It has been two seasons since Rachael Kriz, a sophomore from Toledo, Ore., has thrown the javelin spear.
Until now.
With Roslyn Lundeen and Elisa Crumley sitting out at the Oregon Twilight on Saturday in preparation of the upcoming Pacific-10 Conference Championships, Kriz — who has excelled in the high jump this season — was called upon to pull double duty.
And while Kriz didn’t steal the show, she sure didn’t disappoint, either.
Kriz finished with a top throw of 130-05, not good enough to finish ahead of teammates Sarah Malone and Charyl Weingarten, but better than George Fox’s Gina Coolen. In fact, the throw gave her third place by more than 15 feet.
Not bad for someone who doesn’t practice the event on a regular basis.
“I made a deal with Sally Harmon, our throws coach, that if I jumped 5-7 in a meet (high jump) she’d let me a throw a javelin in practice since I used to do it in high school and I miss it so much,” Kriz said. “In practice I threw it over the 40 line and she was like ‘OK.’ So I asked her if I could be in this meet and she said it was fine and (assistant coach Mark Stream) said it was fine. I was pumped.”
Don’t think Kriz’ attempt at the javelin didn’t go unnoticed. Malone, who took the meet with a throw of 166-10, had some kind words for her teammate.
“She was just out there having fun,” Malone said.
Better yet, is there a future for Kriz in the javelin?
With all four javelin throwers returning next season, it may not be likely, but there’s no reason not to dream, at least in Kriz’ mind.
“It’s looking like a possibility,” Kriz said. “Sally says there could be a future there. We’ll see what happens.”
For the record, Kriz — who will be converging on Pullman, Wash., to compete in the Pac-10 Championships in the high jump — took fifth in her common event, but was at a height of 5-7.

Full steam ahead
The injury bug has stayed away from the Ducks for most of the season, and the week before the Pac-10 Championships is no different.
Field stars such as Amanda Brown, Lundeen and Malone have all been sidelined with various injuries, but are now ready for the championships and are at full strength.
Alicia Snyder-Carlson and Janette Davis have also suffered through injury-plagued seasons, but are back in business in the running events.
Oregon will go into the championships with the full squad of 24 allowable by the conference.

Coach knows best
Head coach Tom Heinonen, Harmon, Stream and volunteer coach Mark Vanderville have all had successful collegiate and post-collegiate careers, so paying attention to what they say, at least in the athletes’ minds, is vital.
There will be a full week after the Oregon Twilight to practice for the culmination of the season for most, and while rest and relaxation is in the books, listening to the coaches is also on the plate.
“Whatever Tom tells me to, but I really don’t know what I’m going to be doing,” junior Eri Macdonald said.

What if…?
The Ducks, in the final regular season ranking, were named as the 12th best team in the nation by www.team-power.org.
Oregon, conveniently placed two spots ahead of Washington — a team they defeated in a dual meet earlier this season — is only behind two Pac-10 schools. Perennial power UCLA has held the top spot for most of the season, and Washington State is holding on to the seventh spot.
What if, though, it all came down to the Ducks and Bruins or Oregon and Washington State for the Pac-10 title?
Either way, the Ducks lost. First, UCLA clobbered Oregon 129-73, with the Ducks then losing to the Cougars, 106-96.
UCLA, theoretically would have no problem with the rest of the conference, defeating Washington State 126-77.