krause played at Oregon from 1948-1951 and coached the Ducks from 1971-1981, when he had a 218-220-1 career record and won two division championships.
Oregon Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny remembered Krause in a statement, saying, “Very few people touch the number of lives Mel Krause did. His influence transcends all facets of life, as the thousands of people he coached and taught are now bringing forth his dedication to integrity, loyalty and determination to an entirely new generation.”
The University will honor Krause at its new ballpark with a monument in his honor at the entrance.
Young Ducks shine at Junior Championships
Classmates and teammates on the Oregon track and field team, sophomores-to-be Matthew Centrowitz, Jamesha Youngblood and Alex Kosinski placed in the top two of their respective events at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.
At the championships, held in Columbus, Ohio, Centrowitz won the men’s 5,000 meters in 14 minutes, 44.67 seconds Friday night. The Arnold, Md. native is the defending Pan Am junior champion in the 1,500 meters.
“I knew I had the standard going in so I just relaxed and ran,” Centrowitz said in a press release. “It was my first 5,000 ever. I was trying to feel as comfortable as possible. I was more of a two-miler in high school.”
The next day, Youngblood took second in the women’s long jump, jumping 20 feet, 9 3/4 inches. Last year, Youngblood was the Pan Am junior champion. Youngblood also took fourth in the triple jump.
Kosinski finished second in the women’s 1,500 meters in 4:19.22, a personal best by .66 of a second.
As part of the top two finishers in their events, the two Ducks qualified for the World Juniors Championship in Poland.
Season ticket sales set record
For the 11th year in a row, Oregon football exceeded its season ticket sales from the previous season.
A record 43,954 season tickets had been sold through a week ago. All general admission tickets are sold out. Through last season, Oregon has sold out 55 straight games at Autzen Stadium.
The Ducks will play Washington, Utah State, Boise State, UCLA, Stanford and Arizona at home during the 2008 season.
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