The Oregon men finished second in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships this season and will send seven athletes to the NCAA version this week. As a sign of the team’s successful season, head coach Martin Smith was named the West Regional’s Coach of the Year.
The Pac-10 finish was Oregon’s highest finish since 1996 when the Ducks placed second behind UCLA. In 2001, the squad finished fifth.
“The jump up in the team standings was a big step for us,” said Smith, who is in his fourth year as the Oregon coach. “Personally, I was a little surprised because we knew we were without three Pac-10 champions, and we only have so many people who can step in. It was a wild weekend of action, and it was neat to see how the team shared the momentum — it exemplified a unified effort.”
Smith will now be considered for National Coach of the Year after winning the conference honors, which was based on a vote by regional coaches.
Other winners included Connecticut’s Greg Roy, Pennsylvania’s Charlie Powell, East Carolina’s Bill Carson, Terry Long of Florida State, Rick Watkins of North Texas, Ed Nuttycombe of Wisconsin, Wichita State’s Steve Rainbolt and Utah State’s Gregg Gensel.
The winner will be announced during the NCAA finale.
Duck Dearmon
Chris Dearmon, the 2002 Oregon State 4A high school shot put champion, has been announced as the Oregon men’s 11th signee for the 2003 season.
Dearmon, a Central Point native and Crater High standout, ranked fi rst in the state entering the meet with a top throw of 60 feet, 7 inches. He won the final meet of the season with a throw 58-2.
“Chris is one of the top throwers in Oregon and will be a big addition for us in the shot put and discus,” Smith said. “He should make an immediate impact and is someone we can build around in those areas.”
The Ducks will lose Rian Ingrim, a 2001 NCAA provisional qualifier indoors in the shot put, but will retain Hillsboro native James March, the team leader in the shot put and discus.
Second time around
When Mary Etter participated in the 2000 Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix, she was a freshman, still soaking up the Oregon experience and preparing for her first NCAA Championships appearance.
So when she threw 162-2 while participating in the discus in the meet, it wasn’t such a big deal to the Everett, Wash., native.
In 2002, after participating in two NCAA Championships, the junior decided to give the meet a try again. Etter again finished last in the meet with a throw of 172-02, but it was a big difference.
“The first time I did the Prefontaine, I was really uncomfortable,” Etter said at Sunday’s event. “This time was so much better.
2002 Prefontaine winner “Aretha Hill is the nicest woman you’ll ever meet, and Suzy Powell is pretty nice too.”
Etter will compete on Friday at the 2002 NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., as the ninth ranked athlete in the nation in the discus.
“We were happy with how she threw,” Oregon head coach Tom Heinonen said of Etter’s day at the Prefontaine. “She got within five feet of her season best and also had another 169-foot throw — either of those would normally make the final of the NCAA meet so we feel that she’s throwing strongly at the right time of the year.”
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager at [email protected].