Hoz de Vila to
represent Bolivia
Oregon freshman Monica Hoz de Vila was named to the Bolivian National Tennis Team on Tuesday in preparation for the 2004 Fed Cup, set to take place April 23 through 26 in Campinas, Brazil.
Hoz de Vila, a La Paz native, and Bolivia will play against Chile, Jamaica, Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago in the Americas Zone Group II. The winner advances to the Americas Zone Group I.
“It is a great honor for Monica to represent the Oregon program and (an) even bigger honor for her to represent her country,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. “This will help her development as a tennis player and give her a chance to play quality competition.”
Hoz de Vila is 11-6 overall this season and 4-1 in duals. She also holds a 4-1 record in doubles play.
The Fed Cup is the female version of the Davis Cup, “the largest international team competition in world sport,” according to the tournament’s Web site, www.daviscup.com.
— Hank Hager
Oregon gets first
Pac-10 honor
The Pacific-10 Conference named Oregon junior Sofie Abildtrup as the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.
Abildtrup helped Oregon win the Pepsi Team Invitational on Saturday at Hayward Field. The Fredericksberg, Denmark native won the 400-meter race in 54.49 seconds, which gave her a Pac-10 and regional qualifying mark. The time also placed her ninth in Oregon history in the event.
After Abildtrup heard about the honor, given to one athlete on the track side and one to the field events section, she said she did not know how to react at first.
“I didn’t even know (the Pac-10) did that,” said Abildtrup, who is a first-year Duck.
However, Abildtrup later realized the importance of earning the award personally and for her team.
“There are, as far as I know, pretty good athletes in the Pac-10,” Abildtrup said. “So I’m pretty honored to get that title.” Abildtrup won the 200-meters this past Saturday with a time of 23.94, taking the event by 0.71 seconds.
Ending the afternoon, the junior ran the final leg of the women’s 4×400 relay team, leading the Ducks to the victory. Abildtrup also anchored the team’s 4×100 relay team, which placed third.
After the Pepsi Invitational meet, the Oregon coaches told their rising star they were proud of the way she competed in all of her events.
“My coaches told me that they were pleased that I did so well,” Abildtrup said. “They were just very optimistic (about my performance).”
Abildtrup becomes the sixth Oregon track and field athlete to take home conference honors in the past three seasons. She joins Santiago Lorenzo (decathlon, 2003), Brett Holts (steeplechase, 2003), Adam Jenkins (javelin, 2003), Trevor Woods (pole vault, 2002) and Sarah Malone (javelin, 2001).
Also honored Tuesday by the Pac-10 were UCLA’s Dan Ames (men’s field), Arizona State’s Domenik Peterson (men’s track) and the Bruins’ Sheena Gordon (women’s field).
— Hank Hager and Alex Tam
