Soccer
The Oregon women’s soccer team started Monday on a high, finishing second in the Pac-10 Conference after wins against USC and No. 3 UCLA last weekend. By Monday afternoon, their dreams had been crushed when the NCAA selection committee left Oregon out of the NCAA Tournament. Nicole Garbin learned Thursday she had been selected as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and coach Tara Erickson earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. “It’s just been bittersweet and being heartbroken Monday and then Tuesday and talking to my family, just how heartbroken they are,” Garbin said. “They’ve been crying at home in Hawaii and just feeling for me.”
Basketball
With her Oregon soccer career over, Garbin decided to revisit her first love – basketball. The sixth-year senior officially joined the Oregon women’s basketball team Wednesday and participated in her first practice that same day. The 5-foot-7-inch Garbin is going to play at the shooting guard and small forward positions. “I’m just hungry to keep competing and I also get that energy from my soccer teammates,” Garbin said. “They’re all for it. They want me to play.”
Forristall
Junior Kristen Forristall announced her decision to leave the women’s basketball program Monday, and by Thursday had found a new team. The 6-foot-2-inch Forristall, who was a forward for the basketball team, is joining the women’s volleyball team as an outside hitter. Forristall adds another player to the No. 24 Oregon volleyball team, which is in Arizona on Thursday and Friday to play Arizona and Arizona State, respectively. Forristall begins volleyball practice Monday. “We are extremely excited to have Kristen join our team,” volleyball coach Jim Moore said in an Oregon press release. “She is a phenomenal athlete, and once she knocks some of the rust off from being away from the game, she will be an impact player.”
The Oregon women’s sports programs have likely never seen a week with as many twists and turns as this one. The soccer team was snubbed by the NCAA Tournament on Monday. Soccer star Nicole Garbin became a member of the women’s basketball team on Wednesday. Kristen Forristall left the women’s basketball program, citing “irreconcilable differences,” with coach Bev Smith, and proceeded to join the volleyball team on Thursday.
What’s next? Sports already has its share of interesting stories. Athletes have inspiring and diverse backgrounds. The volleyball team is enjoying a resurgence under second year coach Jim Moore. The same success happened for soccer coach Tara Erickson and her program.
This week, the unusual sports happenings culminated from personal decisions by Forristall and Garbin.
Forristall revisits a sport she played in high school. She was a first-team all-league player in basketball and a third-team all-state selection in volleyball as a high school senior. Garbin, who practiced with the women’s basketball team as a freshman, is able to play a sport she loves and help out her new teammates, who are hurting from Forristall’s absence.
“They’re kind of low right now in terms of their spirits because they lost a key player and just a dear friend to them,” Garbin said. “I feel they have strong characters on that team and they’re going to bounce back and hopefully me coming onto the team can fire some energy in them.”
Wild week of sports
Daily Emerald
November 9, 2006
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